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Cyclophilin A (CypA) serves as a principal receptor of Cyclosporin A (CsA) within cells, exhibiting considerable biodiversity and playing an important role in immune system. In this study, the full-length cDNA sequence (GenBank ID: MN121742) of CypA of Hyriopsis cumingii was obtained using PCR and RACE technology. The cDNA sequence spans 1237 bp, comprising a 57 bp 5' noncoding region (UTR), a 688 bp 3' noncoding region, and a 492 bp open reading frame, encoding a total of 164 amino acids. The theoretical isoelectric point of the CypA cDNA sequence is 8.9, and the relative molecular weight is 17.29 kD. A search for homologous sequences in GenBank revealed high similarities between CypA amino acid sequence of Hyriopsis cumingii and those of other shellfish species, including Hyriopsis schlegelii (99.39%), Cyclina sinensis (77.44%), Ruditapes philippinarum (78.05%), Crassostrea ariakensis (78.66%), and Solen grandis (75.05%). Utilizing SWISS-MODEL, it was predicted that CypA of Hyriopsis cumingii contains 8 p-pleated sheets and 2 a helixes, potentially forming the active central region of CypA. A multiple sequence comparative analysis was carried out by using the MEGA 5.1 Software, and a phylogenetic tree of the genetic system was constructed employing the neighbor-joining method. The analysis revealed that CypA of Hyriopsis cumingii clustered with CypA of shellfish from the same genus, particularly exhibiting a close genetic relationship with CypA of Hyriopsis schlegelii. The expressions levels of CypA in different tissues of Hyriopsis cumingii were assessed through qRT-PCR, indicating the highest expression in the gonad, followed by the liver, kidney and gill. Upon exposure to Aeromonas hydrophila, a bacterial infection, expression levels of CypA in gonad, liver, gill, and intestines exhibited an initial increase followed by a subsequent decrease within the first 72h of infection. Specifically, peak expression levels were observed at 6h in gonad and gill, at 12h in liver, and at 24h in intestines. This proves that Aeromonas hydrophila infection significantly induce the expressions of CypA in Hyriopsis cumingii. Expression level of CypA in gonad reaches the peak earlier than that in liver and intestines. Moreover, the relative expression times (14.91) of CypA in gonad at peak is significantly higher than those in liver (9.89), intestines (9.78) and gill (7.53). It is speculated that CypA plays an important role in defending against bacterial infections in gonad, which may not only serve reproductive functions, but also contribute significantly to immune defense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial degradable feather meal is using the feather degrading enzymes produced by microorganisms to degrade feather keratin and turn it into a protein, which can be absorbed by livestock and poultry. Microbial fermented feather meal can significantly reduce the intestinal protease activity in livestock and poultry diets, but has no significant effect on animal performance, and can reduce the feeding cost. The paper reviews the nutritional value and microbial degradation mechanism of feather waste and its application effect in livestock and poultry production, to provide a reference for the application of feather waste in livestock and poultry production practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humoral immunity is the first line of defense in the invertebrate immune system, and antimicrobial peptides play an important role in this biological process. A novel antimicrobial peptide, termed Tatritin, was identified and characterized in hemolymph of Chinese horseshoe crab, Tachypleus tridentatus , infected with Gram-negative bacteria via transcriptome analysis. Tatritin was significantly induced by bacterial infection in hemolymph and gill. The preprotein of Tatritin consists of a signal peptide (21 aa) and a mature peptide (47 aa) enriched by cysteine. The putative mature peptide was 5.6 kDa with a theoretical isoelectric point (pI) of 9.99 and showed a α -helix structure in the N-terminal and an anti-parallel β -sheet structure in the cysteine-stabilized C-terminal region. The chemically synthesized peptide of Tatritin exhibited a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and fungi. Furthermore, Tatritin may recognize and inhibit pathogenic microorganisms by directly binding to LPS, DNA, and chitin. In addition, administration of Tatritin reduced the mortality of zebrafish after bacterial infection. Due to its broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity in vivo and in vitro and the sensitivity to drug-resistant bacterial