Although sperm preservation is a common means of personal fertility preservation, its effects on embryonic development potential need further investigation. The purpose of this study was to identify key microRNA (miRNA) in cryopreserved sperm and determine the changes of these miRNAs and their target genes during embryonic development using cryopreserved sperm. Moreover, the embryonic development potential of cryopreserved sperm was estimated in assisted reproductive technology (ART), where key miRNAs and target genes were validated in sperm and subsequent embryos. Clinical data of embryonic development from cryopreserved sperm indicated a significant decrease in fertilization rate in both in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cases, as well as a reduction in blastocyst formation rate in ICSI cases. Meanwhile there was a significant increase in blocked embryo ratio of Day1, Day2, and Day3.5 embryos when frozen-thawed mouse sperm was used, compared with fresh mouse sperm, suggesting a potential negative effect of sperm cryopreservation on embryonic development. From frozen-thawed and fresh sperm in humans and mice, respectively, 21 and 95 differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRs) were detected. miR-148b-3p were downregulated in both human and mouse frozen-thawed sperm and were also decreased in embryos after fertilization using cryopreserved sperm. Target genes of miR-148b-3p, Pten, was identified in mouse embryos using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blot (WB). In addition, common characters of cryopreservation of mouse oocytes compared with sperm were also detected; downregulation of miR-148b-3p was also confirmed in cryopreserved oocytes. In summary, our study suggested that cryopreservation of sperm could change the expression of miRNAs, especially the miR-148b-3p across humans and mice, and may further affect fertilization and embryo development by increasing the expression of Pten. Moreover, downregulation of miR-148b-3p induced by cryopreservation was conserved in mouse gametes.

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Acetaminophen (APAP), a common antipyretic and analgesic drug, is considered the most common cause of drug-induced liver injury (DILI). The mechanism of liver injury induced by APAP is mainly related to oxidative stress and inflammatory reaction. Herein, we report a simple and efficient one-step synthesis of Prussian blue (PB) nanozymes with multiple antioxidant enzymatic activities that effectively treat APAP-induced DILI. At the cellular level, reaching 10 μg/mL PB nanozymes can effectively scavenge intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), reduce mitochondrial membrane potential drop, and inhibit hepatocyte apoptosis. According to in vivo experimental studies, the levels of serum biochemical indicators and histopathological examination of DILI mice livers showed that 12.5 mg/kg PB nanozymes could effectively inhibit liver necrosis and 25 mg/kg PB nanozymes achieved the same therapeutic effect as 300 mg/kg NAC. More importantly, compared with NAC, PB nanozymes can still attenuate APAP-induced acute liver injury in mice after APAP-induced acute liver injury in mice for 3 h. Therefore, PB nanozymes can effectively prolong the therapeutic time window, revealing the potential of PB nanozymes in clinical applications for advanced DILI treatment. Furthermore, the therapeutic mechanism studies have shown that PB nanozymes with abundant and variable valence states could not only directly scavenge ROS but also through the Keap1-Nrf2/HO-1 pathway to reduce oxidative stress. Moreover, the decreased expression levels of myeloperoxidase and F4/80 in the liver, which are markers of neutrophil and macrophage infiltration, indicated that the Prussian blue nanozymes modulates inflammation to protect against APAP-induced acute liver injury. Consequently, our findings suggested that PB nanozymes have excellent clinical application prospects for acetaminophen-induced acute liver injury.

Hypothyroidism is a common endocrine disease caused by a deficiency of thyroid hormones, which could affect the hypothalamus–pituitary–gonadal (HPG) axis and cause additional severe fertility problems. However, the pathogenesis of abnormal reproductive capacity caused by hypothyroidism and whether there are differences between females and males need more study. Here, we constructed a prolonged neonatal hypothyroid rat model using 6-propyl-2-thiouracil (PTU). H&E staining and RNA-sequencing were performed to detect histopathological and transcriptome changes. Our results indicated the numbers of ventromedial hypothalamus nuclei were increased, and the number of pituitary chromophobes was sharply increased, whereas the proportion of pituitary acidophils and pituitary basophils were obviously reduced. The differentially expressed genes of the HPG axis organs were identified, and different tissues shared similar steroid hormone and oxidative stress-related terms in gene ontology analysis. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and differential expression analysis indicated oxidative stress and apoptosis-related genes were more enriched in male hypothyroid pituitaries, whereas the serum levels of growth hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, and luteinizing hormone that were detected by ELISA were also reduced more in male hypothyroid rats, suggesting that prolonged neonatal hypothyroidism may have a more significant impact on male pituitaries. Moreover, the multi-organ oxidative stress in hypothyroid rats was confirmed by the higher expression of oxidative stress-related genes such as the Txnip. The increased level of oxidative stress may have contributed to the histopathological and transcriptome changes of HPG axis organs in the prolonged neonatal hypothyroidism rats, especially in male pituitaries.

No abstract