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Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most prevalent endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age, and presents a significant challenge to the global population. This review provides comprehensive evidence of interventions, including food and dietary supplements, aimed at reversing PCOS and improving fertility outcomes. Various dietary supplements are known to cause metabolic changes and hormonal regulation and have a potential impact on increasing pregnancy rates. Although some biochemical alterations have been observed, these metabolic changes do not directly reverse the disorder. Moreover, the lack of sufficient evidence does not convince clinicians to standardize dietary supplements as alternatives to medical or pharmacological interventions. This calls for a study of women with PCOS taking dietary supplements. In addition, unbiased studies of combinations of treatment options for supplements, including large cohort clinical trials, will lead to evidence-based medicine.

The old district of Guangzhou was taken as an example to explore new approaches – the perspective of space syntax – to study the urban structure based on the Geographic Information Centre (GIS) space statistics. Results show that the old district of Guangzhou has significant spatial heterogeneity; the historic regions, as the urban core, have a deep effect on the city and own a ‘double interface’ for both the visitors and indigenous inhabitants. Unique space logic has been formed in the long history of the city, but the grid structure of the old district is unbalanced and incomplete, and some regions have problems in accessibility. Given this, the paper, based on the distribution of the historical buildings, proposed to create contextual urban axes, optimise the public service and improve the space structure, to provide a reference to the preservation and utilisation of historic buildings.

Summary: Mammalian terminal erythropoiesis involves chromatin and nuclear condensation followed by enucleation. Late-stage erythroblasts undergo caspase-mediated nuclear opening that is important for nuclear condensation through partial histone release. It remains unknown the dynamic changes of three-dimensional (3D) genomic organization during terminal erythropoiesis. Here, we used Hi-C to determine the chromatin structural change during primary mouse erythroblast terminal differentiation. We also performed RNA-sequencing and ATAC-sequencing under the same experimental setting to further reveal the genome accessibility and gene expression changes during this process. We found that late-stage terminal erythropoiesis involves global loss of topologically associating domains and establishment of inter-chromosomal interactions of the heterochromatin regions, which are associated with globally increased chromatin accessibility and upregulation of erythroid-related genes.

Abstract Muscle-invasive bladder cancers are characterized by their distinct expression of luminal and basal genes, which could be used to predict key clinical features such as disease progression and overall survival. Transcriptionally, FOXA1, GATA3, and PPARG are shown to be essential for luminal subtype-specific gene regulation and subtype switching, while TP63, STAT3, and TFAP2 family members are critical for regulation of basal subtype-specific genes. Despite these advances, the underlying epigenetic mechanisms and 3D chromatin architecture responsible for subtype-specific regulation in bladder cancer remain unknown. Result We determine the genome-wide transcriptome, enhancer landscape, and transcription factor binding profiles of FOXA1 and GATA3 in luminal and basal subtypes of bladder cancer. Furthermore, we report the first-ever mapping of genome-wide chromatin interactions by Hi-C in both bladder cancer cell lines and primary patient tumors. We show that subtype-specific transcription is accompanied by specific open chromatin and epigenomic marks, at least partially driven by distinct transcription factor binding at distal enhancers of luminal and basal bladder cancers. Finally, we identify a novel clinically relevant transcription factor, Neuronal PAS Domain Protein 2 (NPAS2), in luminal bladder cancers that regulates other subtype-specific genes and influences cancer cell proliferation and migration. Conclusion In summary, our work identifies unique epigenomic signatures and 3D genome structures in luminal and basal urinary bladder cancers and suggests a novel link between the circadian transcription factor NPAS2 and a clinical bladder cancer subtype.

To date, little is known about the regulatory landscape of the pig genome. Here, the authors characterize cis-regulatory elements in the pig genome using RNA-seq, ChIP-Seq and ATAC-seq, finding a higher degree of usage conservation between pig and human than mouse and human.

Abstract miRNAs reportedly participate in various biological processes, such as skeletal muscle proliferation and differentiation. However, the regulation of differentially expressed (DE) miRNAs and their function in myogenesis remain unclear. Herein, miRNA expression profiles and regulation during C2C12 differentiation were analyzed in relation to chromatin states by RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, and ChIP-seq. We identified 19 known and nine novel differentially expressed miRNAs at days 0, 1, 2, and 4. The expression of the differentially expressed miRNAs was related to the chromatin states of the 113 surrounding open chromatin regions defined by ATAC-seq peaks. Of these open chromatin regions, 44.25% were colocalized with MyoD/MyoG binding sites. The remainder of the above open chromatin regions were enriched with motifs of the myoblast-expressed AP-1 family, Ctcf, and Bach2 transcription factors (TFs). Additionally, the target genes of the above differentially expressed miRNAs were enriched primarily in muscle growth and development pathways, especially the Hippo signaling pathway. Moreover, via combining a loss-of-function assay with Q-PCR, western blotting, and immunofluorescence, we confirmed that the Hippo signaling pathway was responsible for C2C12 myoblast differentiation. Thus, our results showed that these differentially expressed miRNAs were regulated by chromatin states and affected muscle differentiation through the Hippo signaling pathway. Our findings provide new insights into the function of these differentially expressed miRNAs and the regulation of their expression during myoblast differentiation.