strains, Tatritin peptide can be used as a new type of drug for infection treatment or as an immune enhancer in animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective·To analyze the clinical features of the patients with 45, X/46, XY mosaicism, and improve the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Methods·The clinical manifestations, the level of sex hormones, and the gonads pathology of the patients with 45,X/46,XY mosaicism diagnosed by G-banding karyotype analysis and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) were retrospectively analyzed, who were admitted in Children's Hospital of Soochow University from January 2014 to December 2020. Results·Twenty-three patients with 45,X/46,XY mosaicism were included, among whom 11 cases were the female phenotype, and 12 cases were the male phenotype. In these patients, 12 patients were diagnosed by Gbanding karyotype analysis, 10 patients were diagnosed by FISH, and only 1 patient was diagnosed by array-based comparative genomic hybridization. The age of the first diagnosis was 0.3-14.9 years. The mean age of the patients with the female phenotype was (9.3±3.9) years, which was bigger than that of the male phenotype [(4.4±3.7) years, P<0.05]. All the patients above 1 year old had different degrees of short stature, especially in the female phenotype patients. In the female phenotype patients, three patients had clitoromegaly, while the other patients had no masculine appearance of external genitalia. The external masculinisation scores (EMS) of the patients with the female phenotype were 0-2.5. Twelve patients with the male phenotype were in pre-adolescent state, among whom 4 patients had hypospadias combined with cryptorchidism, 3 patients had hypospadias, 3 patients had small testicles, and 2 patients had normal external genitalia. The EMS of them ranged from 4 to 12, with a mean score of 10.5. All the patients with the female phenotype had hypergonadotropic hypogonadism, while most of the patients with the male phenotype had gonadotropin levels matched with their age. There were 3 patients with the female phenotype having gonadoblastomas. Conclusion·The 45,X/46,XY mosaicism patients present a wide spectrum of manifestations. The risk of gonadal malignancy onset should be emphasized. EMS has guiding significance for clinical evaluation of these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese horseshoe crab, Tachypleus tridentatus , is an ancient marine arthropod with a long evolutionary history. As a kind of living fossil species, the pathogen defenses of horseshoe crabs entirely depend on the innate immune system. Although, there are abundant immune molecules found in the horseshoe crab hemolymph, the biological mechanisms underlying their abilities of distinguishing and defending against invading microbes are still unclear. In this study, we used high-throughput sequencing at mRNA and protein levels and bioinformatics analysis methods to systematically analyze the innate immune response to Gram-negative bacteria in hemolymph of Chinese horseshoe crab. These results showed that many genes in the complement and coagulation cascades, Toll, NF-κB, C-type lectin receptor, JAK-STAT, and MAPK signaling pathways, and antimicrobial substances were activated at 12 and 24 h post-infection, suggesting that Gram-negative bacteria could activate the hemolymph coagulation cascade and antibacterial substances release via the above pathways. In addition, we conjectured that Toll and NF-κB signaling pathway were most likely to participate in the immune response to Gram-negative bacteria in hemolymph of horseshoe crab through an integral signal cascade. These findings will provide a useful reference for exploring the ancient original innate immune mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei), one of the most widely cultured shrimp species in the world, often suffers from cold stress. To understand the molecular mechanism of cold tolerance in Pacific white shrimp, we conducted a proteomic analysis on two contrasting shrimp cultivars, namely, cold-tolerant Guihai2 (GH2) and cold-sensitive Guihai1 (GH1), under normal temperature (28°C), under cold stress (16°C), and during recovery to 28°C. In total, 3,349 proteins were identified, among which 2,736 proteins were quantified. Based on gene ontology annotations, differentially expressed proteins largely belonged to biological processes, cellular components, and molecular functions. KEGG pathway annotations indicated that the main changes were observed in the lysosome, ribosomes, and oxidative phosphorylation. Subcellular localization analysis showed a significant increase in proteins present