Search

Purpose: Spinal cord injury (SCI) has a damaging impact on patients, amid being a worldwide problem with no effective treatment. Herein, we reported a method for functional therapy of SCI in rats, wherein we combined thermo-sensitive hydrogel with Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) expressed in rat bone-marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (RMSCs).Methods: Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) were isolated from Sprague-Dawley (SD) female rats. The SHH was optimized and transferred into RMSCs via cationic liposomes, while thermo-sensitive hydrogel was reformed with hyaluronate (HA) and Pluronic F127. Then, a rat model with SCI was established accordingly by male SD rats and randomized into sham, model, RMSCs with hydrogel and SHH-RMSCs with hydrogel. The evaluation of SCI repair based on Basso, Beattie Bresnahanlocomotor rating scale (BBB scale) and inclined plate score. Immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry and hematoxylin-eosin were utilized to explore the expression of protein (GFAP, GAP43, NF200 and MBP) and histopathology.Results: It was demonstrated that transfection of SHH with cationic liposomes exhibited more effect in RMSCs than lipofectamine 2000. As shown in SEM, 3.5% HA-F127 demonstrated porous structure. In the MTT and dead/live assay, 3.5% HA-F127 showed good biocompatibility for RMSCs. Both RMSCs and SHH-RMSCs groups could significantly promote BBB and inclined plate scores (p < 0.01) compared with the model. Furthermore, the SHH-RMSC group was significantly improved than RMSC with the expression of related proteins, where NF200, MBP, and GAP43 were principally enhanced with the GFAP expression being virtually down-regulated.Conclusion: All in all, the results suggested that transplantation of RMSCs with SHH could improve the function of SCI and promote nerve regeneration.

Insects’ olfactory receptor plays a central role in detecting chemosensory information from the environment. Odorant receptors (ORs) and ionotropic receptors (IRs) are two types of olfactory receptors, and they are essential for the recognition of ligands at peripheral neurons. Apriona germari (Hope) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is one of the most serious insect pests that cause damage to economic trees and landscaping trees, resulting in massive environmental damages and economic losses. Olfactory-based management strategy has been suggested as a promising strategy to control this wood-boring beetle. However, the olfactory perception mechanism in A. germari is now almost unknown. In the present study, RNA sequencing analysis was used to determine the transcriptomes of adult A. germari antennae. Among 36,834 unigenes derived from the antennal assembly, we identified 42 AgerORs and three AgerIRs. Based on the tissue expression pattern analysis, 27 AgerORs displayed a female-biased expression. Notably, AgerOR3, 5, 13, 33, and 40 showed a significant female-biased expression and were clustered with the pheromone receptors of Megacyllene caryae in the phylogenetic tree, suggesting that these AgerORs could be potential pheromone receptors for sensing male-produced sex pheromones in A. germari. The AgerIRs expression profile demonstrated that AgerIR2 had high expression levels in male labial palps, suggesting that this receptor may function to detect female-deposited trail-sex pheromone blend of A. germari. In addition, the phylogenetic tree showed that the Orco gene of five cerambycidae species was highly conservative. These results provide a foundation for further studies on the molecular mechanisms of olfactory chemoreception in A. germari apart from suggesting novel targets for the control of this pest in the future.

