There are differences in hematological and biochemical parameters between carriers and not carriers of experimental model of GRMD (Golden Retriever Muscular Dystrophy)?

A proposta deste estudo foi avaliar se existem alterações nos padrões hematológicos e bioquímicos de cadelas da raça Golden Retriever portadoras do gene da distrofia muscular progressiva em comparação aos valores obtidos em cadelas não portadoras de mesma raça e idade. Foram analisados 33 animais, distribuídos em dois grupos, um composto por 19 cadelas Golden Retrievers não portadoras (GRNP) e outro composto por 14 cadelas Golden Retrievers portadoras do gene da distrofia muscular (GRP). Os dois grupos foram submetidos aos mesmos testes hematológicos e bioquímicos, com a mesma frequência e durante o mesmo intervalo de tempo. Apesar de existir diferença estatisticamente significativa entre os grupos para alguns parâmetros hematológicos avaliados, todos os resultados obtidos estavam de acordo com os valores de referência utilizados. Na avaliação dos parâmetros bioquímicos séricos a dosagem de ALT no grupo GRNP ficou levemente acima da média, porém sem grandes significados clínicos A CK também apresentou níveis elevados no grupo GRP, devido à degeneração e necrose muscular característicos da doença, as alterações encontradas nessa análise já eram esperadas. Os demais parâmetros não se alteraram.The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether there are alterations in hematological and biochemical patterns of female Golden Retriever dogs carrying the gene for progressive muscular dystrophy compared to not carriers dogs of the same breed, age and gender. We analyzed 33 animals, divided into two groups; one consisting of 13 not carriers dogs Golden Retrievers (GRNP) and the other composed of 14 dogs Golden Retrievers carrying the gene for muscular dystrophy (GRP). Animals of both groups underwent biochemical and hematological tests with the same frequency and at the same time interval. Although there is a statistically significant difference between groups for some hematological parameters evaluated, all results were in line with the benchmarks used. In the assessment of serum biochemical parameters in the determination of ALT GRS group was slightly above average, but without major clinical significance CK also showed high levels in GRP group, due to muscle degeneration and necrosis characteristic of the disease, the changes found in this analysis were already expected. The other parameters did not change

Effects of equine chorionic gonadotrophin on follicular, luteal and conceptus development of non-lactating Bos indicus beef cows subjected to a progesterone plus estradiol-based timed artificial insemination protocol

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) on ovarian follicular responses, corpus luteum (CL) development and conceptus length on day 16 after timed artificial insemination (TAI). A total of 124 cows at day 0 (D0) received 2 mg of estradiol benzoate (EB) and the insertion of a progesterone (P4) intravaginal device. Eight days later, the device was removed, and cows received 0.15 mg of prostaglandin and 0.5 mg of estradiol cypionate (EC), and were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatments: eCG (n=60), in which cows received 300 U of eCG; and control (n=64). Cows were TAI 48 h after P4 device removal. The diameter of the largest follicle (LF) present on D8 and D10 and of CL on D15 and D26 were measured. Conceptus recovered rate, conceptus length, CL diameter and weight were determined at slaughter on D26. Plasma P4 concentration was determined on D15 and D26. Follicular growth from D8 to D10 (P=0.03), the diameter of CL at D15 (P=0.03) and D26 (P=0.003) and the CL weight at day 26 (P=0.04) were greater in the eCG group than the control. However, there was no effect of eCG treatment on oestrus occurrence, conceptus recovery rate and length, or P4 concentrations on either D15 or D26. In conclusion, although eCG increases follicular responses and the diameter of the CL, this gonadotropin treatment does not influence the length of the conceptus or the P4 concentration on the subsequent oestrus cycle

Intervención pedagógica de la fluidez y de la comprensión lectora en el 2º grado de primaria a través de talleres de mediación entre pares

