background: the impact of cadmium (cd) on male infertility may be related to the interaction with metal-binding proteins known as metallothioneins (mts). trace elements like zinc (zn) have protective effects on testicular damage induced by cd. objective: we determined the effect of zn and low-dose cd pre-treatment on the expression of mt1 and mt2 genes on testicular sertoli cells. materials and...

BACKGROUND In the cow, lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) acts as an auto-/paracrine factor, through its receptors LPAR1-4, on oocytes and cumulus cells during in vitro maturation (IVM). The aim of the present work was to determine the effect of LPA during IVM of bovine oocytes on: 1) oocyte maturation; 2) apoptosis of COCs; 3) expression of genes involved in developmental competence and apoptosis in ...

We compared the nuclear maturation status and gene-expression profiles of canine cumulus cells (CCs) derived from cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) that were spontaneously ovulated versus those that were matured in vitro. Cumulus-oocyte complexes were retrieved from uteri by surgical flushing (after spontaneous ovulation) or by ovariectomy follicle aspiration and in vitro maturation. The objectiv...

Objective(s): Oleate can be produced through de novo synthesis, which contributes to biological processes and signaling pathways. However, the role of this non-essential fatty acid in hepatic development remains unclear. The current study aimed to evaluate the influence of early oleate deficiency induced by the inhibitor of de novo oleate synthesis MF-438 on fetal rat ...

The Notch signal transduction pathway is a highly conserved regulatory system that controls multiple developmental processes. We have established an erythroleukemia cell model to study how Notch regulates cell fate and erythroleukemic cell differentiation. K562 and HEL cells expressed the Notch-1 receptor and the Notch ligand Jagged-1. The stable expression of the constitutively active intracel...

Abstract We profiled the grain oligosaccharide content of 154 two-row spring barley genotypes and quantified 27 compounds, mainly inulin- neoseries-type fructans, showing differential abundance. Clustering revealed two profile groups where ‘high’ set contained greater amounts sugar monomers, sucrose, overall but lower fructosylraffinose. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified a signi...