Article
Microbiology
Yumin Kan, Yanjie Zhang, Wenhui Lin, Tao Dong
Summary: Chemical pesticides have negative consequences such as drug resistance and environmental contamination, hence alternative strategies are needed. This study demonstrates the strong inhibition capabilities of an engineered T6SS-active but avirulent mutant of Acidovorax citrulli against various pathogenic bacteria, providing an effective alternative to chemical pesticides for sustainable agriculture practices.
Article
Cell & Tissue Engineering
Jiaowei Wang, Wenguang Xie, Nan Li, Wenjuan Li, Zhishuai Zhang, Nana Fan, Zhen Ouyang, Yu Zhao, Chengdan Lai, Hao Li, Mengqi Chen, Longquan Quan, Yunpan Li, Yu Jiang, Wenqi Jia, Lixin Fu, Md. Abdul Mazid, Yanling Zhu, Patrick H. Maxwell, Guangjin Pan, Miguel A. Esteban, Zhen Dai, Liangxue Lai
Summary: Heterologous organ transplantation is limited by organ shortage. Generating human organs in large mammals through embryo complementation faces challenges, but using optimized culture conditions and overexpressing pro-survival genes has enabled the formation of organized human-pig chimeric kidney structures, offering new possibilities for regenerative medicine and the study of human kidney development.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Alessandra Petrucciani, Peter Chaerle, Alessandra Norici
Summary: Predation is a strong selection pressure for phytoplankton, prompting the evolution of strategies to avoid being preyed upon. This study found that size and shape are important factors in predator avoidance, and the silicification of cell walls may also play a role in prey selection by copepods.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Chang-Shun Wang, Hui-Qing Wang, Wei Wang, Cun-Zhu Liang, Hua-Min Liu, Li-Xin Wang
Summary: In a salt stressed grassland ecosystem, Reaumuria soongarica has higher salt tolerance and efficient salt secretion ability, giving it a competitive advantage in the plant community and allowing it to establish dominant communities in saline regions.
Article
Oncology
Mary Eapen, Ruta Brazauskas, David A. Williams, Mark C. Walters, Andrew St Martin, Benjamin L. Jacobs, Joseph H. Antin, Kira Bona, Sonali Chaudhury, Victoria H. Coleman-Cowger, Nancy L. DiFronzo, Erica B. Esrick, Joshua J. Field, Courtney D. Fitzhugh, Julie Kanter, Neena Kapoor, Donald B. Kohn, Lakshmanan Krishnamurti, Wendy B. London, Michael A. Pulsipher, Sohel Talib, Alexis A. Thompson, Edmund K. Waller, Ted Wun, Mary M. Horowitz
Summary: This study investigates the incidence and risk factors for secondary neoplasm after transplantation for sickle cell disease. The results show that the 10-year incidence of leukemia/MDS was 1.7% and of any secondary neoplasm was 2.4%. Low-intensity regimens were associated with higher risks for leukemia/MDS or any secondary neoplasm compared with more intense regimens.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ONCOLOGY
(2023)
Review
Immunology
Andrea Bacigalupo, Idanna Innocenti, Elena Rossi, Federica Sora, Eugenio Galli, Francesco Autore, Elisabetta Metafuni, Patrizia Chiusolo, Sabrina Giammarco, Luca Laurenti, Giulia Benintende, Simona Sica, Valerio De Stefano
Summary: This review provides an update on the current status of allogeneic HSCT for patients with myelofibrosis, covering indications, prognostic scoring systems, transplant outcome prediction, transplant platform choice, and complications.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Agricultural Engineering
Wei Wang, Duu-Jong Lee, Zhongfang Lei
Summary: Anaerobic digestion is a promising technology for bioenergy production, but faces challenges such as long start up times and low methane contents. Integrating microbials electrolysis cell (MEC) with anaerobic digestion (AD) has been recognized as a promising strategy to alleviate these bottlenecks. This review summarizes current research utilizing MEC-AD for enhanced methane production, discussing process enhancements, parameter effects, and applications.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Entomology
Jin Miao, Pei Guo, Yunhui Zhang, Xiaoling Tan, Julian Chen, Yaofa Li, Yuqing Wu
Summary: Interspecies competition plays a crucial role in the distribution, quantity, and community structure of insects. This study investigates the effects of high temperature and natural enemies on the competition between two wheat pests in China, revealing their varying growth rates and competitive advantages. The results provide valuable insights into the interspecific competition and ecological mechanisms of dominant species in wheat fields.
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Developmental Biology
Jun Wu, Ivana Barbaric
Summary: A small population of pluripotent cells in early embryos gives rise to all cells in the adult body, including germ cells, and any mutations occurring in these cells could lead to congenital defects. Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) derived from embryos or reprogrammed somatic cells offer a unique tool for studying human development. The selection of cells in PSC populations has implications for both human development and regenerative medicine.