Con el objetivo de generar mejoras en la fluidez (precisión, velocidad lectora, prosodia y automatización de la lectura) y la comprensión lectora en estudiantes, a través de un diseño cuasi experimental pre test post test con grupo control. Se realizó una intervención pedagógica basada en Talleres de Mediación Entre Pares en una muestra de estudiantes de 2º grado de Primaria de Lima (grupo experimental = 127, y grupo control = 169). Los instrumentos de medición aplicados fueron: la Rúbrica de Lectura Oral RELO (fluidez y la comprensión lectora en la lectura oral) de Medina (2013) y la Prueba de Complejidad Lingüística Progresiva Nivel 2 (comprensión lectora silenciosa) de Alliende, Condemarín y Milicic (2001). Las medidas de comparativas de post test señalan una mejora significativa (p<.001) tras la intervención en la fluidez lectora, la precisión, la automaticidad de la lectura; muy significativa (p<.01) en la prosodia, y ningún efecto significativo sobre la velocidad lectora. No obstante, se aprecian incrementos en los promedios de comprensión lectora en la lectura oral, y en la comprensión a nivel literal y a nivel reorganizativo, estos no alcanzan a ser significativos, sin embargo, los análisis sí señalan que la intervención mejoró la comprensión en el nivel inferencial (p<.001) y en el nivel crítico (p<.01); la comprensión lectora a nivel de la lectura silenciosa no observó una mejora significativa. Este estudio muestra la importancia y el impacto de la mediación entre pares para enriquecer los procesos de aprendizaje de la lectura en las primeras etapas, en especial en realidades con menor avance en el aprendizaje de la fluidez y de la comprensión lectora

Biomass Accumulation and Cell Wall Structure of Rice Plants Overexpressing a Dirigent-Jacalin of Sugarcane (ShDJ) Under Varying Conditions of Water Availability

A sugarcane gene encoding a dirigent-jacalin, ShDJ, was induced under drought stress. To elucidate its biological function, we integrated a ShDJ-overexpression construction into the rice Nipponbare genome via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Two transgenic lines with a single copy gene in T0 were selected and evaluated in both the T1 and T4 generations. Transgenic lines had drastically improved survival rate under water deficit conditions, at rates close to 100%, while WT did not survive. Besides, transgenic lines had improved biomass production and higher tillering under water deficit conditions compared with WT plants. Reduced pectin and hemicellulose contents were observed in transgenic lines compared with wild-type plants under both well-watered and water deficit conditions, whereas cellulose content was unchanged in line #17 and reduced in line #29 under conditions of low water availability. Changes in lignin content under water deficit were only observed in line #17. However, improvements in saccharification were found in both transgenic lines along with changes in the expression of OsNTS1/2 and OsMYB58/63 secondary cell wall biosynthesis genes. ShDJ-overexpression up-regulated the expression of the OsbZIP23, OsGRAS23, OsP5CS, and OsLea3 genes in rice stems under well-watered conditions. Taken together, our data suggest that ShDJ has the potential for improving drought tolerance, plant biomass accumulation, and saccharification efficiency

Epigenética do desenvolvimento em bovinos: DNA metiltransferases e genes imprinted em embriões, fetos e placentas

A clonagem por transferência de núcleo é freqüentemente associada a resultados insatisfatórios devido à reprogramação nuclear anormal da célula somática doadora de núcleo e à expressão gênica alterada. O primeiro objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar a freqüência dos RNAs mensageiros das DNA metiltransferases (DNMT) 1, 3A e 3B, e do gene de expressão constitutiva gliceraldeído 3-fosfato desidrogenase (GAPDH) em blastocistos bovinos isolados produzidos in vivo e in vitro por transferência nuclear (TN) de célula somática, ativação partenogenética e fertilização in vitro (FIV). O segundo objetivo foi avaliar a expressão das DNMTs e dos genes imprinted IGF2, IGF2R e H19 em membranas cório-alantóide e fetos bovinos produzidos in vivo e in vitro por TN, ativação partenogenética e FIV e recuperados entre os dias 33 e 36 de gestação. Houve decréscimo (P<0,05) na freqüência do GAPDH nos blastocistos TN e partenogenéticos quando comparados aos embriões fertilizados, e também diferença entre blastocistos TN produzidos com diferentes protocolos de sincronização celular (células em G0 ou G1 do ciclo celular). Com relação às DNMTs, não foram identificados transcritos da DNMT1 nos blastocistos do grupo TN-G0; ocorreu diminuição na freqüência dos transcritos da DNMT3B nos embriões TN quando comparados aos partenotos. Não se observou diferença na freqüência relativa das DNA metiltransferases em membranas cório-alantóide e fetos. Com relação aos genes imprinted, o grupo partenogenético apresentou menor nível de expressão de IGF2 em relação aos os demais grupos; baixos níveis de expressão de IGF2 e IGF2R foram observados, respectivamente, em amostras de feto e de cório-alantóide derivadas de animais clonados por TN, quando comparadas aos grupos fertilizados in vivo e in vitro.Cloning by nuclear transfer is often associated with poor results due to abnormal nuclear reprogramming of somatic cell donor and altered gene expression. The first objective of this study was to evaluate the frequency of DNA methyltranferases (DNMT) 1, 3A and 3B, and the housekeeping glyceraldehyde 3- phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) mRNAs in single bovine blastocysts produced in vivo or in vitro by somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), parthenogenetic activation and in vitro fertilization (IVF). The second objective was to evaluate the expression of DNMTs and imprinted genes IGF2, IGF2R and H19 in chorio-alantois membrane of bovine fetuses produced in vivo or in vitro by SCNT, parthenogenetic activation and IVF, and recovered between days 33 and 36 of gestation. There was strong GAPDH downregulation (P<0.05) in parthenogenetic and cloned by SCNT blastocysts when compared to fertilized ones, and also differences between cloned blastocysts produced with different cell synchronization (G0 or G1) protocol. Regarding DNMTs expression, we did not identify DNMT1 transcrips in SCNT-G0 derived blastocysts, and observed DNMT3B downregulation in SCNT-derived embryos when compared to parthenotes. No differences in DNA methyltransferase relative frequency were seen in chorio-alantois membrane and fetuses. Regarding imprinted genes expression, downregulation of IGF2 in the parthenogenetic group was observed in comparision to all other groups, and also, downregulation of IGF2 and IGF2R in the cloned-derived fetuses and chorio-alantois samples, respectively, were observed comparing to in vivo and in vitro fertilized groups.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Extracellular Vesicles Mediated Early Embryo–Maternal Interactions

