Li Dong

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is a very common problem in both piglet and human neonate populations. We hypothesized that IUGR neonates have impaired intestinal mucosal immunity from birth. Using neonatal piglets as IUGR models, immune organ weights, the weight and length of the small intestine (SI), intestinal morphology, intraepithelial immune cell numbers, levels of cytokines and immunoglobulins, and the relative gene expression of cytokines in the SI were investigated. IUGR neonatal piglets were observed to have lower absolute immune organ weight and SI length, decreased relative weights of the thymus, spleen, mesenteric lymph node, and thinner but longer SIs. Damaged and jagged villi, shorter microvilli, presence of autophagosomes, swelled mitochondria, and decreased villus surface areas were also found in the SIs of IUGR neonatal piglets. We also found a smaller number of epithelial goblet cells and lymphocytes in the SIs of IUGR neonates. In addition, we detected reduced levels of the cytokines TNF-α and IFN-γ and decreased gene expression of cytokines in IUGR neonates. In conclusion, IUGR was shown to impair the mucosal immunity of the SI in neonatal piglets, and the ileum was the major site of impairment.

This study investigated the effects of dietary l-arginine (Arg) and N-carbamylglutamate (NCG) supplementation on intestinal integrity, immune function, and oxidative status in intrauterine-growth-retarded (IUGR) suckling lambs. A total of 48 newborn Hu lambs of normal birth weight (CON) and IUGR were allocated randomly into four groups of 12 animals each: CON, IUGR, IUGR + 1% Arg, or IUGR + 0.1% NCG. All lambs were raised for a period of 21 days from 7 to 28 days after birth. The Arg or NCG group exhibited improved ( p < 0.05) final body weights compared to that of the IUGR group. In comparison to the IUGR lambs, the apoptotic percentage was lower ( p < 0.05) in the ileum of IUGR lambs supplemented with Arg and NCG. In addition, in comparison to IUGR, the concentrations of protein carbonyl and malondialdehyde were lower ( p < 0.05) and the reduced glutathione (GSH) concentration and ratio of GSH/oxidized glutathione were greater ( p < 0.05) in the jejunum, duodenum, and ileum of IUGR + 1% Arg or 0.1% NCG lambs. In comparison to the IUGR group, the mRNA abundance of myeloid differentiation factor 88, toll-like receptor 9, toll-like receptor 4, interleukin 6, and fuclear factor-κB was lower ( p < 0.05) and the mRNA abundance of superoxide dismutase 1, B-cell lymphoma/leukaemia 2, zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), and occludin was greater in the ileum of the IUGR lambs supplemented with Arg or NCG. Furthermore, the protein abundance of ZO-1 and claudin-1 in the ileum was greater ( p < 0.05) in the IUGR + 1% Arg or 0.1% NCG lambs. The results show that Arg or NCG supplementation improves the growth, intestinal integrity, immune function, and oxidative status in IUGR Hu suckling lambs.

Male germ cell differentiation is a subtle and complex regulatory process. Currently, its regulatory mechanism is still not fully understood. In our experiment, we performed the first comprehensive genome and transcriptome-wide analyses of the crucial genes and signaling pathways in three kinds of crucial cells (embryonic stem cells, primordial germ cell, and spermatogonial stem cells) that are associated with the male germ cell differentiation. We identified thousands of differentially expressed genes in this process, and from these we chose 173 candidate genes, of which 98 genes were involved in cell differentiation, 19 were involved in the metabolic process, and 56 were involved in the differentiation and metabolic processes, like GAL9, AMH, PLK1, and PSMD7 and so on. In addition, we found that 18 key signaling pathways were involved mainly in cell proliferation, differentiation, and signal transduction processes like TGF-β, Notch, and Jak-STAT. Further exploration found that the candidate gene expression patterns were the same between in vitro induction experiments and transcriptome results. Our results yield clues to the mechanistic basis of male germ cell differentiation and provide an important reference for further studies.

BACKGROUND: Six nucleotide (nt) insertion in the 5'-noncoding region (NCR) of the nucleoprotein (NP) gene of Newcaslte disease virus (NDV) is considered to be a genetic marker for recent genotypes of NDV, which emerged after 1960. However, F48-like NDVs from China, identified a 6-nt insert in the NP gene, have been previously classified into genotype III or genotype IX. RESULTS: In order to clarify their phylogenetic position and explore the origin of NDVs with the 6-nt insert and its significance in NDV evolution, we determined the entire genome sequences of five F48-like viruses isolated in China between 1946 and 2002 by RT-PCR amplification of overlapping fragments of full-length genome and rapid amplification of cDNA ends. All the five NDV isolates shared the same genome size of 15,192-nt with the recent genotype V-VIII viruses whereas they had the highest homology with early genotype III and IV isolates. CONCLUSIONS: The unique characteristic of the genome size and phylogenetic position of F48-like viruses warrants placing them in a separate geno-group, genotype IX. Results in this study also suggest that genotype IX viruses most likely originate from a genotype III virus by insertion of a 6-nt motif in the 5'-NCR of the NP gene which had occurred as early as in 1940 s, and might be the common origin of genotype V-VIII viruses.