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Initiation of meiosis is the most difficult aspect of inducing competent oocytes differentiation from human stem cells in vitro. Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and embryonic stem cells (hESCs) were cultured with follicle fluid, cytokines and small molecule to induced oocyte-like cells (OLCs) formation through a three-step induction procedure. Expression of surface markers and differentiation potential of germ cells were analyzed in vitro by flow cytometry, gene expression, immunocytochemistry, western blotting and RNA Sequencing. To induce the differentiation of hiPSCs into OLCs, cells were firstly cultured with a primordial germ cell medium for 10 days. The cells exhibited similar morphological features to primordial germ cells (PGCs), high expressing of germ cell markers and primordial follicle development associated genes. The induced PGCs were then cultured with the primordial follicle-like cell medium for 5 days to form the induced follicle-like structures (iFLs), which retained both primordial oocytes-like cells and granulosa-like cells. In the third step, the detached iFLs were harvested and transferred to the OLC-medium for additional 10 days. The cultured cells developed cumulus-oocyte-complexes (COCs) structures and OLCs with different sizes (50–150 μm diameter) and a zona pellucida. The in vitro matured OLCs had polar bodies and were arrested at metaphase II (MII) stage. Some OLCs were self-activated and spontaneously developed into multiple-cell structures similar to preimplantation embryos, indicating that OLCs were parthenogenetically activated though in vitro fertilization potential of OLCs are yet to be proved. in vitro maturation of OLCs derived from hiPSCs provides a new means to study human germ cell formation and oogenesis. Graphical Abstract

Feeder cells play an important role in the culture of human pluripotent stem cells in vitro. Previously, we used methanol as a fixative to prepare feeder cells for the cultivation of pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), and this method could maintain self-renewal and pluripotency of PSCs. However, methanol is toxic, and so here we examined whether ethanol could be used to prepare feeder cells as a fixative for hPSC culturing. Primed, naïve and extended human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells can maintain self-renewal and undifferentiated potential on feeder cells treated with ethanol for an extended period. RNA sequencing analysis showed that the expression of collagen-related genes in hPSCs cultured on feeder cells treated with ethanol was significantly lower as compared with hPSCs cultured on feeder cells treated with mitomycin C. Therefore, we speculate that the signaling pathway mediated by collagen-related genes may, at least in part, contribute to the maintenance of self-renewal and pluripotency of PSCs induced by feeder cells treated with chemicals.

Members of the MAPK superfamily are known as key regulators of ciliogenesis. Long flagellar (LF) 4, a MAPK-related kinase in Chlamydomonas, is the first kinase that was implicated in ciliary assembly and length. However, little is known about its cellular properties, regulation, and molecular functions. LF4 is localized both in the flagella and cell body with enrichment at the 2 basal bodies, shown by super-resolution microscopy. LF4 is constitutively phosphorylated at T159 at the kinase activation loop and remains at the basal bodies during flagellar assembly. Gene mutations that affect the kinase activity or T159 phosphorylation alter the localization of LF4 at the basal bodies, and the mutants fail to rescue lf4-3, a null mutant. LF4 does not affect the velocities of intraflagellar transport (IFT). However, LF4 null mutation induces accumulation of IFT proteins in the flagellum and reduces the phosphorylation of the kinesin-II subunit FLA8/KIF3B, indicating that LF4 negatively regulates IFT entry. Furthermore, LF2, a cell cycle-related kinase, and LF3, a novel protein, are required for LF4 phosphorylation. Our study demonstrates that LF4 is likely a constitutively active kinase that is regulated by LF2 and regulates IFT entry at the basal bodies to control flagellar assembly and length.-Wang, Y., Ren, Y., Pan, J. Regulation of flagellar assembly and length in Chlamydomonas by LF4, a MAPK-related kinase.