in cytosol, extracellular regions, and mitochondria. Combining enrichment-based clustering analysis and qRT-PCR analysis, we found that glutathione S-transferase, zinc proteinase, m7GpppX diphosphatase, AP2 transcription complex, and zinc-finger transcription factors played a major role in the cold stress response in Pacific white shrimp. Moreover, structure proteins, including different types of lectin and DAPPUDRAFT, were indispensable for cold stress tolerance of the Pacific white shrimp. Results indicate the molecular mechanisms of the Pacific white shrimp in response to cold stress and provide new insight into breeding new cultivars with increased cold tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass was used as reducing agent to roast the Baotou low-grade limonite in a high temperature vacuum atmosphere furnace. The effect of calcination temperature, time and ratio of reducing agent on the magnetic properties of calcined ore was studied by VSM. The phase and microstructure changes of limonite before and after calcination were analyzed by XRD and SEM. The results show that in the roasting process the phase transition process of the ferrous material in limonite is first dehydrated at high temperature to formα-Fe2O3, and then it is converted into Fe3O4 by the reduction of biomass. With the increase of calcination temperature, the magnetic properties of the calcined ore first increase and then decrease. When the temperature is higher than 650°C, Fe3O4 will become Fe2SiO4, resulting in reduced the magnetic material in calcined ore and the magnetic weakened. The best magnetization effect was obtained when the roasting temperature is 550°C, the percentage of biomass was 15% and the roasting time was 30min. The saturation magnetization can reach 60.13emu·g-1, the recovery of iron was 72% and the grade of iron was 58%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low temperature frequently influences growth, development, and even survival of aquatic animals. In the present study, physiological and molecular responses to low temperature in Litopenaeus vannamei were investigated. The cDNA sequences of two oxygen-carrying proteins, cytoglobin (Cygb) and neuroglobin (Ngb), were isolated. Protein structure analysis revealed that both proteins share a globin superfamily domain. Real-time PCR analysis indicated that Cygb and Ngb mRNA levels gradually increased during decrease in temperatures from 25 to 15°C and then decreased at 10°C in muscle, brain, stomach, and heart, except for a continuing increase in gills, whereas they showed a different expression trend in the hepatopancreas. Hemocyanin concentration gradually reduced as the temperature decreased. Moreover, the activities of respiratory metabolic enzymes including lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) were measured, and it was found that LDH activity gradually increased while SDH activity decreased after low-temperature treatment. Finally, damage to gill structure at low temperature was also observed, and this intensified with further decrease in temperature. Taken together, these results show that low temperature has an adverse influence in L. vannamei, which contributes to systematic understanding of the adaptation mechanisms of shrimp at low temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel conjugated polymer, poly( 1), containing thiourea moieties in main chain is synthesized via Suzuki coupling reaction. The addition of cuprous ion quenches the fluorescence of poly( 1), whereas the fluorescence changes slightly upon addition of other metal ions, exhibiting the fluorescent almost turn-off sensing ability towards Cu. When hydrogen peroxide was added to the solution containing poly( 1) and Cu, Cu was oxidized into Cu, resulting in the fluorescence recovery. The HO released from glucose oxidation by glucose oxidase (GOD) also recovered the fluorescence of poly( 1)/Cu solution. The results indicated that the poly( 1)/Cu solution could serve as a sensing platform for hydrogen peroxide and glucose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let ( H, α) be a monoidal Hom-Hopf algebra and ( A, β) a right ( H, α)-Homcomodule algebra. We first introduce the notion of a relative Hom-Hopf module and prove that the functor F from the category of relative Hom-Hopf modules to the category of right ( A, β)-Hom-modules has a right adjoint. Furthermore, we prove a Maschke type theorem for the category of relative Hom-Hopf modules. In fact, we give necessary and sufficient conditions for the functor that forgets the ( H, α)-coaction to be separable. This leads to a generalized notion of integrals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We