Abstract Long intergenic non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs) play essential roles in numerous biological processes and are widely studied. The skeletal muscle is an important tissue that plays an essential role in individual movement ability. However, lincRNAs in pig skeletal muscles are largely undiscovered and their biological functions remain elusive. In this study, we assembled transcriptomes using RNA-seq data published in previous studies of our laboratory group and identified 323 lincRNAs in porcine leg muscle. We found that these lincRNAs have shorter transcript length, fewer exons and lower expression level than protein-coding genes. Gene ontology and pathway analyses indicated that many potential target genes (PTGs) of lincRNAs were involved in skeletal-muscle-related processes, such as muscle contraction and muscle system process. Combined our previous studies, we found a potential regulatory mechanism in which the promoter methylation of lincRNAs can negatively regulate lincRNA expression and then positively regulate PTG expression, which can finally result in abnormal phenotypes of cloned piglets through a certain unknown pathway. This work detailed a number of lincRNAs and their target genes involved in skeletal muscle growth and development and can facilitate future studies on their roles in skeletal muscle growth and development.

Feed efficiency (FE) is essential for pig production. In this study, 300 significantly differentially expressed (DE) transcripts, including 232 annotated genes, 28 cis-natural antisense transcripts (cis-NATs), and 40 long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), were identified between the liver of Yorkshire pigs with extremely high and low FE. Among these transcripts, 25 DE lncRNAs were significantly correlated with 125 DE annotated genes at a transcriptional level. These DE genes were enriched primarily in vitamin A (VA), fatty acid, and steroid hormone metabolism. VA metabolism is regulated by energy status, and active derivatives of VA metabolism can regulate fatty acid and steroid hormones metabolism. The key genes of VA metabolism (CYP1A1, ALDH1A2, and RDH16), fatty acid biosynthesis (FASN, SCD, CYP2J2, and ANKRD23), and steroid hormone metabolism (CYP1A1, HSD17B2, and UGT2B4) were significantly upregulated in the liver of high-FE pigs. Previous study with the same samples indicated that the mitochondrial function and energy expenditure were reduced in the muscle tissue of high-FE pigs. In conclusion, VA metabolism in liver tissues plays important roles in the regulation of FE in pigs by affecting energy metabolism, which may mediate fatty acid biosynthesis and steroid hormone metabolism. Furthermore, our results identified novel transcripts, such as cis-NATs and lncRNAs, which are also involved in the regulation of FE in pigs.

Meat quality is one of the most important economic traits in pig breeding. It has been reported that the composition of type II muscle fibers is correlated with meat quality in pigs. Type II muscle fibers contain three isoforms, IIa, IIb and IIx, which contain specific myofibrillar proteins MYH2, MYH4 and MYH1, respectively. In this study, the expression levels of MYH1, MYH2, and MYH4 genes in the Longissimus thoracis (LT) muscle were measured in 114 Yorkshire pigs. Further, the correlations between the expression level of MYH genes and the meat quality traits of intramuscular fat, drip loss, water-holding capacity and postmortem pH values were analyzed. The results showed that the expression level of MYH2 was positively correlated with the intramuscular fat (R= 0.20, P24h ; R=-0.28, P

