| 1. |
- Feng, Ruizhi, et al.
(författare)
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Mutations in TUBB8 and Human Oocyte Meiotic Arrest.
- 2016
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Ingår i: The New England journal of medicine. - 1533-4406. ; 374:3, s. 223-232
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Human reproduction depends on the fusion of a mature oocyte with a sperm cell to form a fertilized egg. The genetic events that lead to the arrest of human oocyte maturation are unknown. Methods We sequenced the exomes of five members of a four-generation family, three of whom had infertility due to oocyte meiosis I arrest. We performed Sanger sequencing of a candidate gene, TUBB8, in DNA samples from these members, additional family members, and members of 23 other affected families. The expression of TUBB8 and all other β-tubulin isotypes was assessed in human oocytes, early embryos, sperm cells, and several somatic tissues by means of a quantitative reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction assay. We evaluated the effect of the TUBB8 mutations on the assembly of the heterodimer consisting of one α-tubulin polypeptide and one β-tubulin polypeptide (α/β-tubulin heterodimer) in vitro, on microtubule architecture in HeLa cells, on microtubule dynamics in yeast cells, and on spindle assembly in mouse and human oocytes. Results We identified seven mutations in the primate-specific gene TUBB8 that were responsible for oocyte meiosis I arrest in 7 of the 24 families. TUBB8 expression is unique to oocytes and the early embryo, in which this gene accounts for almost all the expressed β-tubulin. The mutations affect chaperone-dependent folding and assembly of the α/β-tubulin heterodimer, disrupt microtubule behavior on expression in cultured cells, alter microtubule dynamics in vivo, and cause catastrophic spindle-assembly defects and maturation arrest on expression in mouse and human oocytes. Conclusions TUBB8 mutations have dominant-negative effects that disrupt microtubule behavior and oocyte meiotic spindle assembly and maturation, causing female infertility. (Funded by the National Basic Research Program of China and others.).
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| 2. |
- Liu, Zhigang, et al.
(författare)
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Gut microbiota mediates intermittent-fasting alleviation of diabetes-induced cognitive impairment
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723 .- 2041-1723. ; 11:1, s. 855-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cognitive decline is one of the complications of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Intermittent fasting (IF) is a promising dietary intervention for alleviating T2D symptoms, but its protective effect on diabetes-driven cognitive dysfunction remains elusive. Here, we find that a 28-day IF regimen for diabetic mice improves behavioral impairment via a microbiota-metabolites-brain axis: IF enhances mitochondrial biogenesis and energy metabolism gene expression in hippocampus, re-structures the gut microbiota, and improves microbial metabolites that are related to cognitive function. Moreover, strong connections are observed between IF affected genes, microbiota and metabolites, as assessed by integrative modelling. Removing gut microbiota with antibiotics partly abolishes the neuroprotective effects of IF. Administration of 3-indolepropionic acid, serotonin, short chain fatty acids or tauroursodeoxycholic acid shows a similar effect to IF in terms of improving cognitive function. Together, our study purports the microbiota-metabolites-brain axis as a mechanism that can enable therapeutic strategies against metabolism-implicated cognitive pathophysiologies.
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| 3. |
- Feng, Ruizhi, et al.
(författare)
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MiRNA-320 in the human follicular fluid is associated with embryo quality in vivo and affects mouse embryonic development in vitro.
- 2015
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Ingår i: Scientific reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Previous work from our laboratory demonstrated the existence of miRNAs in human follicular fluid. In the current study, we have sought to identify miRNAs that might affect oocyte/embryo quality in patients undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection and to investigate their roles in in vitro fertilization outcomes in mouse oocytes. 53 samples were classified as Group 1 (high quality) if the day-3 embryos had seven and more cells or as Group 2 (low quality) if the embryos had six and fewer cells. TaqMan Human microRNAs cards and qRT-PCR were performed to verify differently expressed miRNAs. The function of the corresponding miRNA was investigated in mouse oocytes by injecting them with miRNA-inhibitor oligonucleotides. We found that hsa-miR-320a and hsa-miR-197 had significantly higher expression levels in the Group 1 follicular fluids than in Group 2 (p = 0.0073 and p = 0.008, respectively). Knockdown of mmu-miR-320 in mouse oocytes strongly decreased the proportions of MII oocytes that developed into two-cell and blastocyst stage embryos (p = 0.0048 and p = 0.0069, respectively). Wnt signaling pathway components had abnormal expression level in miR-320 inhibitor-injected oocytes. This study provides the first evidence that miRNAs in human follicular fluid are indicative of and can influence embryo quality.
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| 4. |
- Kronhamn, Jesper, et al.
(författare)
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Headless flies produced by mutations in the paralogous Pax6 genes eyeless and twin of eyeless.
- 2002
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Ingår i: Development. - 0950-1991 .- 1477-9129. ; 129:4, s. 1015-1026
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The two Pax6 gene homologs eyeless and twin of eyeless play decisive early roles in Drosophila eye development. Strong mutants of twin of eyeless or of eyeless are headless, which suggests that they are required for the development of all structures derived from eye-antennal discs. The activity of these genes is crucial at the very beginning of eye-antennal development in the primordia of eye-antennal discs when eyeless is first activated by the twin of eyeless gene product. This activation does not strictly depend on the Twin of eyeless protein, but is temperature-dependent in its absence. Twin of eyeless acts also in parallel to the eyeless gene and exerts functions that are partially redundant with those of Eyeless, while Eyeless is mainly required to prevent early cell death and promote eye development in eye-antennal discs.
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