Purpose: CD24 is overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumor tissues and in the highly metastatic HCC cell lines. However, plasma CD24 level in HCC patients and the correlation of plasma CD24 level with clinicopathological factors and prognosis of HCC patients still remain unclear. Materials and Methods: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect plasma CD24 level in 86 HCC patients, 35 healthy subjects, 26 patients with liver cirrhosis and 23 patients with chronic hepatitis. The relationship between plasma CD24 level with clinicopathological characteristics in HCC patients was assessed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Patient survival between groups was evaluated by the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test, prognostic factors being analyzed by the Cox regression model. Results: Our present study demonstrated that plasma CD24 level in HCC patients was significantly higher than that in the controls. CD24 was significantly associated with tumor differentiation, but was not correlated with other clinicopathologic parameters including gender, age, tumor size, tumor number, capsulation status, HBsAg status, tumor node metastasis stage, ALT, AFP, and GGT level. CD24 might be a prognostic predictor for overall survival and recurrence-free survival. Conclusions: Plasma CD24 level was significantly higher in HCC patients than that in the controls. Plasma CD24 level was associated with tumor differentiation. The HCC patients with high plasma CD24 level had unfavorable prognosis. CD24 might be a prognostic biomarker for HCC in the future.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of icarin/attapulgite/collagen type Ⅰ/polycaprolactone (ICA/ATP/Col Ⅰ/PCL) composite scaffold in repair of rabbit tibia defect. METHODS: The ICA/20%ATP/Col Ⅰ/PCL (scaffold 1), ICA/30%ATP/Col Ⅰ/PCL (scaffold 2), 20%ATP/Col Ⅰ/PCL (scaffold 3), and 30%ATP/Col Ⅰ/PCL (scaffold 4) composite scaffolds were constructed by solution casting-particle filtration method. The structure characteristics of the scaffold 2 before and after cross-linking were observed by scanning electron microscopy, and the surface contact angles of the scaffold 2 and the scaffold 4 were used to evaluate the water absorption performance of the material. The in vitro degradation test was used to evaluate the sustained-release effect of the scaffold 2. Thirty male Japanese white rabbits, weighing (2.0±0.1) kg, were randomly divided into groups A, B, C, D, and E, 6 in each group. After making a 1 cm- diameter bilateral tibial defects model, group A was the defect control group without any material implanted. Groups B, C, D, and E were implanted with scaffolds 3, 4, 1, and 2 at the defect sites, respectively. At 4, 8, and 12 weeks after operation, the repairing effects of 4 scaffolds were observed by gross observation, histological observation of HE and Masson staining, and immunohistochemical staining of osteogenic specific transcription factor (runt-related transcription factor 2, RUNX2), osteogenic related transcription factor [Osterix (OSX), Col Ⅰ, osteopontin (OPN)]. RESULTS: Scanning electron microscopy observation showed that the scaffolds were all porous. The structure of the material was loose before and after cross-linking. The surface contact angle showed that the scaffold was hydrophobic, and the scaffold 2 was more hydrophobic than scaffold 4. The sustained-release effect in vitro showed that the drug could be released in a micro and long-term manner. In the animal implantation experiment, the gross observation showed that the defects were significantly smaller in groups D and E than in groups A, B, and C at 4 and 12 weeks after operation. HE and Masson staining showed that the defect of group A was full of connective tissue at 4 weeks after operation, a large number of fibers were seen in groups B and C, and the new bone formation was observed in groups D and E. The increase of new bone was observed in each group at 8 weeks after operation. The defect of group A was still dominated by connective tissue at 12 weeks after operation, and a small amount of new bone tissue was observed in groups B and C, and a large number of new bone tissue was observed in groups D and E, especially in group E, and most of the materials degraded. Immunohistochemical staining showed that the expressions of RUNX2 and OSX in the new tissues of groups D and E were significantly higher than those of the other groups at 4 weeks after operation. The expression of RUNX2 decreased at 8 and 12 weeks after operation. After 8 weeks and 12 weeks, the expressions of Col Ⅰand OPN increased than in 4 weeks. And the expressions of Col Ⅰ and OPN in the new tissues of groups D and E were significantly more than those of the other groups. CONCLUSION: ICA/ATP/Col I/PCL composite scaffolds have good porosity and biocompatibility, can promote bone formation, and have good bone regeneration and repair effect.

Members of the MAPK superfamily are known as key regulators of ciliogenesis. Long flagellar (LF) 4, a MAPK-related kinase in

Preparation of mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) feeder cells to maintain pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) is time consuming and involved in animal issues. Here, we demonstrated a novel method to prepare feeder cells with high efficiency, timesaving, and low costs. MEFs in 3 × 104 cell/cm2 were fixed by methanol for 5 min and air drying for 5 min. Thereafter, the methanol fixed MEF cells (MT-MEF) were able to be used directly to culture PSCs or stored at room temperature for the future usage. PSCs cultured on MT-MEF could be continuously expanded for over 40 passages with the naïve pluripotency. MT-MEFs could also be used to maintain human and pig iPSCs. Moreover, methanol fixed MEFs’ culture dish was able to be reused for at least 4 times, and to be applied for antibiotic resistant screening assay to establishing stable transfected PSC lines. Alternatively, the immortalized cell lines, for instance NIH3T3 cells, could also be fixed by methanol and used as feeder cells to maintain PSCs. Thus, this novel means of methanol fixed feeder cells can completely replace the mitomycin C and gamma radiation treated MEF feeder cells, and be used to maintain PSCs derived from mouse as well as other animal species.

The estrogen-related receptor b (ESRRB) is an orphan nuclear receptor and targets many genes involved in self-renewal and pluripotency. In mouse ES cells, overexpression of ESRRB can maintain LIF-independent self-renewal in the absence of Nanog. However, the fundamental features of porcine ESRRB remain elusive. In this study, we revealed the expression profiles of ESRRB in both porcine pluripotent stem cells and early stage embryos and dissected the functional domains of ESRRB protein to prove that ESRRB is a key transcription factor that enhanced porcine pluripotent gene activation. Addition of ESRRB into the cocktail of core pluripotent factors Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc (OSKM + E) could significantly enhance the reprograming efficiency and the formation of alkaline phosphatase positive colonies. Conversely, knockdown of ESRRB in piPSCs significantly reduced the expression level of pluripotent genes, minimized the alkaline phosphatase activity, and initiated the porcine induced pluripotent stem cell differentiation. Therefore, porcine ESRRB is a crucial transcription factor to improve the self-renewal of piPSCs.

With the rapidly development of the controller in the electric drive system of electric vehicle (EV), the focus of attention has shifted from designing the controller in the electric drive system of EV to improving the operating efficiency of EV. In this paper, the control method has been studied for the electric drive system of EV, on the basis of which it introduces the compensation method for the dead-time effect of voltage space vector poise width modulation (SVPWM) in the EV. Then, the performance of the compensation method on the dynamic efficiency of the controller in the electric drive system of EV has been analyzed, and the experimental results demonstrate that the dynamic efficiency of the driven system with the SVPWM has been improved by using the dead-time compensation method.