Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multi-potential cells that are able to proliferate and differentiate into other cell types. Much research has been done on the MSCs from the umbilical cord (UCMSCs) in human, mice, and avian, but little literature has been published about these cells in big livestock. Here, we choose Luxi cattle as the experimental animal, we describe an external culture of the UCMSCs from it and summarize the biological characteristics of these cells, e.g., morphologic appearance, surface antigens, colony-forming ability, gene expression, and differentiation potential were detected via using immunofluorescence and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The induced cells, osteoblast, lipoblast, hepatocyte, islet cells, and neurocyte were identified by Alizarin red staining, Oil-red-O staining, Periodic acid-schiff staining, and Dithizone staining and RT-PCR detection for specific genes. Results suggest that biological characteristics of the UCMSCs were similar to those of MSCs previously analyzed. The primary UCMSCs were sub-cultured to passage 32, the UCMSCs expressed gene CD29, CD44, CD73, CD90, and CD166, induced cells illustrated typical staining, and expressed specific genes, which indicate that the UCMSCs could be a novel alternative source of MSCs for experimental and clinical applications.

To investigate the neuroprotective effect of ferulic acid (FA) in a pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)induced seizures rat model, the seizures behaviour, spatial learning ability and memory capability of the rats were assessed. Both the antioxidation and anti-apoptosis pathways were also investigated. In this study, male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 12 in each group). For 28 days, the rats were administered saline alone (i.p. normal saline, NS group), PTZ (40 mg/kg, i.p., PTZ group) once daily to induce seizures, or FA (i.p. 60 mg/kg) 20 min before being given PTZ (40 mg/kg, i.p., FA + PTZ group) to assess the neuroprotective effect of FA. The seizures behaviour of the rats was analysed with the Racine scale. The spatial learning and memory capacity of the rats were assessed by the Morris water maze test. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content were measured, and both in situ staining with the DNA-binding bisbenzimide Hoechst 33258 and TUNEL assays were used to assess apoptosis. Western blotting was used to further analyse the expression of Apaf-1, caspase-9, caspase-3, Bcl-2, Bid, Bax, cleaved caspase-3 and cytochrome c. The results showed that compared to the those of the PTZ group, FA pre-treatment significantly (p < 0.01) reduced the Racine scores starting at day 4, prolonged the latency of the onset of seizure at day 28, reduced the escape latency period starting at day 2, increased the frequency of crossing the platform location, increased the SOD activity, reduced the MDA content and apoptosis rate, and upregulated the Bcl-2 levels whilst downregulating the Bax, cytochrome c, Apaf-1, caspase-9, caspase-3, cleaved caspase-3 and Bid expression levels. This study demonstrated that pre-treatment with FA exerts strong neuroprotective effects by reducing seizures behaviour and by improving spatial learning ability and memory capacity. The neuroprotective effect may be a result of a reduction in neuron cell death that occurs via the antioxidative and anti-apoptotic pathways.

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PRRT2 mutations are the major causative agent of paroxysmal kinesigenic dyskinesia with infantile convulsion (PKD/IC). The study is aimed at screening PRRT2 gene mutations in patients who suffered from PKD/IC in Chinese population. Thirteen Chinese patients with PKD/IC were screened randomly for coding exons of the PRRT2 gene mutation along with 50 ethnically coordinated control people. Nine (2 unaffected) and 4 of the patients showed familial PKD/IC and apparently sporadic cases, respectively. We identified 5 different PRRT2 mutations in 10 individuals, including 8 familial and 2 apparently sporadic cases. However, no mutations were found in the 50 ethnically matched controls. Unknown (novel) NM_145239.2:c.686G>A and previously reported NM_145239.2:c.743G>C variants were identified in two familial and sporadic patients. All affected members of family A showed mutation NM_145239.2:c.650_670delinsCAATGGTGCCACCACTGGGTTA. The previously identified NM_145239.2:c.412 C>G and NM_145239.2:c.709G>A variants are seen in two individuals assessed in family B. Other than the previously identified variants, some of the patients with PRRT2-PKD/IC showed a new PRRT2 substitution variant. Thus, the spectrum of PRRT2 variants is expanded. The possible role and probability of PRRT2 variants involved in PKD/IC are highlighted.

Stem cell technologies have been widely used in the study of spermatogenesis. However, deriving motile sperm from stem cells in vitro is still rarely achieved. We found that chicken primordial germ cells could directly differentiate into sperm by using retinoic acid in a non-testicular culture system. The induced sperms were characterised by RT-PCR, immunofluorescence and flow cytometry techniques. Results suggested that chicken primordial germ cells could produce motile sperm in vitro. Our work has provided a novel animal model of spermatogenesis in vitro, which might be used for male reproductive mechanism research.