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Genomic data can predict miscarriage and IVF failure

Posted in Advanced Computing Platform, Artificial Intelligence - Breakthroughs in Theories and Technologies, Artificial Intelligence - General, Artificial Intelligence Applications in Health Care, Artificial Intelligence in Health Care - Tools & Innovations, Artificial Intelligence in Medicine - Application for Diagnosis, Artificial Intelligence in Medicine - Applications in Therapeutics, BioIT: BioInformatics, BioIT: BioInformatics, NGS, Clinical & Translational, Pharmaceutical R&D Informatics, Clinical Genomics, Cancer Informatics, Biological Engineering, Biological Networks, Biological Networks, Gene Regulation and Evolution, Biomarkers & Medical Diagnostics, Cell Level, Computational Biology/Systems and Bioinformatics, Computational Histopathology, Deep Learning in Pathology, Developmental biology, Diagnostics and Lab Tests, Digital HealthCare – biotech & internet joint ventures, Disease Biology, Genomic Testing: Methodology for Diagnosis, Genomics Pharmacy, HealthCare IT, Healthcare Reform, Machine Learning, MicroEngineering Cell-Tissue & Systems, Placenta, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and Reproductive Genomics, Reproductive Andrology, Embryology, Genomic Endocrinology, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and Reproductive Genomics, Reproductive Biology & Bio Instrumentation, therapeutics, Tissue Engineering, Translational Research, Women Health, tagged aneuploidy, Diagnosis, Genomic data, IVF, Miscarriage, treatment on June 15, 2022| 1 Comment »

Reporter and Curator: Dr. Sudipta Saha, Ph.D.

Infertility is a major reproductive health issue that affects about 12% of women of reproductive age in the United States. Aneuploidy in eggs accounts for a significant proportion of early miscarriage and in vitro fertilization failure. Recent studies have shown that genetic variants in several genes affect chromosome segregation fidelity and predispose women to a higher incidence of egg aneuploidy. However, the exact genetic causes of aneuploid egg production remain unclear, making it difficult to diagnose infertility based on individual genetic variants in mother’s genome. Although, age is a predictive factor for aneuploidy, it is not a highly accurate gauge because aneuploidy rates within individuals of the same age can vary dramatically.

Researchers described a technique combining genomic sequencing with machine-learning methods to predict the possibility a woman will undergo a miscarriage because of egg aneuploidy—a term describing a human egg with an abnormal number of chromosomes. The scientists were able to examine genetic samples of patients using a technique called “whole exome sequencing,” which allowed researchers to home in on the protein coding sections of the vast human genome. Then they created software using machine learning, an aspect of artificial intelligence in which programs can learn and make predictions without following specific instructions. To do so, the researchers developed algorithms and statistical models that analyzed and drew inferences from patterns in the genetic data.

As a result, the scientists were able to create a specific risk score based on a woman’s genome. The scientists also identified three genes—MCM5, FGGY and DDX60L—that when mutated and are highly associated with a risk of producing eggs with aneuploidy. So, the report demonstrated that sequencing data can be mined to predict patients’ aneuploidy risk thus improving clinical diagnosis. The candidate genes and pathways that were identified in the present study are promising targets for future aneuploidy studies. Identifying genetic variations with more predictive power will serve women and their treating clinicians with better information.

References:

https://medicalxpress-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/medicalxpress.com/news/2022-06-miscarriage-failure-vitro-fertilization-genomic.amp

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35347416/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31552087/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33193747/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33197264/

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Embryogenesis in Mechanical Womb

Posted in Bio Instrumentation in Experimental Life Sciences Research, Biochemical pathways, Biological Engineering, Biological Networks, Biological Networks, Gene Regulation and Evolution, Cell Biology, Cell Biology, Signaling & Cell Circuits, Developmental biology, Embryology, Fetal Ultrasound, Gene Therapy & Gene Editing Development, Genome Biology, Medical Devices R&D and Inventions, Methods, Placenta, Pre-Clinical Animal Model Development, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and Reproductive Genomics, Reproductive Andrology, Embryology, Genomic Endocrinology, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and Reproductive Genomics, Reproductive Biology & Bio Instrumentation, Signaling & Cell Circuits, tagged development, embryo, gastrulation, mechanical womb, uterus on April 8, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Embryogenesis in Mechanical Womb

Reporter and Curator: Dr. Sudipta Saha, Ph.D.