set out to delineate the phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), a congenital neurodevelopmental disorder caused by the lack of expression of the paternally inherited imprinted genes on chromosome 15q11-13 in 31 Chinese patients. They were genotyped to identify deletions using methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction analysis and subsequent methylation-specific multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification analysis. Microsatellite linkage analysis was performed to distinguish maternal uniparental disomy (UPD) from imprinting defect. Clinical manifestations were recorded and compared between patients with paternal 15q11-13 deletion and UPD. Deletions in the 15q11-13 region were present in 26 (83.9 %) patients, and UPD was observed in 5 (16.1 %) patients. The mean maternal age at the time of childbirth for mUPD children (32.8 ± 5.1 years) was significantly higher than that of children with paternal 15q11-13 deletion (27.1±3.2 years, P < 0.05). All patients had neonatal hypotonia, feeding difficulties in infancy, and decreased fetal activity, but only 12.9 % of the patients showed short stature, 54.8 % presented typical facial features, and 35.5 % showed skin picking lesions. Conclusion: Significant heterogeneity in clinical phenotypes and genotypes in PWS were observed between Chinese and Western populations in this study. This suggests that ethnic differences may be relevant to the diagnostic criteria for PWS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The technique of interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer, in which interspecies cloned embryos can be reconstructed by using domestic animal oocytes as nuclear recipients and endangered animal or human somatic cells as nuclear donors, can afford more opportunities in endangered animal rescue and human tissue transplantation, but the application of this technique is limited by extremely low efficiency which may be attributed to donor nucleus not fully reprogrammed by xenogenic cytoplasm. In this study, goat fetal fibroblasts (GFFs) were used as nuclear donors, in vitro-matured sheep oocytes were used as nuclear recipients, and a two-stage nuclear transfer procedure was performed to improve the developmental ability of goat-sheep interspecies clone embryos. In the first stage nuclear transfer (FSNT), GFFs were injected into the ooplasm of enucleated sheep metaphase-II oocytes, then non-activated reconstructed embryos were cultured in vitro, so that the donor nucleus could be exposed to the ooplasm for a period of time. Subsequently, in the second stage nuclear transfer, FSNT-derived non-activated reconstructed embryo was centrifuged, and the donor nucleus was then transferred into another freshly enucleated sheep oocyte. Compared with the one-stage nuclear transfer, two-stage nuclear transfer could significantly enhance the blastocyst rate of goat-sheep interspecies clone embryos, and this result indicated that longtime exposure to xenogenic ooplasm benefits the donor nucleus to be reprogrammed. The two-stage nuclear transfer procedure has two advantages, one is that the donor nucleus can be exposed to the ooplasm for a long time, the other is that the problem of oocyte aging can be solved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of nucleoside analogues such as lamivudine (LAM), actually used for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B, can suppress HBV DNA replication, improve transaminase level and liver histology, and enhance the rate of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) clearance. The responses to LAM therapy involve HBeAg clearance and HBV DNA conversion of negative. However, the associations between HBV genotype B/C and response to LAM therapy remain ambiguous. The aim of this meta-analysis is to determine more precise estimations of the relationship. All the publications on the associations between HBV genotype B/C and response to LAM (HBeAg clearance and HBV DNA conversion of negative) through June 2013 were collected. Relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) was calculated in fixed or random model, I² was calculated to examine heterogeneity, and funnel plots were plotted to examine small study effects with Stata 11 software. Overall, for HBeAg clearance and genotype B/C, the RR (95% CI) was 1.27 (0.94-1.71), while for HBV DNA conversion of negative and genotype B/C, the RR (95% CI) was 1.07 (0.98-1.17). HBV genotype B/C shows no significance associations with response to lamivudine therapy (HBeAg clearance and HBV DNA conversion of negative). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]