IntroductionThe pandemic of COVID-19 disease has caused severe impact globally. Governments consider vaccination as an effective measure to control pandemic. However, many people have been hesitant ...to receive COVID-19 vaccine, particularly periconceptional and lactating women. Although research has indicated that pregnant women with COVID-19 are at a higher risk of adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes, as well as severe illness. There appears to be a lack of systematic and comprehensive evidence of the prevalence and determinants of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among periconceptional and lactating women. As a result, it has been essential to investigate periconceptional and lactating women’s vaccination views and behaviours. This study will review articles on vaccine hesitancy among periconceptional and lactating women to assess the impact of the COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy during the pandemic.Methods and analysisWe will systematically search observational studies from 1 November 2019 to 30 October 2021 in the following databases: Web of Science, PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, EBSCO, WHO COVID-19 Database, CNKI and WanFang Database. The following medical subject headings and free-text terms will be used: “COVID-19 vaccines” AND “female” AND “vaccine hesitancy”. Eligibility criteria are as follows: population (women of reproductive age); exposure (currently pregnant, lactational or trying to get pregnant); comparison (general women who are not in preconception, gestation or lactation) and outcome (the rate of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy). Article screening and data extraction will be undertaken independently by two reviewers, and any discrepancy will be resolved through discussion. We will use I2 statistics to assess heterogeneity and perform a meta-analysis when sufficiently homogeneous studies are provided. We will explore the potential sources of heterogeneity using subgroup and meta-regression analysis.Ethics and disseminationThis study will use published data, so ethical approval is not required. The findings will be disseminated by publication in peer-reviewed journal(s).PROSPERO registration numberCRD42021257511.
In the pig production industry, artificial insemination (AI) plays an important role in enlarging the beneficial impact of elite boars. Understanding the genetic architecture and detecting genetic ...markers associated with semen traits can help in improving genetic selection for such traits and accelerate genetic progress. In this study, we utilized a weighted single-step genome-wide association study (wssGWAS) procedure to detect genetic regions and further candidate genes associated with semen traits in a Duroc boar population. Overall, the full pedigree consists of 5284 pigs (12 generations), of which 2693 boars have semen data (143,113 ejaculations) and 1733 pigs were genotyped with 50 K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array.
Results show that the most significant genetic regions (0.4 Mb windows) explained approximately 2%~ 6% of the total genetic variances for the studied traits. Totally, the identified significant windows (windows explaining more than 1% of total genetic variances) explained 28.29, 35.31, 41.98, and 20.60% of genetic variances (not phenotypic variance) for number of sperm cells, sperm motility, sperm progressive motility, and total morphological abnormalities, respectively. Several genes that have been previously reported to be associated with mammal spermiogenesis, testes functioning, and male fertility were detected and treated as candidate genes for the traits of interest: Number of sperm cells, TDRD5, QSOX1, BLK, TIMP3, THRA, CSF3, and ZPBP1; Sperm motility, PPP2R2B, NEK2, NDRG, ADAM7, SKP2, and RNASET2; Sperm progressive motility, SH2B1, BLK, LAMB1, VPS4A, SPAG9, LCN2, and DNM1; Total morphological abnormalities, GHR, SELENOP, SLC16A5, SLC9A3R1, and DNAI2.
In conclusion, candidate genes associated with Duroc boars' semen traits, including the number of sperm cells, sperm motility, sperm progressive motility, and total morphological abnormalities, were identified using wssGWAS. KEGG and GO enrichment analysis indicate that the identified candidate genes were enriched in biological processes and functional terms may be involved into spermiogenesis, testes functioning, and male fertility.
GATA proteins are transcription factors of zinc finger proteins, which play an important role in plant growth development and abiotic stress. However, there have been no identification or systematic ...studies of the GATA gene family in eggplant. In this study, 28 SmGATA genes were identified in the genome database of eggplant, which could be divided into four subgroups. Plant development, hormones, and stress-related cis -acting elements were identified in promoter regions of the SmGATA gene family. RT-qPCR indicated that 4 SmGATA genes displayed upregulated expressions during fruit developmental stage, whereas 2 SmGATA genes were down-regulated expression patterns. It was also demonstrated that SmGATA genes may be involved in light signals to regulate fruit anthocyanin biosynthesis. Furthermore, the expression patterns of SmGATA genes under ABA, GA and MeJA treatments showed that the SmGATA s were involved in the process of fruit ripening. Notably, SmGATA4 and SmGATA23 were highly correlated with the expression of anthocyanin biosynthesis genes, light-responsive genes, and genes that function in multiple hormone signaling pathways and the proteins they encoded were localized in the nucleus. All these results showed GATA genes likely play a major role in regulating fruit anthocyanin biosynthesis by integrating the light, ABA, GA and MeJA signaling pathways and provided references for further research on fruit quality in eggplant.