A highly effective platforms for the ex utero culture of post-implantation mouse embryos have been developed in the present study by scientists of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. The study was published in the journal Nature. They have grown more than 1,000 embryos in this way. This study enables the appropriate development of embryos from before gastrulation (embryonic day (E) 5.5) until the hindlimb formation stage (E11). Late gastrulating embryos (E7.5) are grown in three-dimensional rotating bottles, whereas extended culture from pre-gastrulation stages (E5.5 or E6.5) requires a combination of static and rotating bottle culture platforms.

At Day 11 of development more than halfway through a mouse pregnancy the researchers compared them to those developing in the uteruses of living mice and were found to be identical. Histological, molecular and single-cell RNA sequencing analyses confirm that the ex utero cultured embryos recapitulate in utero development precisely. The mouse embryos looked perfectly normal. All their organs developed as expected, along with their limbs and circulatory and nervous systems. Their tiny hearts were beating at a normal 170 beats per minute. But, the lab-grown embryos becomes too large to survive without a blood supply. They had a placenta and a yolk sack, but the nutrient solution that fed them through diffusion was no longer sufficient. So, a suitable mechanism for blood supply is required to be developed.

Till date the only way to study the development of tissues and organs is to turn to species like worms, frogs and flies that do not need a uterus, or to remove embryos from the uteruses of experimental animals at varying times, providing glimpses of development more like in snapshots than in live videos. This research will help scientists understand how mammals develop and how gene mutations, nutrients and environmental conditions may affect the fetus. This will allow researchers to mechanistically interrogate post-implantation morphogenesis and artificial embryogenesis in mammals. In the future it may be possible to develop a human embryo from fertilization to birth entirely outside the uterus. But the work may one day raise profound questions about whether other animals, even humans, should or could be cultured outside a living womb.

References:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03416-3

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867414000750?via%3Dihub

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-185X.1978.tb00993.x

https://www.nature.com/articles/199297a0

https://rep.bioscientifica.com/view/journals/rep/35/1/jrf_35_1_018.xml

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Mitochondria Replacement Therapy

Posted in Cell Biology, Cell Biology, Signaling & Cell Circuits, cell-based therapy, Developmental biology, Embryology, Gene Therapy & Gene Editing Development, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and Reproductive Genomics, Reproductive Andrology, Embryology, Genomic Endocrinology, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and Reproductive Genomics, Reproductive Biology & Bio Instrumentation, Signaling & Cell Circuits, Single Cell Genomics, stem cell biology and patient-specific, tagged genetic engineering, IVF, Leigh syndrome, mitochondria, Replacement on April 14, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Reporter and Curator: Dr. Sudipta Saha, Ph.D.

Leigh syndrome is one of the hundreds of so-called mitochondrial diseases, which are caused by defects in the mitochondria that produce 90 percent of the body’s energy. These disorders are rare; about 1,000 to 4,000 babies in the United States are born with one every year. But they are devastating and can result in grave impairment of nearly any bodily system. They are largely untreatable, uniformly incurable and very difficult to screen.

Leigh syndrome is a terrible disease. It emerges shortly after birth and claims one major organ after another. Movement becomes difficult, and then impossible. A tracheotomy and feeding tube are often necessary by toddlerhood, and as the disease progresses, lungs frequently have to be suctioned manually. Most children with the condition die by the age of 5 or 6.

Scientists have devised a procedure called mitochondrial replacement therapy (M.R.T.) that involves transplanting the nucleus of an affected egg (mitochondrial diseases are passed down from the mother’s side) into an unaffected one whose nucleus has been removed. The procedure is sometimes called “three-parent in vitro fertilization”. Mitochondria contain a minuscule amount of DNA, any resulting embryo would have mitochondrial DNA from the donor egg and nuclear DNA from each of its parents.