Endometrial stromal sarcoma is a rare mesenchymal tumor with the potential for intravascular metastases. We present the case of a 52-year-old female patient with a history of previously resected endometrial sarcoma who was found to have an inferior vena cava thrombus with intracardiac extension. Pathological assessment following resection revealed intravascular extension of an underlying endometrial stromal sarcoma. This case demonstrates the aggressive nature and intracardiac metastatic potential of endometrial sarcomas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), including hexachlorocyclohexane and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, were monitored in 37 samples of water collected along the Yangtze River, the third longest river in the world (6,300 km). The total concentration of OCPs (∑OCPs) in the river water ranged from 0.11 to 27.37 ng/L. It was interesting to discover that, except for some sites near industrial cities, levels of OCPs in the water samples were very similar along the whole river. Significantly, OCPs were detected in Tuotuo River (the origin of Yangtze River) even though OCPs have never been used in this area because of its 4,540 m height above sea level. Furthermore, it was found that ∑OCPs was related to temperature and altitude along the river. We assume OCPs are transported along the Yangtze River, and the factors affecting this process are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For efficient use of metal oxides, such as MnO2and RuO2, in pseudocapacitors and other electrochemical applications, the poor conductivity of the metal oxide is a major problem. To tackle the problem, we have designed a ternary nanocomposite film composed of metal oxide (MnO2), carbon nanotube (CNT), and conducting polymer (CP). Each component in the MnO2/CNT/CP film provides unique and critical function to achieve optimized electrochemical properties. The electrochemical performance of the film is evaluated by cyclic voltammetry, and constant-current charge/discharge cycling techniques. Specific capacitance (SC) of the ternary composite electrode can reach 427 F/g. Even at high mass loading and high concentration of MnO2(60%), the film still showed SC value as high as 200 F/g. The electrode also exhibited excellent charge/discharge rate and good cycling stability, retaining over 99% of its initial charge after 1000 cycles. The results demonstrated that MnO2is effectively utilized with assistance of other components (fFWNTs and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)−poly(styrenesulfonate) in the electrode. Such ternary composite is very promising for the next generation high performance electrochemical supercapacitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reported fluorescence from inner shells of double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) is an intriguing and potentially useful property. A combination of bulk and single-molecule methods was used to study the spectroscopy, chemical quenching, mechanical rigidity, abundance, density, and TEM images of the near-IR emitters in DWCNT samples. DWCNT inner shell fluorescence is found to be weaker than SWCNT fluorescence by a factor of at least 10 000. Observable near-IR emission from DWCNT samples is attributed to SWCNT impurities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The generators and irreducible representation coherent state of the multimode SU(2) group are constructed by using the inverse operators of the multimode bosonic harmonic oscillator, and the inhomogeneous inverse differential realization of the multimode SU(2) group are derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a collective term for various artificial fluorinated organic compounds. PFASs not only have hydrophilic functional groups and hydrophobic alkyl side chains, but also have fire resistance, high stability and durability, making them widely used in various industries. PFASs have the characteristics of high toxicity, persistence, bioaccumulation, and long-distance migration of persistent organic pollutants. Different types of PFASs have different harmful effects on biological organisms, and health risks are mostly concentrated in the liver, immune system, and reproductive system. At present, there are many detection methods reported for PFASs in the food and environmental fields, while few methods have been applied for the detection of PFASs in cosmetics. In this work, a method for rapid detection of PFASs in cosmetics was developed by QuEChERS (quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe) pretreatment coupled with gas chromatography-quadrupole/time of flight mass spectrometry (GC-Q-TOF MS). Firstly, the extraction solvents, extraction methods, and purification agents were compared, the dosage of purification agents was optimized, and the matrix effect was examined. Eight kinds of volatile PFASs, including two perfluorooctanoic acid esters, four fluoro modified polyacrylates, and two fluoro modified siloxanes in the samples were extracted with 10 mL ethyl acetate, dehydrated by 1 g anhydrous sodium sulfate, and purified by 100 mg graphitized carbon black (GCB) and 50 mg silica gel powder (Si). Target compounds were separated by DB-5MS capillary column (30 m×0.25 mm×0.25 μm), and the mass spectrum was acquired under full scan mode of EI ion source with using external standard method for quantification. The result showed that the work curves of the 8 compounds have good linear relationship, and the correlation coefficient (R2) is greater than 0.997 6 in the range of 5.0-1 000 μg/L. The limits of detection are 20.0 and 200.0 μg/kg, and the limits of quantification are 50.0 and 500.0 μg/kg. The average recoveries at three levels range from 81.4% to 112%, and the relative standard deviations are 1.09%-7.63% (n=6). In total, 105 cosmetic samples purchased from Guangzhou supermarkets and online e-commerce were tested using this method, 8:2FTMAc in 2 samples are detected with 668, 1 004 μg/kg, respectively, indicating that cosmetic samples pose a risk of PFASs contamination, should be taken seriously by regulatory authorities and consumers. This method is high efficiency, sensitive and accuracy, which can provide important basis for the rapid detection and quality control of PFASs compounds in cosmetics.

The article presents the epigenomic landscape and three dimensional (3D) genome structure in pediatric high-grade glioma. Topics include the pediatric high-grade gliomas (pHGGs), including glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), pHGG the number one cause of cancer death in children, and the DIPGs harbor a somatic missense mutation in genes encoding histone H3.

Neurodegenerative diseases are disorders that are characterized by a progressive decline of motor and/or cognitive functions caused by the selective degeneration and loss of neurons within the central nervous system. The most common neurodegenerative diseases are Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and Huntington’s disease (HD). Neurons have high energy demands, and dysregulation of mitochondrial quality and function is an important cause of neuronal degeneration. Mitochondrial quality control plays an important role in maintaining mitochondrial integrity and ensuring normal mitochondrial function; thus, defects in mitochondrial quality control are also significant causes of neurodegenerative diseases. The mitochondrial deacetylase SIRT3 has been found to have a large effect on mitochondrial function. Recent studies have also shown that SIRT3 has a role in mitochondrial quality control, including in the refolding or degradation of misfolded/unfolded proteins, mitochondrial dynamics, mitophagy, and mitochondrial biogenesis, all of which are affected in neurodegenerative diseases.