Despite the fact that the biological processes of chiral compounds are enantioselective, the endocrine disruption activity and uptake of chiral contaminants with respect to enantioselectivity has so far received limited research. In this study, the estrogenic potential and uptake of the enantiomers of a newer pyrethroid insecticide, bifenthrin (BF), were investigated. Significant differences in estrogenic potential were observed between the two enantiomers in the in vitro human breast carcinoma MCF-7 cell proliferation assay (i.e., the E-SCREEN assay) and the in vivo aquatic vertebrate vitellogenin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In the E-SCREEN assay, the relative proliferative effect ratios of 1S-cis-BF and 1R-cis-BF were 74.2% and 20.9%, respectively, and the relative proliferative potency ratios were 10% and 1%, respectively. The cell proliferation induced by the two BF enantiomers may be through the classical estrogen response pathway via the estrogen receptor (ER), as the proliferation induced by the enantiomers could be completely blocked when combined with 10-6 mol/L of the ER antagonist ICI 182,780. Measurement of vitellogenin induction in Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) showed that, at an exposure level of 10 ng/mL, the response to 1S-cis-BF was about 123 times greater than thattothe Renantiomer. Significant selectivity also occurred in the uptake of BF enantiomers in the liver and other tissues of J. medaka. These results together suggest that assessment of the environmental safety of chiral insecticides should consider enantioselectivity in acute and chronic ecotoxicities such as endocrine disruption.

Heat stress negatively affects reproduction in cattle by disrupting the normal function of ovarian granulosa cells (GCs), ultimately leading to oxidative damage and cell death via apoptosis. Heme oxygenase-1(HO-1) is a member of the heat shock protein family, which are associated with cellular antioxidant defenses and anti-apoptotic functions. Recent studies demonstrated that HO-1 is upregulated in heat-stressed cells. In the present study, we investigated the expression of HO-1 in bovine GCs transiently exposed to heat stress and characterized the expression and activity of key oxidative stress enzymes and molecules. We show that heat stress induced oxidative stress and apoptosis, and enhanced Nrf2 and HO-1 expression in primary GC cultures. Knocking down HO-1 expression using siRNA exacerbated both oxidative stress and apoptosis, whereas pre-treating GCs with hemin, which induces HO-1 expression, partially prevented these effects. These findings demonstrate that HO-1 attenuates heat stress-induced apoptosis in bovine GCs by decreasing production of reactive oxygen species and activating the antioxidant response.

Small RNA represent several unique noncoding RNA classes that have important function in the development of germ cells and early embryonic development. Deep sequencing was performed on small RNA from cumulus cells (recovered from germinal vesicle [GV] and metaphase II-arrested [MII] oocytes), GV and MII oocytes, in vitro fertilization-derived embryos at 60 h postfertilization (4- to 8-cell stage), and Day 6 blastocysts. Additionally, a heterologous miRNA microarray method was also used to identify miRNA expressed in the oocyte during in vitro maturation. Similar to the results of expression analysis of other species, these data demonstrate dynamic expression regulation of multiple classes of noncoding RNA during oocyte maturation and development to the blastocyst stage. Mapping small RNA to the pig genome indicates dynamic distribution of small RNA organization across the genome. Additionally, a cluster of miRNA and Piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA) was discovered on chromosome 6. Many of the small RNA mapped to annotated repetitive elements in the pig genome, of which the SINE/tRNA-Glu and LINE/L1 elements represented a large proportion. Two piRNA (piR84651 and piR16993) and seven miRNA (MIR574, MIR24, LET7E, MIR23B, MIR30D, MIR320, and MIR30C) were further characterized using quantitative RT-PCR. Secretory carrier membrane protein 4 (SCAMP4) was predicted to be subject to posttranscriptional gene regulation mediated by small RNA, by annotating small RNA reads mapped to exonic regions in the pig genome. Consistent with the prediction results, SCAMP4 was further confirmed to be differentially expressed at both transcriptional and translational levels. These data establish a small RNA expression profile of the pig cumulus-oocyte complex and early embryos and demonstrate their potential capacity to be utilized for predictions of functional posttranscriptional regulatory events.

L-ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) can enhance the meiotic maturation and developmental competence of porcine oocytes, but the underlying molecular mechanism remains obscure. Here we show the role of ascorbic acid in regulating epigenetic status of both nucleic acids and chromatin to promote oocyte maturation and development in pigs. Supplementation of 250 μM L-ascorbic acid 2-phosphate sesquimagnesium salt hydrate (AA2P) during in vitro maturation significantly enhanced the nuclear maturation (as indicated by higher rate of first polar body extrusion and increased Bmp15 mRNA level), reduced level of reactive oxygen species, and promoted developmental potency (higher cleavage and blastocyst rates of parthenotes, and decreased Bax and Caspase3 mRNA levels in blastocysts) of pig oocytes. AA2P treatment caused methylation erasure in mature oocytes on nucleic acids (5-methylcytosine (5 mC) and N6-methyladenosine (m6A)) and histones (Histone H3 trimethylations at lysines 27, H3K27me3), but establishment of histone H3 trimethylations at lysines 4 (H3K4me3) and 36 (H3K36me3). During the global methylation reprogramming process, levels of TET2 (mRNA and protein) and Dnmt3b (mRNA) were significantly elevated, but simultaneously DNMT3A (mRNA and protein), and also Hif-1α, Hif-2α, Tet3, Mettl14, Kdm5b and Eed (mRNA) were significantly inhibited. Our findings support that ascorbic acid can reprogram the methylation status of not only DNA and histone, but also RNA, to improve pig oocyte maturation and developmental competence.

Interspecies cloning may be used as an effective method to conserve highly endangered species and to support the development of non-human primate animal models for studying therapeutic cloning and nuclear-cytoplasm interaction. The use of the monkey model for biomedical research can avoid legal, ethical, and experimental limitations encountered in a clinical situation. We describe in this study the in vitro development of macaca-rabbit embryos produced by fusing macaca fibroblasts with enucleated rabbit oocytes and examine the fate of mitochondrial DNA in these embryos. We show that macaca-rabbit cloned embryos can develop to the blastocyst stage when cultured in vitro in HECM(10) +10% FBS and that mitochondrial DNA derived from donor somatic cells was detectable in cloned embryos throughout preimplantation development. These results suggest that (1) macaca fibroblast nuclei can dedifferentiate in enucleated metaphase II rabbit oocytes; (2) HECM(10) +10% FBS can break through the development block and support the development of macaca-rabbit cloned embryos to blastocysts; and (3) donor-cell-derived mitochondrial DNA is not eliminated until blastocyst stage.