After decades of careful study in cell and animal research M.R.T. is now finally being tested in human clinical trials by doctors in Britain (no births confirmed yet officially). In the United States, however, this procedure is effectively illegal. M.R.T. does not involve altering any genetic code. Defective mitochondria are swapped out for healthy ones.

Mitochondrial DNA governs only a handful of basic cellular functions. It is separate from nuclear DNA, which helps determine individual traits like physical appearance, intelligence and personality. That means M.R.T. cannot be used to produce the genetically enhanced “designer babies” and thus should be allowed in humans. But, there is no way to know how safe or effective M.R.T. is until doctors and scientists test it in humans.

References:

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2016/10/07/the-three-parent-technique-to-avoid-mitochondrial-disease-in-embryo/

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Lesson 8 Cell Signaling and Motility: Lesson and Supplemental Information on Cell Junctions and ECM: #TUBiol3373

Posted in Biological Networks, Bone Disease and Musculoskeletal Disease, Cancer - General, Cardiovascular Research, Cell Biology, Cell Biology, Signaling & Cell Circuits, Coagulation Therapy and Internal Bleeding, Cytoskeleton, Developmental biology, Disease Biology, Electrophysiology, Endoplasmic reticulum, tagged #TUBiol3373, adherens, basal membrane, cell junctions, collagen, connexin43 (Cx43), Extracellular matrix, fibrin, gap junctions, Integrins, αvβ5- integrin, proteoglycan, talin, tight junctions, trans-membrane gap junction protein on April 9, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Lesson 8 Cell Signaling and Motility: Lesson and Supplemental Information on Cell Junctions and ECM: #TUBiol3373

Curator: Stephen J. Williams, Ph.D.

Please click on the following link for the PowerPoint Presentation for Lecture 8 on Cell Junctions and the Extracellular Matrix: (this is same lesson from 2018 so don’t worry that file says 2018)

cell signaling 8 lesson 2018

Some other reading on this lesson on this Open Access Journal Include:

On Cell Junctions:

Translational Research on the Mechanism of Water and Electrolyte Movements into the Cell

(pay particular attention to article by Fischbarg on importance of tight junctions for proper water and electrolyte movement)

The Role of Tight Junction Proteins in Water and Electrolyte Transport

(pay attention to article of role of tight junction in kidney in the Loop of Henle and the collecting tubule)

EpCAM [7.4]

(a tight junction protein)

Signaling and Signaling Pathways

(for this lesson pay attention to the part that shows how Receptor Tyrosine Kinase activation (RTK) can lead to signaling to an integrin and also how the thrombin receptor leads to cellular signals both to GPCR (G-protein coupled receptors like the thrombin receptor, the ADP receptor; but also the signaling cascades that lead to integrin activation of integrins leading to adhesion to insoluble fibrin mesh of the newly formed clot and subsequent adhesion of platelets, forming the platelet plug during thrombosis.)

On the Extracellular Matrix

Three-Dimensional Fibroblast Matrix Improves Left Ventricular Function Post MI

Arteriogenesis and Cardiac Repair: Two Biomaterials – Injectable Thymosin beta4 and Myocardial Matrix Hydrogel

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The function of the junk jumping gene (LINE1) uncovered

Posted in Biological Networks, Biological Networks, Gene Regulation and Evolution, Clinical Genomics, Developmental biology, Gene Regulation, Gene Regulation and Evolution, Genetics & Innovations in Treatment, Genome Biology, Population genetics, Population Health Management, Genetics & Pharmaceutical, Reproductive Andrology, Embryology, Genomic Endocrinology, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and Reproductive Genomics, tagged development, Dux, embryo, jumping gene, LINE1, transposons on July 21, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Reporter and Curator: Dr. Sudipta Saha, Ph.D.

Long interspersed nuclear elements 1 (LINE1) is repeated half a million times in the human genome, making up nearly a fifth of the DNA in every cell. But nobody cared to study it and may be the reason to call it junk DNA. LINE1, like other transposons (or “jumping genes”), has the unusual ability to copy and insert itself in random places in the genome. Many other research groups uncovered possible roles in early mouse embryos and in brain cells. But nobody quite established a proper report about the functions of LINE1.

