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BACKGROUND Golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) is an endangered primate species, whose molecular material for conservation purposes has not yet been maintained. Although small-molecule compounds (SMCs) have been reported to improve induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), their efficiency in the interspecies-transferred nucleus is still unknown. METHODS We thus used the fibroblasts from the golden snub-nosed monkey treated with SMC as donor cells, injected into the enucleated oocytes of goats, to test such efficiency. Gene expression profiles in the cell-constructed embryos with and without SMCs were compared by qPCR. RESULTS The results show that cell morphology undergoes remarkable changes (volume is smaller than normal cells, and many black spots in the cytoplasm were found); pluripotent genes (Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog) significantly increased with SMC treatment. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates that SMCs alter the properties of donor cells and promote the expression of pluripotent genes in hybrid embryos.

Small molecular compounds could improve the induction efficiency of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). To investigate their effects on the efficiency of interspecies nuclear transfers, fibroblasts from the Chuan snub-nosed monkey were treated with small molecular compounds and used as donor cells to be injected into the enucleated oocytes of a goat. The gene expression profiles in the cell-constructed embryos, with and without the small molecular compound treatments, were determined by qPCR. Results showed that the cell morphology showed obvious changes, while the gene expression profiles of the fibroblasts were altered by the treatment. The pluripotent genes (Oct4, sox2, and nanog) were significantly increased on treatment with the small molecular compounds. Results demonstrated that these small molecular compounds could alter the properties of the donor cells, to promote the expression levels of the pluripotent genes for the Chuan golden-goat interspecies embryo, which would provide references for conservation of Chuan snub-nosed monkey.

Pure Bi 2 SiO 5 crystals were firstly prepared by a novel method of melt-cooling process with Bi 2 O 3 and SiO 2 as starting materials. In this study, the preparation and properties of the samples were characterized by thermo gravimetric (TG), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results showed several endothermic valleys at 579.6 °C, 744.3 °C, 829.3 °C and 879.2 °C during heating process; and a distinct exothermic peak at 805.3 °C during the melt cooling process. XRD and SEM images revealed highly-ordered lamellar pure Bi 2 SiO 5 crystals with coarse grains can be achieved by 2 h heating at 805.3 °C.

The mechanically improved foam glass composite toughened by glass fiber was prepared by sintering technique, using waste sodium-calcium silicon flat glass powder as main raw materials. In this study, the preparation and properties of the samples were characterized by differential thermal analysis (DTA), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and mechanical property test. The specific strength of the composite was defined for the first time, and applied into the investigation of mechanical property. The results show that the specific improved bending strength of 10.45–22.26 MPa/(g cm − 3 ), and the specific compressive strength of 30.45–34.34 MPa/(g cm − 3 ) can be displayed when sintered at 790–815 °C with the addition of 5–25 wt.% glass fiber. Good correlations between the microstructure (in particular the fiber distribution), the high specific strength and the high modulus of elasticity of glass fibers.