The case-dependent lignin role in lignocellulose nanofibers preparation and functional application-A review

Lignocellulose nanofibers(LCNFs) as a new material is attracting extensive attention. The pretreatment and mechanical fibrillation are the two main stages involved in the preparation of LCNFs, and lignin plays the important role of these two stages. This review discussed the interaction between lignin and chemicals in the pretreatment stage, and discovered the general law of the effect of lignin in the mechanical fibrillation stage.Lignin exhibits both promotion and inhibition effects on mechanical fibrillation, and the mutual competition between the two effects ultimately affects the energy consumption, morphology and yield of LCNFs. Furthermore, the recent research progress related to the contributions of lignin on the functional application of LCNFs was summarized, aiming to provide profound guidance for the preparation and application of LCNFs.

Current therapies for osteoarthritis and prospects of CRISPR-based genome,epigenome,and RNA editing in osteoarthritis treatment

Osteoarthritis(OA)is one of the most common degenerative joint diseases worldwide,causing pain,disability,and decreased quality of life.The balance between regeneration and inflammation-induced degradation results in multiple etiologies and complex pathogenesis of OA.Currently,there is a lack of effective therapeutic strategies for OA treatment.With the development of CRISPR-based genome,epigenome,and RNA editing tools,OA treatment has been improved by targeting genetic risk factors,activating chondrogenic elements,and modulating inflammatory regulators.Supported by cell therapy and in vivo delivery vectors,genome,epigenome,and RNA editing tools may provide a promising approach for personalized OA therapy.This review summarizes CRISPR-based genome,epigenome,and RNA editing tools that can be applied to the treatment of OA and provides insights into the development of CRISPR-based therapeutics for OA treatment.Moreover,in-depth evaluations of the efficacy and safety of these tools in human OA treatment are needed.

Community-Level Practice Checklists for Health Protection During Cold Spells in China

Communities play a crucial role in protecting the health of vulnerable populations such as the elderly,low-income groups,and high-risk individuals during cold spells.However,current strategies for responding to cold spells primarily consist of programmatic policies that lack practicality,specificity,and detailed implementation guidelines for community workers.Therefore,this study aims to identify and analyze the challenges faced by communities in responding to cold spells,review international experiences,and develop a set of practical checklists for community-level health protection.These checklists will assist community workers and volunteers in effectively preparing for,responding to,and recovering from cold spells.

Correction of β-thalassemia mutant by base editor in human embryos

β-Thalassemia is a global health issue, caused by mutations in the HBB gene. Among these mutations, HBB -28 （A〉G） mutations is one of the three most common mutations in China and Southeast Asia patients with β-thalassemia. Correcting this mutation in human embryos may prevent the disease being passed onto future generations and cure anemia. Here we report the first study using base editor （BE） system to correct disease mutant in human embryos. Firstly, we produced a 293T cell line with an exogenous HBB -28 （A〉G） mutant fragment for gRNAs and targeting efficiency evaluation. Then we collected primary skin fibroblast cells from a β-thalassemia patient with HBB -28 （A〉G） homozygous mutation. Data showed that base editor could precisely correct HBB -28 （A〉G） mutation in the patient＇s primary cells. To model homozygous mutation disease embryos, we consb＇ucted nuclear transfer embryos by fusing the lymphocyte or skin fibroblast cells with enucleated in vitro matured （IVM） oocytes.Notably, the gene correction efficiency was over 23.0% in these embryos by base editor. Although these embryos were still mosaic, the percentage of repaired blastomeres was over 20.0%. In addition, we found that base editor variants, with narrowed deamination window, could promote G-to-A conversion at HBB -28 site precisely in human embryos. Collectively, this study demonstrated the feasibility of curing genetic disease in human somatic cells and embryos by base editor system.

Effective gene editing by high-fidelity base editor 2 in mouse zygotes

Targeted point mutagenesis through homologous recombination has been widely used in genetic studies and holds considerable promise for repairing disease- causing mutations in patients. However, problems such as mosaicism and low mutagenesis efficiency continue to pose challenges to clinical applicaUon of such approaches. Recently, a base editor （BE） system built on cytidine （C） deaminase and CRISPR/Cas9 technology was developed as an alternative method for targeted point mutagenesis in plant, yeast, and human cells. Base editors convert C in the deamination window to thymidine （T） efficiently, however, it remains unclear whether targeted base editing in mouse embryos is feasible. In this report, we generated a modified high- fidelity version of base editor 2 （HF2-BE2）, and investigated its base editing efficacy in mouse embryos. We found that HF2-BE2 could convert C to T efficiently, with up to 100% biallelic mutation efficiency in mouse embryos. Unlike BE3, HF2-BE2 could convert C to T on both the target and non-target strand, expanding the editing scope of base editors. Surprisingly, we found HF2-BE2 could also deaminate C that was proximal to the gRNA-binding region. Taken together, our work demonstrates the feasibility of generating point mutations in mouse by base editing, and underscores the need to carefully optimize base editing systems in order to eliminate proximal-site deamination.

Homology-based repair induced by CRISPR-Cas nucleases in mammalian embryo genome editing

Recent advances in genome editing,especially CRISPR-Cas nucleases,have revolutionized both laboratory research and clinical therapeutics.CRISPR-Cas nucleases,together with the DNA damage repair pathway in cells,enable both genetic diversification by classical non-homologous end joining(c-NHEJ)and precise genome modification by homology-based repair(HBR).Genome editing in zygotes is a convenient way to edit the germline,paving the way for animal disease model generation,as well as human embryo genome editing therapy for some life-threatening and incurable diseases.HBR efficiency is highly dependent on the DNA donor that is utilized as a repair template.Here,we review recent progress in improving CRISPR-Cas nuclease-induced HBR in mammalian embryos by designing a suitable DNA donor.Moreover,we want to provide a guide for producing animal disease models and correcting genetic mutations through CRISPR-Cas nuclease-induced HBR in mammalian embryos.Finally,we discuss recent developments in precise genome-modification technology based on the CRISPR-Cas system.