Geneticists gave attention to LINE1 when it was found to cause cancer or genetic disorders like hemophilia. But researchers at University of California at San Francisco suspected there was more characteristics of LINE1. They suspected that if it can be most harmless then it can be worst harmful also.

Many reports showed that LINE1 is especially active inside developing embryos, which suggests that the segment actually plays a key role in coordinating the development of cells in an embryo. Researchers at University of California at San Francisco figured out how to turn LINE1 off in mouse embryos by blocking LINE1 RNA. As a result the embryos got stuck in the two-cell stage, right after a fertilized egg has first split. Without LINE1, embryos essentially stopped developing.

The researchers thought that LINE1 RNA particles act as molecular “glue,” bringing together a suite of molecules that switch off the two-cell stage and kick it into the next phase of development. In particular, it turns off a gene called Dux, which is active in the two-cell stage.

LINE1’s ability to copy itself, however, seems to have nothing to do with its role in embryonic development. When LINE1 was blocked from inserting itself into the genome, the embryonic stem cells remained unaffected. It’s possible that cells in embryos have a way of making LINE1 RNA while also preventing its potentially harmful “jumping” around in the genome. But it’s unlikely that every one of the thousands of copies of LINE1 is actually being used to regulate embryonic development.

LINE1 is abundant in the genomes of almost all mammals. Other transposons, also once considered junk DNA, have turned out to have critical roles in development in human cells too. There are differences between mice and humans, so, the next obvious step is to study LINE1 in human cells, where it makes up 17 percent of the genome.

References:

https://www-theatlantic-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/563354/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29937225

https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/transposons-the-jumping-genes-518

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180621141038.htm

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16015595

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Antiviral drug for hepatitis B not beneficial for reducing mother-to-child transmission

Posted in Antibody Responses Predict Antigen Exposure, Biological Networks, Biomarkers & Medical Diagnostics, Cell Biology, Developmental biology, Diagnostic Immunology, Disease Biology, Disease Biology, Small Molecules in Development of Therapeutic Drugs, Embryology, Health Care System by Country, Human Antibody Response, Human Immune System in Health and in Disease, Immunodiagnostics, Immunology, Immunotherapy, Infectious Disease & New Antibiotic Targets, Infectious Disease Immunodiagnostics, Medical and Population Genetics, Microbiologial genetics, Population Health Management, Population Health Management, Genetics & Pharmaceutical, Reproductive Andrology, Embryology, Genomic Endocrinology, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and Reproductive Genomics, Reproductive Biology & Bio Instrumentation, Virology, tagged antiviral drug, HBIG, hepatitis B, Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, transmission on March 10, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Reporter and Curator: Dr. Sudipta Saha, Ph.D.

Hepatitis B virus can cause serious, long-term health problems, such as liver disease and cancer, and can spread from mother-to-child during delivery. According to the latest estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 257 million people in 2015 were living with the virus. Countries in Asia have a high burden of hepatitis B. There is no cure, and antiviral drugs used to treat the infection usually need to be taken for life.

To prevent infection, WHO recommends that all newborns receive their first dose of hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of delivery. Infants born to hepatitis B-infected mothers are also given protective antibodies called hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG). However, mother-to-child transmission can still occur in women with high levels of virus in their blood, as well as those with mutated versions of the virus.

Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), an antiviral drug commonly prescribed to treat hepatitis B infection, does not significantly reduce mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B virus when taken during pregnancy and after delivery, according to a phase III clinical trial in Thailand funded by the National Institutes of Health. The study tested TDF therapy in addition to the standard preventative regimen — administration of hepatitis B vaccine and protective antibodies at birth — to explore the drug’s potential effects on mother-to-child transmission rates. The results appear in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The present study was conducted at 17 hospitals of the Ministry of Public Health in Thailand. It screened more than 2,500 women for eligibility and enrolled 331 pregnant women with hepatitis B. The women received placebo (163) or TDF (168) at intervals from 28 weeks of pregnancy to two months after delivery. All infants received standard hepatitis B preventatives given in Thailand, which include HBIG at birth and five doses of the hepatitis B vaccine by age 6 months (which differs from the three doses given in the United States). A total of 294 infants (147 in each group) were followed through age 6 months.