Embryo&ndash;maternal crosstalk is an important event that involves many biological processes, which must occur perfectly for pregnancy success. This complex communication starts from the zygote stage within the oviduct and continues in the uterus up to the end of pregnancy. Small extracellular vesicles (EVs) are part of this communication and carry bioactive molecules such as proteins, lipids, mRNA, and miRNA. Small EVs are present in the oviductal and uterine fluid and have important functions during fertilization and early embryonic development. Embryonic cells are able to uptake oviductal and endometrium-derived small EVs. Conversely, embryo-derived EVs might modulate oviductal and uterine function. In this review, our aim is to demonstrate the role of extracellular vesicles modulating embryo&ndash;maternal interactions during early pregnancy

Involvement of miRNAs and cell-secreted vesicles in mammalian ovarian antral follicle development

Ovarian follicular development is a controlled series of events culminating with an ovulatory or atretic follicle. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs involved in translational regulation of genes in different developmental processes. Deletion of Dicer in mice ovaries demonstrated the importance of miRNAs in reproduction, which led to infertility. The miRNAs were thought to act only within host cells; however, these molecules are also present in cell-secreted vesicles. These vesicles are present in body fluids such as milk, serum, and ovarian follicular fluid. Vesicles are secreted in extracellular fluids and travel from donor to target cells, mediating transfer of bioactive material. Herein we discuss the role of hormonal-regulated miRNAs within different ovarian follicular cells as well as cell-secreted vesicles participation in mammalian ovarian follicular fluid. Furthermore, we discuss the possibility of miRNAs transference mediated by cell-secreted vesicles present in ovarian follicular fluid, increasing the versatility of miRNA functions during antral follicle development

NRF2 attenuation aggravates detrimental consequences of metabolic stress on cultured porcine parthenote embryos

Abstract The nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (NRF2) is a crucial transcription factor that plays a central role in regulating oxidative stress pathways by binding antioxidant response elements, but its involvement in early embryo development remains largely unexplored. In this study, we demonstrated that NRF2 mRNA is expressed in porcine embryos from day 2 to day 7 of development, showing a decrease in abundance from day 2 to day 3, followed by an increase on day 5 and day 7. Comparable levels of NRF2 mRNA were observed between early-cleaving and more developmental competent embryos and late-cleaving and less developmental competent embryos on day 4 and day 5 of culture. Attenuation of NRF2 mRNA significantly decreased development of parthenote embryos to the blastocyst stage. When NRF2-attenuated embryos were cultured in presence of 3.5 mM or 7 mM glucose, development to the blastocyst stage was dramatically decreased in comparison to the control group (15.9% vs. 27.8% for 3.5 mM glucose, and 5.4% vs. 25.3% for 7 mM glucose). Supplementation of melatonin moderately improved the development of NRF2-attenuated embryos cultured in presence of 0.6 mM glucose. These findings highlight the importance of NRF2 in early embryo development, particularly in embryos cultured under metabolically stressful conditions