Urinary retention is one of the most frequent complications of spinal cord injuries (SCI) and negatively impacts patient satisfaction and quality of life. Acupuncture as an integral part of ...traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has recently drawn widespread attention for its potential in the management of urinary retention. However, there are many different styles of acupuncture-related techniques, and the optimal choice of acupuncture for urinary retention after SCI is still unclear. Hence, this study uses a Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) to compare the efficacy of different types of acupuncture therapies using both direct and indirect evidence.
Randomized controlled trials of acupuncture-related techniques for treating urinary retention after SCI were retrieved from the following electronic databases: Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), the Chinese Biomedical Literature Service System (SinoMed), the Wan-Fang database, and the Chinese Scientific Journals Database (VIP). The retrieval time was from inception to November 2020. Clinical effective rate (CER) was the primary outcome indicator and residual urine volume (RUV) was the secondary outcome indicator. A Bayesian NMA was performed using the Markov chain Monte Carlo method in R software (version 3.6.1) interfacing with JAGS software (version 4.3.0). The node-splitting method was used to identify inconsistencies. In addition, a comparative adjusted funnel plot was used to assess publication bias.
A total of 26 randomized controlled trials involving 1,652 patients were included. Bayesian NMA showed that electroacupuncture combined with moxibustion ranks first in both CER and RUV. In addition, in terms of cumulative probability, electro-acupuncture combined with moxibustion ranked first in CER. The results of the node splitting method revealed that direct and indirect evidence were consistent (
> 0.05). In addition, publication bias was detected.
A Bayesian NMA that combined direct and indirect comparisons showed that electro-acupuncture combined with moxibustion had a better effect on urinary retention due to SCI. However, it still needs a large sample size and high-quality randomized controlled trials to verify this finding.
https://inplasy.com/, identifier: INPLASY2021110005.
In adult skeletal muscle, satellite cells are in a quiescent state, which is essential for the future activation of muscle homeostasis and regeneration. Multiple studies have investigated satellite ...cell proliferation and differentiation, but the molecular mechanisms that safeguard the quiescence of satellite cells remain largely unknown. In this study, we purposely activated dormant satellite cells by using various stimuli and captured the in vivo-preserved features from quiescence to activation transitions. We found that retinoic acid signaling was required for quiescence maintenance. Mechanistically, retinoic acid receptor gamma (RARγ) binds to and stimulates genes responsible for Akt dephosphorylation and subsequently inhibits overall protein translation initiation in satellite cells. Furthermore, the alleviation of retinoic acid signaling released the satellite cells from quiescence, but this restraint was lost in aged cells. Retinoic acid also preserves the quiescent state during satellite cell isolation, overcoming the cellular stress caused by the isolation process. We conclude that active retinoic acid signaling contributes to the maintenance of the quiescent state of satellite cells through regulation of the protein translation initiation process.
In the post-genomic era, virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) has played an important role in research on reverse genetics in plants. Commonly used
-mediated VIGS inoculation methods include stem ...scratching, leaf infiltration, use of agrodrench, and air-brush spraying. In this study, we developed a root wounding-immersion method in which 1/3 of the plant root (length) was cut and immersed in a tobacco rattle virus (TRV)1:TRV2 mixed solution for 30 min. We optimized the procedure in
and successfully silenced
, tomato (
), pepper (
L.), eggplant (
), and
phytoene desaturase (
), and we observed the movement of green fluorescent protein (GFP) from the roots to the stem and leaves. The silencing rate of
in
and tomato was 95-100%. In addition, we successfully silenced two disease-resistance genes,
and
, to decrease disease resistance in tomatoes (CLN2037E). The root wounding-immersion method can be used to inoculate large batches of plants in a short time and with high efficiency, and fresh bacterial infusions can be reused several times. The most important aspect of the root wounding-immersion method is its application to plant species susceptible to root inoculation, as well as its ability to inoculate seedlings from early growth stages. This method offers a means to conduct large-scale functional genome screening in plants.
The Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that causes viral encephalitis in humans, pigs and other mammals across Asia and the Western Pacific. Genetic screening tools such ...as CRISPR screening, DNA sequencing and RNA interference have greatly improved our understanding of JEV replication and its potential antiviral approaches. However, information on exon and intron mutations associated with JEV replication is still scanty. CRISPR-Cas9-mediated cytosine base editing can efficiently generate C: G-to-T: A conversion in the genome of living cells. One intriguing application of base editing is to screen pivotal variants for gene function that is yet to be achieved in pigs. Here, we illustrate that CRISPR-Cas9-mediated cytosine base editor, known as AncBE4max, can be used for the functional analysis of calreticulin (CALR) variants. We conducted a CRISPR-Cas9-mediated cytosine base editing screen using 457 single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) against all exons and introns of CALR to identify loss-of-function variants involved in JEV replication. We unexpectedly uncovered that two enriched sgRNAs targeted the same site in intron-2 of the CALR gene. We found that mutating four consecutive G bases in the intron-2 of the CALR gene to four A bases significantly inhibited JEV replication. Thus, we established a CRISPR-Cas9-mediated cytosine-base-editing point mutation screening technique in pigs. Our results suggest that CRISPR-mediated base editing is a powerful tool for identifying the antiviral functions of variants in the coding and noncoding regions of the CALR gene.
Improvement of the growth rate is a challenge in the pig industry, the Average Daily Gain (ADG) and Days (AGE) to 100 kg are directly related to growth performance. We performed genome-wide ...association study (GWAS) and genetic parameters estimation for ADG and AGE using the genomic and phonemic from four breed (Duroc, Yorkshire, Landrace, and Pietrain) populations. All analyses were performed by a multi-loci GWAS model, FarmCPU. The GWAS results of all four breeds indicate that five genome-wide significant SNPs were associated with ADG, and the nearby genomic regions explained 4.08% of the genetic variance and 1.90% of the phenotypic variance, respectively. For AGE, six genome-wide significant SNPs were detected, and the nearby genomic regions explained 8.09% of the genetic variance and 3.52% of phenotypic variance, respectively. In total, nine candidate genes were identified to be associated with growth and metabolism. Among them,
was reported to associate with pig growth,
were reported to associate with growth traits in human and mouse. The newly detected candidate genes will advance the understanding of growth related traits and the identification of the novel variants will suggest a potential use in pig genomic breeding programs.
Salamanders are excellent models for studying vertebrate brain regeneration, with the promise of developing novel therapies for human brain lesions. Yet the molecular and cellular mechanism of ...salamander brain regeneration remains largely elusive. The insight into the evolution of complex brain structures that lead to advanced functions in the mammalian brain is also inadequate. With high-resolution single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics, three recent studies have reported the differentiation paths of cells in the salamander telencephalon in the journal
Science
, bringing both old and new cell types into the focus and shedding light on vertebrate brain evolution, development, and regeneration.
Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21), a secretion protein, functions as a pivotal regulator of energy metabolism and is being considered as a therapeutic candidate in metabolic syndromes. However, the ...roles of FGF21 in myogenic differentiation and cell cycle remain obscure. In this study, we investigated the function of FGF21 in myogenesis and cell cycle exit using C2C12 cell line. Our data showed that the expression of myogenic genes as well as cell cycle exit genes was increased after FGF21 overexpression, and FGF21 overexpression induces cell cycle arrest. Moreover, cell cycle genes were decreased in FGF21 overexpression cells while they were increased in FGF21 knockdown cells. Further, FGF21/P53/p21/Cyclin-CDK has been suggested as the key pathway for cell cycle exit mediated by FGF21 in C2C12 cells. Also, we deduce that FGF21 promotes the initiation of myogenic differentiation mainly through enhancing cell cycle exit of C2C12 cells. Taken together, our results demonstrated that FGF21 promotes cell cycle exit and enhances myogenic differentiation of C2C12 cells. This study provided new evidence that FGF21 promotes myogenic differentiation, which could be useful for better understanding the roles of FGF21 in myogenesis.
PDF