Three infants in the placebo group had hepatitis B infection at age 6 months, compared to zero infants in the TDF treatment group. Given the unexpectedly low transmission rate in the placebo group, the researchers concluded that the addition of TDF to current recommendations did not significantly reduce mother-to-child transmission of the virus.

According to the study, the clinical trial had enough participants to detect statistical differences if the transmission rate in the placebo group reached at least 12 percent, a rate observed in previous studies. Though the reasons are unknown, the researchers speculate that the lower transmission rate seen in the study may relate to the number of doses of hepatitis B vaccine given to infants in Thailand, lower rates of amniocentesis and Cesarean section deliveries in this study, or the lower prevalence of mutated viruses that result in higher vaccine efficacy in Thailand compared to other countries.

References:

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/antiviral-drug-not-beneficial-reducing-mother-child-transmission-hepatitis-b-when-added-existing-preventatives

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29514030

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29514035

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25240752

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28188612

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Artificial womb for survival of premature fetus

Posted in Biological Networks, Biomedical Measurement Science, Cell Biology, Clinical & Translational, Developmental biology, Discovery process, Embryology, Experimental validation, Great Discoveries, Innovations, Reproductive Biology & Bio Instrumentation, tagged amniotic fluid, fetus, gestation, premature fetus, survival, uterus, womb on April 27, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Reporter and Curator: Dr. Sudipta Saha, Ph.D.

Babies born at or before 25 weeks have quite low survival outcomes, and in the US it is the leading cause of infant mortality and morbidity. Just a few weeks of extra ‘growing time’ can be the difference between severe health problems and a relatively healthy baby.

Researchers from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (USA) Research Institute have shown it’s possible to nurture and protect a mammal in late stages of gestation inside an artificial womb; technology which could become a lifesaver for many premature human babies in just a few years.

The researchers took eight lambs between 105 to 120 days gestation (the physiological equivalent of 23 to 24 weeks in humans) and placed them inside the artificial womb. The artificial womb is a sealed and sterile bag filled with an electrolyte solution which acts like amniotic fluid in the uterus. The lamb’s own heart pumps the blood through the umbilical cord into a gas exchange machine outside the bag.

The artificial womb worked in this study and after just four weeks the lambs’ brains and lungs had matured like normal. They had also grown wool and could wiggle, open their eyes, and swallow. Although this study is looking incredibly promising but getting the research up to scratch for human babies still requires a big leap.

Nevertheless, if all goes well, the researchers hope to test the device on premature humans within three to five years. Potential therapeutic applications of this invention may include treatment of fetal growth retardation related to placental insufficiency or the salvage of preterm infants threatening to deliver after fetal intervention or fetal surgery.

The technology may also provide the opportunity to deliver infants affected by congenital malformations of the heart, lung and diaphragm for early correction or therapy before the institution of gas ventilation. Numerous applications related to fetal pharmacologic, stem cell or gene therapy could be facilitated by removing the possibility for maternal exposure and enabling direct delivery of therapeutic agents to the isolated fetus.

References:

https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15112

https://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-have-successfully-grown-premature-lambs-in-an-artificial-womb

http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/04/25/525044286/scientists-create-artificial-womb-that-could-help-prematurely-born-babies

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/04/25/artificial-womb-promises-boost-survival-premature-babies/

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/apr/25/artificial-womb-for-premature-babies-successful-in-animal-trials-biobag

http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/04/25/new-artificial-womb-technology-could-keep-babies-born-prematurely-alive-and-healthy/

http://www.theverge.com/2017/4/25/15421734/artificial-womb-fetus-biobag-uterus-lamb-sheep-birth-premie-preterm-infant

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-26/artificial-womb-could-one-day-keep-premature-babies-alive/8472960