The sibling species Ectropis grisescens and E. obliqua are the major chewing tea pests in China. A difference in sex pheromone components plays a central role in premating isolation in these two species. To investigate the mechanism of premating isolation in these two Ectropis species, we sequenced the transcriptomes of the antennae of female and male E. obliqua individuals and performed phylogenetic analyses, abundance analyses, and tissue expression profile analyses to compare the olfactory genes involved in the detection of sex pheromones. A total of 36 odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) and 52 olfactory receptors (ORs) were identified in E. obliqua. Phylogenetic analyses showed that EoblOBP2, 3, and 25 were grouped in the pheromone-binding protein clade with EgriOBP2, 3, 25, and another lepidopteran PBP. EoblOR25 and 28 were grouped with EgriOR25, 28, and pheromone receptors for the detection of Type-I sex pheromone components. EoblOR24, 31, 37, and 44 were grouped with EgriOR24, 31, 37, and 44. All of these 4 EoblORs and 4 EgriORs showed higher abundance in male antennae than in female ones. Therefore, OBP2, 3, 25 and OR24, 31, 37, 44 of E. grisescens and E. obliqua might be responsible for sex pheromone component detection. However, the sequences of these genes in E. grisescens and E. obliqua were more than 90% identical. This indicates that these orthologous genes might play similar roles in the detection of sex pheromones. In contrast, the observed OBPs and ORs differed in abundance between the antennae of the two Ectropis species. Therefore, we speculate that these two Ectropis species use the different transcript levels of PRs to differentiate sex pheromone components. The results of the present study might contribute in deciphering the mechanism for premating isolation in these species and may be of use in devising strategies for their management.

Tea grey geometrid (Ectropis grisescens), a devastating chewing pest in tea plantations throughout China, produces Type-II pheromone components. Little is known about the genes encoding proteins involved in the perception of Type-II sex pheromone components. To investigate the olfaction genes involved in E. grisescens sex pheromones and plant volatiles perception, we sequenced female and male antennae transcriptomes of E. grisescens. After assembly and annotation, we identified 153 candidate chemoreception genes in E. grisescens, including 40 odorant-binding proteins (OBPs), 30 chemosensory proteins (CSPs), 59 odorant receptors (ORs), and 24 ionotropic receptors (IRs). The results of phylogenetic, qPCR, and mRNA abundance analyses suggested that three candidate pheromone-binding proteins (EgriOBP2, 3, and 25), two candidate general odorant-binding proteins (EgriOBP1 and 29), six pheromone receptors (EgriOR24, 25, 28, 31, 37, and 44), and EgriCSP8 may be involved in the detection of Type-II sex pheromone components. Functional investigation by heterologous expression in Xenopus oocytes revealed that EgriOR31 was robustly tuned to the E. grisescens sex pheromone component (Z,Z,Z)-3,6,9-octadecatriene and weakly to the other sex pheromone component (Z,Z)-3,9-6,7-epoxyoctadecadiene. Our results represent a systematic functional analysis of the molecular mechanism of olfaction perception in E. grisescens with an emphasis on gene encoding proteins involved in perception of Type-II sex pheromones, and provide information that will be relevant to other Lepidoptera species.

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is one of the leading causes of death and long-term disability worldwide. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapies have demonstrated improved outcomes for treating ICH-induced neuronal defects, and the neural network reconstruction and neurological function recovery were enhanced in rodent ICH models through the mechanisms of neurogenesis, angiogenesis, anti-inflammation, and anti-apoptosis. However, many key issues associated with the survival, differentiation, and safety of grafted MSCs after ICH remain to be resolved, which hinder the clinical translation of MSC therapy. Herein, we reviewed an overview of the research status of MSC transplantation after ICH in different species including rodents, swine, monkey, and human, and the challenges for MSC-mediated ICH recovery from pathological microenvironment have been summarized. Furthermore, some efficient strategies for the outcome improvement of MSC transplantation were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is one of the leading causes of death and long-term disability worldwide. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapies have demonstrated improved outcomes for treating ICH-induced neuronal defects, and the neural network reconstruction and neurological function recovery were enhanced in rodent ICH models through the mechanisms of neurogenesis, angiogenesis, anti-inflammation, and anti-apoptosis. However, many key issues associated with the survival, differentiation, and safety of grafted MSCs after ICH remain to be resolved, which hinder the clinical translation of MSC therapy. Herein, we reviewed an overview of the research status of MSC transplantation after ICH in different species including rodents, swine, monkey, and human, and the challenges for MSC-mediated ICH recovery from pathological microenvironment have been summarized. Furthermore, some efficient strategies for the outcome improvement of MSC transplantation were proposed.