Project description:Apigenin Prevents Differentiation and Maintains Self-Renewal of Porcine Spermatogonial Stem Cells During Long-Term In Vitro Culture via PI3K/AKT/mTOR Pathway Modulation
Project description:Vocal fold epithelial cells (VFE) serve critical physiologic and immunologic functions at the boundary between the upper and lower airways but are difficult to maintain and expand in primary culture. This technical challenge has impeded progress in VFE biology as well as cell banking for translational applications. Here, using primary human VFE, we show that simultaneous inhibition of TGF-β, ROCK, and Notch signaling with a small-molecule inhibitor cocktail enables rapid proliferation, successful passaging, and long-term expansion while preserving core epithelial phenotype. Under anchorage-independent culture conditions, VFE progenitors generate clonal spheres that can be expanded over multiple generations; sphere-dissociated VFE then revert towards their original phenotype, including the ability to form stratified squamous epithelium in organotypic coculture. Both pathway-inhibited and sphere-cultured VFE exhibit mechanistically appropriate remodeling of the cellular proteome. These advances offer a robust toolkit for upper airway mucosal biology and regenerative medicine.
Project description:Large White and Meishan pigs were either non-treated or injected with mammalian 1-24 ACTH (Immediate Synachten, Novartis France) at the dose of 250 µg per animal. Pigs were sacrificed either immediately after capture from their home cage (non-treated animals) or 1 hour following ACTH injection. Adrenal glands were immediately collected from pigs and frozen on dry ice and then stored at -80°C until RNA isolation. Keywords: stress response, adrenal, gene expression, pig
Project description:Maternal exposure to estrogens can induce long-term adverse effects in the offspring. This may be mediated through alterations in the endometrium affecting embryo-maternal communication as early as the preimplantational phase. Thus, we analyzed the effects of gestational estradiol-17β (E2) exposure on the endometrium. Two distinct low doses and a high dose (0.05, 10 and 1000 µg E2/kg body weight daily, respectively) were orally applied to sows from insemination until sampling at day 10 of pregnancy and compared to carrier-treated controls. RNA-sequencing revealed a dose-dependent increase of 14, 17 and 27 differentially expressed genes (DEG), respectively. Overall, the maternal E2 treatment perturbed gene expression of the endometrium, potentially altering the uterine histotroph.