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/04/preemies-floating-in-fluid-filled-bags/524181/

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/artificial-womb-save-premature-babies-lives-scientists-create-childrens-hospital-philadelphia-nature-a7701546.html

https://www.cnet.com/news/artificial-womb-births-premature-lambs-human-infants/

https://science.slashdot.org/story/17/04/25/2035243/an-artificial-womb-successfully-grew-baby-sheep—-and-humans-could-be-next

http://newatlas.com/artificial-womb-premature-babies/49207/

https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2015/06/12/artificial-wombs-the-coming-era-of-motherless-births/

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/04/artificial-womb-lambs-premature-babies-health-science/

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/artificial-womb-free-births-just-got-a-lot-more-real-cambridge-embryo-reproduction

http://www.disclose.tv/news/The_Artificial_Womb_Is_Born_Welcome_To_The_WORLD_Of_The_MATRIX/114199

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Promising research for a male birth control pill

Posted in Affordable Care Act, Bioengineering & reverse engineering design, Biological Networks, Biological Networks, Gene Regulation and Evolution, Cell Biology, Cell Biology, Signaling & Cell Circuits, Cell Processing System in Cell Therapy Process Development, Chemical Genetics, Clinical & Translational, Clinical Genomics, CRISPR/Cas9 & Gene Editing, Developmental biology, Diagnostics and Lab Tests, Drug Development Process, Drug Discovery Chemistry, Gene Regulation, Gene Therapy & Gene Editing Development, Genetics & Innovations in Treatment, Genetics & Pharmaceutical, Genome Biology, Genomic Endocrinology, Genomic Testing: Methodology for Diagnosis, Genomics Pharmacy, Medical and Population Genetics, Pharmaceutical Drug Discovery, Population Health Management, Population Health Management, Genetics & Pharmaceutical, Reproductive Andrology, Embryology, Genomic Endocrinology, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and Reproductive Genomics, Reproductive Biology & Bio Instrumentation, tagged birth control pill, contraception, CRISPR, knockout, spermatogonial cell, Stem cell on March 23, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Reporter and Curator: Dr. Sudipta Saha, Ph.D.

2.1.5.5

2.1.5.5 Promising research for a male birth control pill, Volume 2 (Volume Two: Latest in Genomics Methodologies for Therapeutics: Gene Editing, NGS and BioInformatics, Simulations and the Genome Ontology), Part 2: CRISPR for Gene Editing and DNA Repair

Scientists think excessive population growth is a cause of scarcity and environmental degradation. A male pill could reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, which accounts for 40 percent of all pregnancies worldwide.

But, big drug companies long ago dropped out of the search for a male contraceptive pill which is able to chemically intercept millions of sperm before they reach a woman’s egg. Right now the chemical burden for contraception relies solely on the female. There’s not much activity in the male contraception field because an effective solution is available on the female side.

Presently, male contraception means a condom or a vasectomy. But researchers from Center for Drug Discovery at Baylor College of Medicine, USA are renewing the search for a better option—an easy-to-take pill that’s safe, fast-acting, and reversible.

The scientists began with lists of genes active in the testes for sperm production and motility and then created knockout mice that lack those genes. Using the gene-editing technology called CRISPR, in collaboration with Japanese scientists, they have so far made more than 75 of these “knockout” mice.

They allowed these mice to mate with normal (wild type) female mice, and if their female partners don’t get pregnant after three to six months, it means the gene might be a target for a contraceptive. Out of 2300 genes that are particularly active in the testes of mice, the researchers have identified 30 genes whose deletion makes the male infertile. Next the scientists are planning a novel screening approach to test whether any of about two billion chemicals can disable these genes in a test tube. Promising chemicals could then be fed to male mice to see if they cause infertility.

Female birth control pills use hormones to inhibit a woman’s ovaries from releasing eggs. But hormones have side effects like weight gain, mood changes, and headaches. A trial of one male contraceptive hormone was stopped early in 2011 after one participant committed suicide and others reported depression. Moreover, some drug candidates have made animals permanently sterile which is not the goal of the research. The challenge is to prevent sperm being made without permanently sterilizing the individual.

