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Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) secrete various cytokines with angiogenic and neuroprotective effects. This study aimed to assess the effects of human umbilical cord Wharton's jelly-derived MSCs (hWJ-MSCs) on diabetes-related intracavernosal pressure (ICP) impairment in rats. hWJ-MSCs were isolated from human umbilical cord Wharton's jelly and transplanted into the corpus cavernosum of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats by unilateral injection. The erectile function was evaluated at 4 weeks, as well as the expression levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1). STZ-induced diabetic rats showed impaired ICP, which was significantly improved by hWJ-MSC treatment. VEGF, eNOS, IGF1, and bFGF expression levels were higher in hWJ-MSC injection sites than those in control ones in STZ-induced diabetic rats. These results suggest that hWJ-MSC transplantation might improve diabetic erectile dysfunction through increased production of paracrine growth factors, highlighting a novel potential therapeutic option for erectile dysfunction.

Cereal cyst nematode is a major pest of small grain cereals, which causes huge yield losses to crops in China and other parts of the world. In this study, the effects of five inorganic ion concentrations on egg hatching of Heterodera avenae were studied. Results revealed that ZnCl2 and FeCl3 promoted hatching of induced and natural diapausing eggs. The cumulative hatching rates of eggs were 49 % and 13 % at 30 mM ZnCl2 and 10 mM FeCl3, respectively, which were higher than those of other treatments. The hatching ability promoted by ZnCl2 is greater than by FeCl3. Diapause induced eggs in ZnCl2 continued to hatch after 10 days; however, those in FeCl3 mainly hatched in the first two weeks. ZnCl2 had obvious stimulating effects on the hatching of natural diapause and non–diapause free eggs at 15 and 30 mM concentrations. FeCl3 promoted the hatching of natural diapause eggs; howevr, it inhibited hatching of non–diapause free eggs. Conversely, different concentrations of inorganic ions did not have any stimulatory effect on white female eggs. In the nematode life cycle, hatching is the critical stage because juveniles may be infected. The results of this study provide useful information the use of new fertilizers (including promoted hatching inorganic ions) applied before planting for controlling nematode diseases caused by H. avenae.

Cereal cyst nematode (Heterodera avenae) diapause is induced by high temperatures and is broken by low temperatures. In this study, metabolic responses were monitored in diapause and non-diapause H. avenae during exposure to 4°C for 10 weeks. The results showed that there was no difference in total carbohydrate content. The content of glycogen and glycerol at 0 week was relatively high but decreased with increased storage time at 4°C. The content of trehalose of the nematode at 10 weeks was significant lower than that at 5 weeks at 4°C. Protein content increased significantly after incubation for 5 and 10 weeks. Esterase and trehalase activity increased with the increasing period at 4°C and showed a significant difference between treatments for esterase activity but there was no significant difference between 5 and 10 weeks for trehalase activity. The SDS-PAGE pattern indicated that a 15.5 kDa protein was absent at 10 weeks and present at 0 and 5 weeks. Esterase isoenzyme patterns of H. avenae showed that at 10 weeks there were four bands: EST 0.21, EST 0.24, EST 0.30 and EST 0.34 (Rf values). EST 0.24 was the common band in the three treatments. Biochemical tests were conducted to correlate with hatching experiments using the same treatments. 2-DE patterns of H. avenae showed that diapause and non-diapause nematodes had 409 and 412 protein spots, respectively, and 19 protein spots were unique: 11 distinct proteins in non-diapause and eight distinct proteins in diapause. This information could be helpful in understanding the diapause mechanism of the cereal cyst nematode.