Search results for "Development"
showing 10 items of 26949 documents
Computer-assisted sperm analysis and reproductive science; a gift for understanding gamete biology from multidisciplinary perspectives
2018
The science of reproductive biology has been a source of fascination for centuries and has been marked both by important landmarks of discovery and influential, but persistent, errors of fact. The first century physician and philosopher, Galen of Pergamum, carried out empirical investigations on both humans and animals and proposed that conception required a combination of both male and female ‘principles’…
Implantation failure of endometrial origin: what is new?
2018
To review recent findings related to possible causes of recurrent implantation failure of endometrial origin in normal uterus.Recent evidences suggest that in apparently normal endometria, RIF may associate with molecular and functional changes in the uterus such as abnormal endometrial microbiota, including the presence of chronic endometritis, poor synchronization between the blastocyst and endometrium, and/or excessive uterine peristalsis. An altered endometrial microbiota detected by molecular techniques has been recently related to poorer embryo implantation, even in apparently normal endometria. The use of the endometrial receptivity analysis test to obtain an objective signature of e…
Endometrial Receptivity Analysis (ERA): data versus opinions
2021
Abstract This article summarises and contextualises the accumulated basic and clinical data on the ERA test and addresses specific comments and opinions presented by the opponent as part of an invited debate. Progress in medicine depends on new technologies and concepts that translate to practice to solve long-standing problems. In a key example, combining RNA sequencing data (transcriptomics) with artificial intelligence (AI) led to a clinical revolution in personalising disease diagnosis and fostered the concept of precision medicine. The reproductive field is no exception. Translation of endometrial transcriptomics to the clinic yielded an objective definition of the limited time period …
Neither Diplectanum nor specific: a dramatic twist to the taxonomic framework of Diplectanum (Monogenea: Diplectanidae).
2019
The taxonomy of the genus Diplectanum has been exclusively based on morphological features, with 28 nominal species parasitic on perciform fishes recognised. We used molecular data, to our knowledge for the first time, to evaluate the taxonomic framework of Diplectanum, infer the relationships amongst species attributed to this genus, re-assess the degree of host specificity and explore the population genetic structure of Diplectanum spp. parasitising Mediterranean sciaenids, which are potential target fish species for aquaculture diversification in the region. A minimum of 10 specimens of Diplectanum spp. were sequenced per host species (Argyrosomus regius, Sciaena umbra, Umbrina canariens…
Urban upbringing and childhood respiratory and allergic conditions: A multi-country holistic study
2018
Objective: We integratively assessed the effect of different indoor and outdoor environmental exposures early in life on respiratory and allergic health conditions among children from (sub-) urban areas. Methods: This study included children participating in four ongoing European birth cohorts located in three different geographical regions: INMA (Spain), LISAplus (Germany), GINIplus (Germany) and BAMSE (Sweden). Wheezing, bronchitis, asthma and allergic rhinitis throughout childhood were assessed using parental-completed questionnaires. We designed “environmental scores” corresponding to different indoor, green- and grey-related exposures (main analysis, a-priori-approach). Cohort-specific…
Phosphorylation of CENP-A on serine 7 does not control centromere function.
2019
CENP-A is the histone H3 variant necessary to specify the location of all eukaryotic centromeres via its CENP-A targeting domain and either one of its terminal regions. In humans, several post-translational modifications occur on CENP-A, but their role in centromere function remains controversial. One of these modifications of CENP-A, phosphorylation on serine 7, has been proposed to control centromere assembly and function. Here, using gene targeting at both endogenous CENP-A alleles and gene replacement in human cells, we demonstrate that a CENP-A variant that cannot be phosphorylated at serine 7 maintains correct CENP-C recruitment, faithful chromosome segregation and long-term cell viab…
Injury-activated glial cells promote wound healing of the adult skin in mice
2018
Cutaneous wound healing is a complex process that aims to re-establish the original structure of the skin and its functions. Among other disorders, peripheral neuropathies are known to severely impair wound healing capabilities of the skin, revealing the importance of skin innervation for proper repair. Here, we report that peripheral glia are crucially involved in this process. Using a mouse model of wound healing, combined with in vivo fate mapping, we show that injury activates peripheral glia by promoting de-differentiation, cell-cycle re-entry and dissemination of the cells into the wound bed. Moreover, injury-activated glia upregulate the expression of many secreted factors previously…
Cognate HLA absence in trans diminishes human NK cell education
2016
NK cells are innate lymphocytes with protective functions against viral infections and tumor formation. Human NK cells carry inhibitory killer cell Ig-like receptors (KIRs), which recognize distinct HLAs. NK cells with KIRs for self-HLA molecules acquire superior cytotoxicity against HLA– tumor cells during education for improved missing-self recognition. Here, we reconstituted mice with human hematopoietic cells from donors with homozygous KIR ligands or with a mix of hematopoietic cells from these homozygous donors, allowing assessment of the resulting KIR repertoire and NK cell education. We found that co-reconstitution with 2 KIR ligand–mismatched compartments did not alter the frequenc…
The protein and microRNA cargo of extracellular vesicles from parasitic helminths – current status and research priorities
2020
Helminth parasites have a remarkable ability to persist within their mammalian hosts, which is largely due to their secretion of molecules with immunomodulatory properties. Although the soluble components of helminth secretions have been extensively studied, the discovery that helminths release extracellular vesicles (EVs) has added further complexity to the host-parasite interaction. Whilst several studies have begun to characterise the molecules carried by helminth EVs, work aimed at investigating their biological functions has been hindered by a lack of helminth-specific EV markers. To begin to address this, we summarised helminth EV literature to date. With a focus on the protein and mi…
NMR Investigation of Structures of G-Protein Coupled Receptor Folding Intermediates
2016
Folding of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) according to the two-stage model (Popot, J. L., and Engelman, D. M. (1990) Biochemistry 29, 4031-4037) is postulated to proceed in 2 steps: partitioning of the polypeptide into the membrane followed by diffusion until native contacts are formed. Herein we investigate conformational preferences of fragments of the yeast Ste2p receptor using NMR. Constructs comprising the first, the first two, and the first three transmembrane (TM) segments, as well as a construct comprising TM1-TM2 covalently linked to TM7 were examined. We observed that the isolated TM1 does not form a stable helix nor does it integrate well into the micelle. TM1 is significant…