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Johannes Raedler, Thomas Magg, Meino Rohlfs, Christoph Klein, Tanja Vallee, Fabian Hauck, Michael H. Albert
Summary: Bi-allelic variants in the DOCK8 gene cause a combined immunodeficiency characterized by recurrent infections and allergies. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the only curative option, with mixed chimerism showing potential benefits for patients. However, achieving complete donor chimerism is still recommended while reducing toxicity in conditioning regimens.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Editorial Material
Business
Donald D. Bergh, Brian K. Boyd, Kris Byron, Steve Gove, David J. Ketchen
Summary: This article aims to address the question of what constitutes a methodological contribution and provides insights on how to develop and evaluate valuable methodological contributions. The article provides a classification of methodological advancements, describes contributions throughout the life cycle phases of a method, and offers recommendations for avoiding common mistakes in developing and publishing papers that offer a methodological contribution.
JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Oncology
Leo Ruhnke, Friedrich Stoelzel, Uta Oelschlaegel, Malte von Bonin, Katja Sockel, Jan Moritz Middeke, Christoph Roellig, Korinna Joehrens, Johannes Schetelig, Christian Thiede, Martin Bornhaeuser
Summary: This study reports the first case series of long-term survivors with mixed donor chimerism (MC) and finds an association between MC and increased CD4(+)/FOXP3(+) cells in bone marrow. The results suggest that reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) and T cell depletion may be linked to MC, CD34(+) MC could be a potential predictor of relapse, CD4(+) MC may be associated with reduced risk of GVHD, and T-regs may play a role in maintaining immune tolerance post-HCT.
FRONTIERS IN ONCOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Medical Laboratory Technology
JinJu Kim, Woobin Yun, Yu Jin Park, Jieun Seo, Richard Dong Wook Lee, Saeam Shin, Hyun-Ji Lee, In Suk Kim, Jong Rak Choi, Seung-Tae Lee
Summary: CASAL is a simple, analytically sensitive and accurate assay that can be used in clinical samples after HSCT, with higher performance compared to traditional assays.
CLINICAL CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Cell & Tissue Engineering
Anala Shetty, Seunghyun Lim, Phoebe Strell, Clifford J. Steer, Juan Carlos Rivera-Mulia, Walter C. Low
Summary: Currently, there is a shortage of transplantable organs for patients in need. Interspecies chimerism and blastocyst complementation are potential solutions to generate transplantable human organs in host animals like pigs. However, there are still barriers for successful chimerism between distant species pairs. This study used an in silico approach to stage-match early developing embryos of human, marmoset, mouse, and pig based on transcriptome similarities, and determined the best matched stages for each species. The results of this study will inform further research on interspecies chimerism and blastocyst complementation to enhance organogenesis.
CELL TRANSPLANTATION
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Ying Pan, Duanyang Yuan, Qihang Wu, Ling Jin, Mingli Xie, Yang Gu, Changqun Duan
Summary: The study revealed that water exchange rate affects the competition outcomes of submerged macrophyte species, with the relative competitive ability of each species being more strongly correlated to competition-trait hierarchy rather than competition-trait similarity.
Article
Cell & Tissue Engineering
Leqian Yu, Yulei Wei, Hai-Xi Sun, Ahmed K. Mahdi, Carlos A. Pinzon Arteaga, Masahiro Sakurai, Daniel A. Schmitz, Canbin Zheng, Emily D. Ballard, Jie Li, Noriko Tanaka, Aoi Kohara, Daiji Okamura, Adrian A. Mutto, Ying Gu, Pablo J. Ross, Jun Wu
Summary: The study successfully derived XPSCs from mice, horses, and humans by modulating various growth factor pathways, which have the capability to induce PGC-like cells in vitro and form chimeras in vivo. XPSCs represent a pluripotency state between naive and primed pluripotency, and hold features characteristic of formative pluripotency.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Leqian Yu, Yulei Wei, Jialei Duan, Daniel A. Schmitz, Masahiro Sakurai, Lei Wang, Kunhua Wang, Shuhua Zhao, Gary C. Hon, Jun Wu
Summary: The study developed an effective three-dimensional culture strategy to generate blastocyst-like structures in vitro which resemble human blastocysts. These structures, termed 'human blastoids', are readily accessible, scalable, versatile, and perturbable alternative to blastocysts for studying early human development, understanding early pregnancy loss, and gaining insights into early developmental defects.
Correction
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Leqian Yu, Yulei Wei, Jialei Duan, Daniel A. Schmitz, Masahiro Sakurai, Lei Wang, Kunhua Wang, Shuhua Zhao, Gary C. Hon, Jun Wu
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Delia Alba Soto, Micaela Navarro, Canbin Zheng, Michelle Margaret Halstead, Chuan Zhou, Carly Guiltinan, Jun Wu, Pablo Juan Ross
Summary: Through the use of a commercially available alternative and a chemically-defined substrate, we have successfully simplified the culture conditions for bESCs, resulting in newly derived bESC lines that are easy to establish, propagate, and maintain stability after long-term culture, while still retaining pluripotency.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Editorial Material
Cell Biology
Alejandro de los Angeles, Jun Wu
Article
Developmental Biology
Neha Ahuja, Max S. Hiltabidle, Hariprem Rajasekhar, Sophie Voss, Steven Z. Lu, Haley R. Barlow, Mitzy A. Cowdin, Edward Daniel, Vedha Vaddaraju, Thejal Anandakumar, Ethan Black, Ondine Cleaver, Caitlin Maynard
Summary: Endothelial cells play a crucial role in heart valve development. The Cyp26b1 gene is found to be important for normal heart valve development, as its absence leads to abnormal thickening of valve leaflets and ventricular septal defects. This study also suggests a role of retinoic acid in this process.
