Transcriptomic underpinnings of high and low mirror aggression zebrafish behaviours

Transcriptomic signature related to poor welfare of sport horses

The improvement of horse welfare through housing conditions has become a real issue in recent years and have highlighted the detrimental effect of individual housing of horses on their health and behaviour. In this new study, we analysed the blood transcriptome of 45 sport horses housed individually that were previously examined for their behaviour and gut microbiota. We performed differential and regression analyses of gene expression, followed by downstream bioinformatic analyses, to unveil the molecular pathways related to the behavioural changes associated with welfare impairment in these sport horses. We found that aggressiveness towards humans was the behavioural indicator the most correlated to blood gene expression and that the pathways involved belonged mainly to systemic inflammation. In contrast, the correlations between genes, alert postures and unresponsiveness towards the environment were weak. When blood gene expression profiling was combined with faecal microbiota of a sub-population of horses, stereotypies came out as the most correlated to blood gene expression. This study shows that aggressiveness towards humans and stereotypies are behavioural indicators that covary with physiological alterations. Further studies are needed regarding the biological correlates of unresponsiveness to the environment and alert postures.

Constructing interactive networks of functional genes and metabolites to uncover the cellular events related to colorectal cancer cell migration induced by arsenite

Tumor cell migration induced by arsenite (iAs^III) is closely associated with cancer progression. However, transcriptomic and metabolic traits of migrative human cells exposed to iAs^III remain to be well characterized. Here, the combination of transcriptomics and metabolomics approaches were employed to construct interactive networks of functional genes and metabolites in human colorectal cancer (DLD-1) cells exposed to iAs^III. The number of DLD-1 cells passing through the Transwell membrane was at least 6 times greater in the iAs^III-treated groups than in controls. Following iAs^III treatment, the expression of ZEB1 and SLUG protein was significantly upregulated while the expression of CRB2 was downregulated (p < 0.05), indicating the onset of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). Meanwhile, integrin- and collagen-mediated biological adhesion were enhanced by SLUG under iAs^III treatment. The expression of matrix metallopeptidase (MMP) genes was fostered by iAs^III, which have the functions to degrade extracellular matrix. Glutamine metabolism could be considerably interfered by iAs^III, and in turn glutamine supplementation could effectively enhance DLD-1 cell movement. Overall, our results suggested that DLD-1 cell migration could be promoted by iAs^III via a series of cellular events, including EMT activation, altered cell adhesion, MMP-dependent matrix degradation, accompanying with a metabolic focus on glutamine.

Influence of High-Protein Food on Physical Function of Athletes

In order to explore how high-protein foods can achieve effects on athletes’ bodies, the authors propose a study based on athletes’ physical performance. This method recommends key technical problems and solutions through the information represented by the athlete’s physical function and discovers how high-protein foods enable research into athletic performance. Research has shown that athletes perform high-intensity sports training for a long time, in a state of high-intensity competition, the body’s energy metabolism is strong, and the protein consumption rate is high; protein foods can preserve protein, water, electrolytes, and other nutrientsand supplement about 71% of the body’s nutrition, and it helps to strengthen muscles, relieve sports fatigue, improve immunity, etc., which is of great significance to athletes.