Establishment and Characterization of Immortalized Minipig Neural Stem Cell Line

Induced neural stem cells suppressed neuroinflammation by inhibiting the microglial pyroptotic pathway in intracerebral hemorrhage rats

Intracerebral hemorrhage usually manifests as strong neuroinflammation and neurological deficits. There is an urgent need to explore effective methods for the treatment of intracerebral hemorrhage. The therapeutic effect and the possible mechanism of induced neural stem cell transplantation in an intracerebral hemorrhage rat model are still unclear. Our results showed that transplantation of induced neural stem cells could improve neurological deficits by inhibiting inflammation in an intracerebral hemorrhage rat model. Additionally, induced neural stem cell treatment could effectively suppress microglial pyroptosis, which might occur through inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway. Induced neural stem cells could also regulate the polarization of microglia and promote the transition of microglia from pro-inflammatory phenotypes to anti-inflammatory phenotypes to exert their anti-inflammatory effects. Overall, induced neural stem cells may be a promising tool for the treatment of intracerebral hemorrhage and other neuroinflammatory diseases.

Established Immortalized Cavernous Endothelial Cells Improve Erectile Dysfunction in Rats with Cavernous Nerve Injury

The main cause of erectile dysfunction (ED) is the damage in penile cavernous endothelial cells (EC). Murine primary ECs have a limited growth potential, and the easy availability of murine ECs will facilitate the study of cavernous endothelial dysfunction in rats. This study was performed to establish immortalized rat penile cavernous ECs (rEC) and investigate how they could repair erectile dysfunction in rats with cavernous nerve injury (CNI). rEC was isolated enzymatically by collagenase digestion and were cultured. An amphotropic replication-incompetent retroviral vector encoding v-myc oncogene was used to transfect rEC for immortalization (vREC). Morphological and immunohistochemical properties of vREC were examined. Eight-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups of five rats each, including group 1 = sham operation, group 2 = bilateral CN injury, group 3 = vREC (1 × 106 cells) treatment after CNI. Erectile response was assessed at 2, 4 weeks after transplantation of vREC., Penile tissue were harvested at 4 weeks after transplantation and immune−histochemical examination was performed. vREC showed the expression of CD31, vWF, cell type-specific markers for EC by RT-PCR and flowcytometry. At 2, 4 weeks after transplantation, rats with CNI had significantly lower erectile function than control group (p < 0.05). The group transplanted with vREC showed higher erectile function than the group without vRECs (p < 0.05). vREC was established and repaired erectile dysfunction in rats with CNI. This cell line may be useful for studying mechanisms and drug screening of erectile dysfunction of rats.

Integrative analysis of genome-wide association study and common meQTLs for exploring the effects of DNA methylation on the development of neuroticism

BACKGROUND

Neuroticism is one of the important traits of personality, which has strong genetic components. However, the underlying genetic mechanism is still unclear.

METHODS

To better understand the genetic basis of neuroticism, we conducted an integrative analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and life course consistent methylation quantitative trait loci (meQTLs) data. The GWAS data of neuroticism was derived from a published study of neuroticism (including 170,906 subjects). Life course consistent meQTLs were obtained from a large scale longitudinal meQTLs analysis (including 1,018 mother-child pairs).Gene prioritization, pathway and tissue/cell type enrichment analyses were implemented by DEPICT.

RESULTS

We identified multiple genes, pathways and tissues associated with neuroticism, such as NEIL2 (P value = 1.31 × 10^-2), ARHGAP27 (P value = 1.40 × 10^-2), REACTOME_CLATHRIN_DERIVED_VESICLE_BUDDING(P value =4.92 × 10^-6) ,REACTOME_TRANS:GOLGI_NETWORK_VESICLE_BUDDING (P value =4.92 × 10^-6), frontal lobe(P value =3.83 × 10^-3) and visual cortex (P value =8.46 × 10^-3).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results provide novel insights for understanding the genetic mechanism of neuroticism.