As a better way to test drugs, Scientists at University of Georgia, USA are investigating yet another high-tech approach. They are turning human skin cells into stem cells that look and act like the spermatogonial cells in the testes. Testing drugs on such cells might provide more accurate leads than tests on mice.

The male pill would also have to start working quickly, a lot sooner than the female pill, which takes about a week to function. Scientists from University of Dundee, U.K. admitted that there are lots of challenges. Because, a women’s ovary usually release one mature egg each month, while a man makes millions of sperm every day. So, the male pill has to be made 100 percent effective and act instantaneously.

References:

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603676/the-search-for-a-perfect-male-birth-control-pill/

https://futurism.com/videos/the-perfect-male-birth-control-pill-is-coming-soon/?utm_source=Digest&utm_campaign=c42fc7b9b6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_03_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_03cd0a26cd-c42fc7b9b6-246845533

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/sex/the-male-pill-is-coming—and-its-going-to-change-everything/

http://www.mensfitness.com/women/sex-tips/male-birth-control-pill-making

http://health.howstuffworks.com/sexual-health/contraception/male-bc-pill.htm

http://europe.newsweek.com/male-contraception-side-effects-study-pill-injection-518237?rm=eu

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/01/07/health/male-birth-control-pill/index.html

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/contraception-guide/Pages/male-pill.aspx

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Mesentery: Designated As a New Organ

Posted in Cell Biology, Cytoskeleton, Developmental biology, Disease Biology, Evidence-based decision-making, Uncategorized, tagged Abdomen, disease, mesentery, organ, peritoneum, structure on January 6, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Reporter and Curator: Dr. Sudipta Saha, Ph.D.

Researchers have classified a brand-new organ inside human body. Known as the mesentery, the new organ is found in our digestive systems, and was long thought to be made up of fragmented, separate structures. But recent research has shown that it’s actually one, continuous organ. The evidence for the organ’s reclassification is now published in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology. Although we now know about the structure of this new organ, its function is still poorly understood, and studying it could be the key to better understanding and treatment of abdominal and digestive disease.

J Calvin Coffey, a researcher from the University Hospital Limerick in Ireland, who first discovered that the mesentery was an organ. In 2012, Coffey and his colleagues showed through detailed microscopic examinations that the mesentery is actually a continuous structure. Over the past four years, they’ve gathered further evidence that the mesentery should actually be classified as its own distinct organ, and the latest paper makes it official. Mesentery is a double fold of peritoneum – the lining of the abdominal cavity – that holds our intestine to the wall of our abdomen. It was described by the Italian polymath Leanardo da Vinci in 1508, but it has been ignored throughout the centuries, until now. Although there are generally considered to be five organs in the human body, there are in fact now 79, including the mesentery. The heart, brain, liver, lungs and kidneys are the vital organs, but there are another 74 that play a role in keeping us healthy. The distinctive anatomical and functional features of mesentery have been revealed that justify designation of the mesentery as an organ. Accordingly, the mesentery should be subjected to the same investigatory focus that is applied to other organs and systems. This provides a platform from which to direct future scientific investigation of the human mesentery in health and disease.

References:

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langas/article/PIIS2468-1253(16)30026-7/abstract

http://www.sciencealert.com/it-s-official-a-brand-new-human-organ-has-been-classified

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-38506708

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/new-organ-mesentery-found-human-body-digestive-system-classified-abdominal-grays-anatomy-a7507396.html

https://in.news.yahoo.com/scientists-discover-human-organ-064207997.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesentery

