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Ex vivo tissue culture of the human corpus cavernosum (CC) can be used to explore the tissue structural changes and complex signaling networks. At present, artificial CC-like tissues based on acellular or three-dimensional (3D)-printed scaffolds are used to solve the scarcity of primary penis tissue samples. However, inconvenience and high costs limit the wide application of such methods. Here, we describe a simple, fast, and economical method of constructing artificial CC-like tissue. Human CC fibroblasts (FBs), endothelial cells (ECs), and smooth muscle cells (SMCs) were expanded in vitro and mixed with Matrigel in specific proportions. A large number of bubbles were formed in the mixture by vortexing combined with pipette blowing, creating a porous, spongy, and spatial structure. The CC FBs produced a variety of signaling factors, showed multidirectional differentiation potential, and grew in a 3D grid in Matrigel, which is necessary for CC-like tissue to maintain a porous structure as a cell scaffold. Within the CC-like tissue, ECs covered the surface of the lumen, and SMCs were located inside the trabeculae, similar to the structure of the primary CC. Various cell components remained stable for 3 days in vitro, but the EC content decreased on the 7th day. Wingless/integrated (WNT) signaling activation led to lumen atrophy and increased tissue fibrosis in CC-like tissue, inducing the same changes in characteristics as in the primary CC. This study describes a preparation method for human artificial CC-like tissue that may provide an improved experimental platform for exploring the function and structure of the CC and conducting drug screening for erectile dysfunction therapy.

Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is the most common genetic cause of human male infertility. However, the effect of the extra X chromosome on different testicular cell types remains poorly understood. Here, we profiled testicular single-cell transcriptomes from three KS patients and normal karyotype control individuals. Among the different somatic cells, Sertoli cells showed the greatest transcriptome changes in KS patients. Further analysis showed that X-inactive-specific transcript (XIST), a key factor that inactivates one X chromosome in female mammals, was widely expressed in each testicular somatic cell type but not in Sertoli cells. The loss of XIST in Sertoli cells leads to an increased level of X chromosome genes, and further disrupts their transcription pattern and cellular function. This phenomenon was not detected in other somatic cells such as Leydig cells and vascular endothelial cells. These results proposed a new mechanism to explain why testicular atrophy in KS patients is heterogeneous with loss of seminiferous tubules but interstitial hyperplasia. Our study provides a theoretical basis for subsequent research and related treatment of KS by identifying Sertoli cell-specific X chromosome inactivation failure.

Freshwater mussels of the tribe Gonideini (Bivalvia: Unionidae: Gonideinae) constitute one of the most taxonomically diverse groups and serve as keystone species in riverine and lacustrine ecosystems across East Asia. A new genus and species of Gonideini (Bivalvia: Unionidae) is described from Jiangxi, China, as Pseudopostolata angula gen. et sp. nov. based on an integrative analysis of shell morphology and molecular data. The validity of the new genus and species is supported by distinct conchological features: a short, rounded anterior; a long, wide posterior; a slightly downward-curved dorsal margin; and a distinctly obtuse angle at the center of the posterior margin. The multi-locus (COI + 16S rRNA + 28S rRNA) phylogeny showed that the species formed a monophyletic group in the tribe Gonideini of the subfamily Gonideinae. Pseudopostolata angula gen. et sp. nov. is identified as the sister group to a clade comprising the genera Postolata, Cosmopseudodon, Obovalis, Ptychorhynchus, Parvasolenaia, and Koreosolenaia. We emphasize the significant morphological convergence in freshwater mussels, particularly within Gonideini, highlighting the necessity of an integrated taxonomic approach for accurate generic classification of this group.