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Cell Biology
Chunyang Ni, Daniel A. Schmitz, Jeon Lee, Krzysztof Pawlowski, Jun Wu, Michael Buszczak
Summary: This study identifies two functionally uncharacterized genes, C1orf109 and SPATA5, which control a late step of human pre-60S maturation in the cytoplasm along with other factors. Loss of either C1orf109 or SPATA5 impairs global protein synthesis.
Editorial Material
Biochemical Research Methods
Alejandro De los Angeles, Alan Regenberg, Victoria Mascetti, Nissim Benvenisty, George Church, Hongkui Deng, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, Weizhi Ji, Julian Koplin, Yuin-Han Loh, Yuyu Niu, Duanqing Pei, Martin Pera, Nam Pho, Carlos Pinzon-Arteaga, Mitinori Saitou, Jose C. R. Silva, Tan Tao, Alan Trounson, Tushar Warrier, Elias T. Zambidis
Summary: The study of human-animal chimeras is important, but it faces technical and ethical challenges. This Comment discusses the future of human-monkey chimera research within the context of current scientific and regulatory obstacles.
Article
Cell & Tissue Engineering
Carlos A. Pinzon-Arteaga, Yinjuan Wang, Yulei Wei, Ana E. Ribeiro Orsi, Leijie Li, Giovanna Scatolin, Lizhong Liu, Masahiro Sakurai, Jianfeng Ye, Hao Ming, Leqian Yu, Bo Li, Zongliang Jiang, Jun Wu
Summary: We developed an efficient method to generate bovine blastocyst-like structures (blastoids) by assembling bovine trophoblast stem cells and expanded potential stem cells. Bovine blastoids resemble blastocysts in morphology, cell composition, single-cell transcriptomes, in vitro growth, and the ability to elicit maternal recognition of pregnancy following transfer to recipient cows. Bovine blastoids serve as an accessible in vitro model for studying embryogenesis and improving reproductive efficiency in livestock species.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Lizhong Liu, Seiya Oura, Zachary Markham, James N. Hamilton, Robin M. Skory, Leijie Li, Masahiro Sakurai, Lei Wang, Carlos A. Pinzon-Arteaga, Nicolas Plachta, Gary C. Hon, Jun Wu
Summary: Researchers have successfully self-organized human pluripotent stem cells into embryo-like structures, called peri-gastruloids, which consist of both embryonic and extra-embryonic tissues. Although these peri-gastruloids are not viable, they recapitulate critical stages of human embryonic development and show transcriptomic similarity to peri-gastrulation cell types in humans and non-human primates. This study provides a new approach for developing human fetal tissues in regenerative medicine.
Review
Cell Biology
Seiya Oura, James N. Hamilton, Jun Wu
Summary: Early embryo development is crucial for determining the health and characteristics of an organism, and stem cell-based embryo models have been valuable tools for studying this process. Advances in stem cell culture have allowed the creation of more sophisticated 3D structures mimicking early embryos, such as blastocyst-like structures. These innovative models represent a significant leap forward and contribute to a deeper understanding of early mammalian development.
CURRENT OPINION IN GENETICS & DEVELOPMENT
(2023)
Article
Developmental Biology
Chitkale Hiremath, Lei Gao, Kenya Geshow, Quinten Patterson, Haley Barlow, Ondine Cleaver, Denise K. Marciano
Summary: The presence of a continuous lumen in renal tubules is essential for their proper function. In this study, we found that the protein Afadin, which binds to Factin, is required for lumen formation and continuity in renal tubules derived from the nephrogenic mesenchyme in mice. We also discovered that the small GTPase Rap1 plays a crucial role in this process, as its absence leads to severe defects in lumen formation. Furthermore, we observed that Rap1 is necessary for the correct localization of Afadin to adherens junctions. These findings suggest a model in which Rap1 localizes Afadin to junctional complexes, thereby regulating lumen formation and positioning.
DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biology
Xi Dai, Honglian Shao, Nianqin Sun, Baiquan Ci, Jun Wu, Chuanyu Liu, Liang Wu, Yue Yuan, Xiaoyu Wei, Huanming Yang, Longqi Liu, Weizhi Ji, Bing Bai, Zhouchun Shang, Tao Tan
Summary: This study applied scATAC-seq technology to investigate the chromatin status of in vitro cultured cynomolgus monkey embryos. The findings provide insights into the chromatin reorganization and transcriptional regulatory mechanisms during early post-implantation development in primates, including the identification of regulatory factors and lineage specification.