4 research outputs found
Quantitative expression of developmental genes, Pou5f1 (Oct4) and Mest (Peg1), in vitrified mouse embryos
Background: Embryo cryopreservation is the process that water is
removed from the cell by cryoprotectant materials, and embryos are
stored at temperature below zero. This process may affect the viability
and developmental potential of embryos. Objective: In this study, the
effect of the vitrification cryotop method on the expression level of
Oct4 and Mest developmental genes in mouse blastocysts was examined.
Materials and Methods: The collected 2-cell embryos of superovulated
mouse by oviduct flushing were divided into non-vitrified and vitrified
groups. These embryos were cultured to the blastocyst stage directly in
the non-vitrified group and in the vitrified group, these embryos were
cultured to 4-8 cell embryos, vitrified with cryotop in these stages
and after 2-6 months, warmed and cultured to blastocyst embryos.
Quantitative expression of two developmental genes, namely Oct4 and
Mest, were performed in these groups, using RNA purification and
Real-time RT-PCR. Results: Quantitative PCR analysis showed that the
expression level of both genes, Oct4 and Mest, was reduced
significantly in the vitrified-warmed group relative to the control
group (p=0.046 and p=0.001). Conclusion: This study revealed that
morphologically normal embryos show a reduced amount of Oct4 and Mest
transcripts which indicate that the vitrification method negatively
effects the expression level of these two developmental genes
Electronic Properties of Synthetic Shrimp Pathogens-derived DNA Schottky Diodes
The exciting discovery of the semiconducting-like properties of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and its potential applications in molecular genetics and diagnostics in recent times has resulted in a paradigm shift in biophysics research. Recent studies in our laboratory provide a platform towards detecting charge transfer mechanism and understanding the electronic properties of DNA based on the sequence-specific electronic response, which can be applied as an alternative to identify or detect DNA. In this study, we demonstrate a novel method for identification of DNA from different shrimp viruses and bacteria using electronic properties of DNA obtained from both negative and positive bias regions in current-voltage (I-V) profiles. Characteristic electronic properties were calculated and used for quantification and further understanding in the identification process. Aquaculture in shrimp industry is a fast-growing food sector throughout the world. However, shrimp culture in many Asian countries faced a huge economic loss due to disease outbreaks. Scientists have been using specific established methods for detecting shrimp infection, but those methods do have their significant drawbacks due to many inherent factors. As such, we believe that this simple, rapid, sensitive and cost-effective tool can be used for detection and identification of DNA from different shrimp viruses and bacteria