Adenovirus-mediated gene delivery restores fertility in congenitally infertile female mice

Oogenesis depends on close interactions between oocytes and granulosa cells. Abnormal signaling between these cell types can result in infertility. However, attempts to manipulate oocyte-granulosa cell interactions have had limited success, likely due to the blood-follicle barrier (BFB), which prevents the penetration of exogenous materials into ovarian follicles. Here, we used adenoviruses (AVs) to manipulate the oocyte-granulosa cell interactions. AVs penetrated the BFB and transduced granulosa cells through ovarian microinjection. Although AVs caused transient inflammation, they did not impair fertility in wild-type mice. Introduction of Kitl-expressing AVs into congenitally infertile KitlSl-t/KitlSl-t mutant mouse ovaries, which contained only primordial follicles because of a lack of Kitl expression, restored fertility through natural mating. The offspring showed no evidence of AV integration and exhibited normal genomic imprinting patterns for imprinted genes. These results demonstrate the usefulness of AVs for manipulating oogenesis and suggest the possibility of gene therapies for human female infertility

Light emission patterns from stadium-shaped semiconductor microcavity lasers

We study light emission patterns from stadium-shaped semiconductor (GaAs) microcavity lasers theoretically and experimentally. Performing systematic wave calculations for passive cavity modes, we demonstrate that the averaging by low-loss modes, such as those realized in multi-mode lasing, generates an emission pattern in good agreement with the ray model's prediction. In addition, we show that the dependence of experimental far-field emission patterns on the aspect ratio of the stadium cavity is well reproduced by the ray model.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Fresnel filtering of Gaussian beams in microcavities

We study the output from the modes described by the superposition of Gaussian beams confined in the quasi-stadium microcavities. We experimentally observe the deviation from Snell's law in the output when the incident angle of the Gaussian beam at the cavity interface is near the critical angle for total internal reflection, providing direct experimental evidence on the Fresnel filtering. The theory of the Fresnel filtering for a planar interface qualitatively reproduces experimental data, and a discussion is given on small deviation between the measured data and the theory.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figure

Interdisciplinary therapy for severe periodontitis with Angle Class II Division 1 malocclusion : A case report with 7-year follow-up

Background: Previous studies have suggested that occlusal discrepancy is a risk factor contributing to periodontal disease. 1-3 Occlusal discrepancy could increase the risk of infrabony defects. This is a case of a patient with severe periodontitis who exhibited many infrabony defects in the molar region due to malocclusion-induced trauma. Here, we report the 7-year prognosis of the patient after periodontal regenerative and comprehensive orthodontic therapies for functional recovery with implant prosthodontics. Case Description: A 54-year-old female presented with the chief complaint of masticatory disturbance. In the molar region, significant tooth mobility, deep periodontal pockets, and infrabony defects were observed. She had excessive overjet, resulting in collapse of anterior guidance. Malocclusion was considered to be an exacerbating factor of the infrabony defects. After initial periodontal therapy, we performed periodontal regenerative therapy in the mandibular molar regions. We carefully placed implants in a position in the maxillary molar region that would ensure an appropriate anterior dental relationship after orthodontic treatment. Comprehensive orthodontic treatment was subsequently performed using implants as anchoring units. Then, definitive surgery was performed on the mandibular molars before placing the final prosthesis. A favorable periodontal condition and a stable occlusion have been maintained for the 7-year post-treatment period. Practical Implications: Comprehensive and interdisciplinary treatment enables stable occlusion and establishment of periodontal tissue and peri-implant tissues with high cleansability, even in patients with severe periodontitis and malocclusion. In the present case, a favorable long-term treatment outcome can be expected

Comprehensive treatment for severe periodontitis with pathologic tooth migration−related bimaxillary protrusion : A case report with 3-year follow-up

Background: Patients with severe periodontitis often experience pathologic tooth migration (PTM), which impairs esthetics and leads to occlusal disharmony (e.g., premature contacts and/or traumatic occlusion) that can further exacerbate periodontitis. Here, we describe a patient who exhibited severe periodontitis with PTM-related bimaxillary protrusion. This report includes 3-year clinical outcomes following periodontal regenerative therapy, implant-anchored orthodontic therapy, and implant prosthodontics intended to achieve both functional and esthetic improvements. Case Description: A 63-year-old woman presented with the chief complaint of upper anterior tooth mobility. Clinical examination revealed excessive tooth mobility, deep periodontal pockets, and infrabony defects in all teeth. All teeth exhibited PTM; the mandibular anterior teeth exhibited marked protrusion caused by the progression of periodontitis. After initial periodontal therapy, periodontal regenerative therapy was performed in all molar regions. At 9 and 6 months postoperatively, comprehensive orthodontic treatment was initiated for the mandible and maxilla, respectively, using orthodontic anchorage devices to achieve acceptable functional occlusion. After orthodontic treatment, staged guided bone regeneration was performed and dental implants were placed in the severely resorbed maxillary anterior ridge. This comprehensive treatment yielded favorable periodontal conditions, stable occlusion, and good esthetic outcomes. Practical Implications: Favorable esthetics, stable occlusion, and highly cleansable periodontal tissues were achieved with well-planned interdisciplinary and comprehensive treatment, although the patient had severe periodontitis and PTM-related bimaxillary protrusion

An interplay of NOX1-derived ROS and oxygen determines the spermatogonial stem cell self-renewal efficiency under hypoxia

酸素による活性酸素制御が精子形成に果たす役割を解明 --活性酸素制御の破綻が男性不妊を引き起こす--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-01-15.Reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by NADPH1 oxidase 1 (NOX1) are thought to drive spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) self-renewal through feed-forward production of ROS by the ROS-BCL6B-NOX1 pathway. Here we report the critical role of oxygen on ROS-induced self-renewal. Cultured SSCs proliferated poorly and lacked BCL6B expression under hypoxia despite increase in mitochondria-derived ROS. Due to lack of ROS amplification under hypoxia, NOX1-derived ROS were significantly reduced, and Nox1-deficient SSCs proliferated poorly under hypoxia but normally under normoxia. NOX1-derived ROS also influenced hypoxic response in vivo because Nox1-deficient undifferentiated spermatogonia showed significantly reduced expression of HIF1A, a master transcription factor for hypoxic response. Hypoxia-induced poor proliferation occurred despite activation of MYC and suppression of CDKN1A by HIF1A, whose deficiency exacerbated self-renewal efficiency. Impaired proliferation of Nox1- or Hif1a-deficient SSCs under hypoxia was rescued by Cdkn1a depletion. Consistent with these observations, Cdkn1a-deficient SSCs proliferated actively only under hypoxia but not under normoxia. On the other hand, chemical suppression of mitochondria-derived ROS or Top1mt mitochondria-specific topoisomerase deficiency did not influence SSC fate, suggesting that NOX1-derived ROS play a more important role in SSCs than mitochondria-derived ROS. These results underscore the importance of ROS origin and oxygen tension on SSC self-renewal

Chaos-assisted emission from asymmetric resonant cavity microlasers

We study emission from quasi-one-dimensional modes of an asymmetric resonant cavity that are associated with a stable periodic ray orbit confined inside the cavity by total internal reflection. It is numerically demonstrated that such modes exhibit directional emission, which is explained by chaos-assisted emission induced by dynamical tunneling. Fabricating semiconductor microlasers with the asymmetric resonant cavity, we experimentally demonstrate the selective excitation of the quasi-one-dimensional modes by employing the device structure to preferentially inject currents to these modes and observe directional emission in good accordance with the theoretical prediction based on chaos-assisted emission.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, some figures are in reduced qualit