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MicroRNA in Reproduction

Posted in Biological Networks, Gene Regulation and Evolution, Biomarkers & Medical Diagnostics, Biomedical Measurement Science, Cargo, Cell Biology, Cell Biology, Signaling & Cell Circuits, Clinical Diagnostics, Clinical Genomics, Developmental biology, Disease Biology, Disease Biology, Small Molecules in Development of Therapeutic Drugs, Exosomes, Gene Regulation, Gene Therapy & Gene Editing Development, Genetics & Innovations in Treatment, Genetics & Pharmaceutical, Genomic Endocrinology, Genomic Testing: Methodology for Diagnosis, Genomics Pharmacy, Personalized and Precision Medicine & Genomic Research, Population genetics, Reproductive Andrology, Embryology, Genomic Endocrinology, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and Reproductive Genomics, RNA Biology, tagged art, biomarker, IVF, miRNA, Ovulation, PCOS, reproduction, Spermatogenesis on November 9, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Reporter and Curator: Dr. Sudipta Saha, Ph.D.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a group of small non-coding RNA molecules that play a major role in posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression and are expressed in an organ-specific manner. One miRNA can potentially regulate the expression of several genes, depending on cell type and differentiation stage. They control every cellular process and their altered regulation is involved in human diseases. miRNAs are differentially expressed in the male and female gonads and have an organ-specific reproductive function. Exerting their affect through germ cells and gonadal somatic cells, miRNAs regulate key proteins necessary for gonad development. The role of miRNAs in the testes is only starting to emerge though they have been shown to be required for adequate spermatogenesis. In the ovary, miRNAs play a fundamental role in follicles’ assembly, growth, differentiation, and ovulation.

Deciphering the underlying causes of idiopathic male infertility is one of the main challenges in reproductive medicine. This is especially relevant in infertile patients displaying normal seminal parameters and no urogenital or genetic abnormalities. In these cases, the search for additional sperm biomarkers is of high interest. This study was aimed to determine the implications of the sperm miRNA expression profiles in the reproductive capacity of normozoospermic infertile individuals. The expression levels of 736 miRNAs were evaluated in spermatozoa from normozoospermic infertile males and normozoospermic fertile males analyzed under the same conditions. 57 miRNAs were differentially expressed between populations; 20 of them was regulated by a host gene promoter that in three cases comprised genes involved in fertility. The predicted targets of the differentially expressed miRNAs unveiled a significant enrichment of biological processes related to embryonic morphogenesis and chromatin modification. Normozoospermic infertile individuals exhibit a specific sperm miRNA expression profile clearly differentiated from normozoospermic fertile individuals. This miRNA cargo has potential implications in the individuals’ reproductive competence.

Circulating or “extracellular” miRNAs detected in biological fluids, could be used as potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers of several disease, such as cancer, gynecological and pregnancy disorders. However, their contributions in female infertility and in vitro fertilization (IVF) remain unknown. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a frequent endocrine disorder in women. PCOS is associated with altered features of androgen metabolism, increased insulin resistance and impaired fertility. Furthermore, PCOS, being a syndrome diagnosis, is heterogeneous and characterized by polycystic ovaries, chronic anovulation and evidence of hyperandrogenism, as well as being associated with chronic low-grade inflammation and an increased life time risk of type 2 diabetes. Altered miRNA levels have been associated with diabetes, insulin resistance, inflammation and various cancers. Studies have shown that circulating miRNAs are present in whole blood, serum, plasma and the follicular fluid of PCOS patients and that these might serve as potential biomarkers and a new approach for the diagnosis of PCOS. Presence of miRNA in mammalian follicular fluid has been demonstrated to be enclosed within microvesicles and exosomes or they can also be associated to protein complexes. The presence of microvesicles and exosomes carrying microRNAs in follicular fluid could represent an alternative mechanism of autocrine and paracrine communication inside the ovarian follicle. The investigation of the expression profiles of five circulating miRNAs (let-7b, miR-29a, miR-30a, miR-140 and miR-320a) in human follicular fluid from women with normal ovarian reserve and with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and their ability to predict IVF outcomes showed that these miRNAs could provide new helpful biomarkers to facilitate personalized medical care for oocyte quality in ART (Assisted Reproductive Treatment) and during IVF (In Vitro Fertilization).

References:

http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-31973-5_12

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/andr.12276/abstract;jsessionid=F805A89DCC94BDBD42D6D60C40AD4AB0.f03t03

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0009279716302241

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10815-016-0657-9

http://www.nature.com/articles/srep24976