Bend family proteins mark chromatin boundaries and synergistically promote early germ cell differentiation

Understanding the regulatory networks for germ cell fate specification is necessary to developing strategies for improving the efficiency of germ cell production in vitro.In this study,we developed a coupled screening strategy that took advantage of an arrayed bi-molecular fluorescence complementation(BiFC)platform for protein-protein interaction screens and epiblast-like cell(EpiLC)-induction assays using reporter mouse embryonic stem cells(mESCs).Investigation of candidate interaction partners of core human pluripotent factors OCT4,NANOG,KLF4 and SOX2 in EpiLC differentiation assays identified novel primordial germ cell(PGC)-inducing factors including BEN-domain(BEND/Bend)family members.Through RNA-seq,ChIP-seq,and ATAC-seq analyses,we showed that Bend5 worked together with Bend4 and helped mark chromatin boundaries to promote EpiLC induction in vitro.Our findings suggest that BEND/Bend proteins represent a new family of transcriptional modulators and chromatin boundary factors that participate in gene expression regulation during early germline development.

Effective and precise adenine base editing n mouse zygotes

Dear Editor, Many human genetic diseases are caused by pathogenic single nucleotide mutations. Animal models are often used to study these diseases where the pathogenic point mutations are created and/or corrected through gene editing （e.g., the CRISPP-JCas9 system） （Komor et al., 2017; Liang et al., 2017）. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing depends on DNA double-strand breaks （DSBs）, which can be of low efficiency and lead to indels and off-target cleavage （Kim et al., 2016）. We and others have shown that base editors （BEs） may represent an attractive alternative for disease mouse model generation （Liang et al., 2017; Kim et al., 2017）. Compared to CRISPR/ Cas9, cytidine base editors （CBEs） can generate C·G to T·A mutations in mouse zygotes without activating DSB repair pathways （Liang et al., 2017; Kim et al., 2017; Komor et al., 2016）. In addition, CBEs showed much lower off-targets than CRISPR]Cas9 （Kim et al., 2017）, making the editing process potentially safer and more controllable. Recently, adenine base editors （ABEs） that were developed from the tRNA- specific adenosine deaminase （TADA） of Escherichia coli were also reported （Gaudelli et al., 2017）. As a RNA-guided programmable adenine deaminase, ABE can catalyze the conversion of A to I. Following DNA replication, base I is replaced by G, resulting in A·T to G·C conversion （Gaudelli et al., 2017; Hu et al., 2018）. The development of ABEs has clearly expanded the editing capacity and application of BEs. Here, we tested whether ABEs could effectively generate disease mouse models, and found high efficiency by ABEs in producing edited mouse zygotes and mice with single-nucleotide substitutions.

A novel undifferentiated spermatogonia-speci?c surface protein 1(USSP1) in neonatal mice

Mammalian spermatogenesis is maintained by a rare population of spermatogonial stem cells(SSCs),which are important for male fertility. SSCs remain a subset of undifferentiated spermatogonia, which can be isolated by a combination of surface markers. Specific markers to identify and isolate undifferentiated spermatogonia are lacking. Ussp1, a transcript previously annotated as long noncoding RNA(RIKEN cDNA 4933427D06, Gene ID: 232217), virtually encodes a membrane protein, USSP1, in a highly testisspecific manner in mouse. We demonstrate its expression on the membrane of undifferentiated spermatogonia by a homemade polyclonal rabbit antibody against the protein. In vivo, USSP1^+ clusters consist mainly of As, Apr(GFRa1^+) and Aal(PLZF^+) cells. USSP1^+ cells exhibit enrichment of undifferentiated spermatogonia, as shown by increased expression of SSC self-renewal molecular markers and the potential to form SSC clones in vitro and in vivo. However, Ussp1 knockout did not affect the number of SSCs or spermatogenesis in mice. Thy1^+ cells from Ussp1 null mice did not show any defect in the SSC colony formation capacity, indicating that USSP1 is not essential for SSC self-renewal. Our data demonstrate that Ussp1 is specifically expressed in undifferentiated murine spermatogonia, indicating the potential to sort undifferentiated spermatogonia with USSP1 antibodies. Ussp1 might be a good maker for SSC enrichment in neonatal mice.

Synthesis of haptens and production of antibodies to bisphenol A

Three immunizing haptens of bisphenol A(BPA), including two new haptens, were used to produce highly sensitive and specific polyclonal antibodies. The spacer arms of haptens for coupling to the protein carrier were located at different positions in BPA, and different length spacer arms were tested. Highly sensitive polyclonal antibodies were obtained and characterized using indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ic ELISA). Under optimized conditions, the half maximal inhibitory concentration(IC50) value of the best polyclonal antibody was 2.1 mg·L^(-1), based on coating heterogeneous antigens, and this optimal polyclonal antibody was highly sensitive toward BPA and displayed negligible crossreactivity with bisphenol B and bisphenol E. A sensitive ic ELISA method utilizing the polyclonal antibody was developed for the determination of BPA in milk. In spiked samples(5, 10 and 20 mg·L^(-1)), the recovery ranged from 80% to 102% with a coefficient of variation(CV) value below 15.8%. The limit of detection of ic ELISA was1.95 mg·L^(-1). These results indicate that the ic ELISA method is suitable for the detection of BPA in milk.