Zhiying Zhang

Obesity-related diseases are always the major health problems that concern the whole world. Serial studies have reported that obesity development is closely related to the out-of-control leptin encoded by the obesity gene (ob). The latest report declaimed “Less Is More,” a model explaining that partial leptin reduction triggers leptin sensitization and contributes to obesity control. Here, we came up with a novel concept, in vivo protein interference (iPRTi), an interesting protein knock-down strategy for in vivo partial leptin reduction. First, the specific immune response against leptin induced by the oral administration of ob recombinant yeast was confirmed. Subsequentally, leptin resistance was observed in diet-induced obese mice, and oral administration with ob recombinant yeast declined the circulating leptin and reduced significantly the body weight gain. To further investigate whether the iPRTi strategy is capable of obesity management, the diet-induced obese mice were administrated with ob recombinant yeast. All the indexes examined including the circulating leptin, triglyceride, and total cholesterol, as well as food intake and weight gain, demonstrated a positive effect of the iPRTi strategy on obesity control. In short, this study provides a novel strategy for the potential application of recombinant yeast for the therapy of obese individuals with leptin resistance.

We revealed the mechanism that explains how the NgAgo eliminates the invading foreign DNA and bacteriophage in bacterial cells at 37°C, and by leveraging this discovery, NgAgo can be programmed to target a plasmid or a chromosome locus.

Clustered regulatory interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 nuclease (Cas9), the third-generation genome editing tool,

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are endogenously expressed small noncoding RNAs and play critical roles in the regulation of post-transcriptional gene expression. Our previous study uncovered that chi-miR-487b-3p is widespread in different goat tissues, which is significantly higher in muscle, especially in lamb. Here, we demonstrate the role of chi-miR-487b-3p as a myogenic miRNA that regulates skeletal muscle development. chi-miR-487b-3p overexpression was demonstrated to significantly inhibit goat myoblast proliferation and differentiation, whereas chi-miR-487b-3p inhibition resulted in the opposite effects. Next, chi-miR-487b-3p was predicted to target the 3′UTR of insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) gene by Target-Scan and miRDB. The results of dual-luciferase assay, RT-qPCR, and western blot all confirmed that IRS1 might be a direct target of chi-miR-487b-3p as its expression was negatively regulated by chi-miR-487b-3p. siRNA silencing of IRS1 further demonstrated significant inhibition on goat myoblast proliferation and differentiation, confirming the effect of IRS1 downregulation by chi-miR-487b-3p in myogenesis. In addition, chi-miR-487b-3p knockout goat myoblast clones were generated using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, and we further illustrated that chi-miR-487b-3p regulates goat myoblast growth through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway by targeting IRS1. Collectively, our work demonstrated that chi-miR-487b-3p is a potent inhibitor of skeletal myogenesis and provided new insights into the mechanisms of miRNA on the regulation of goat growth.

Caryota obtusa of Arecaceae is a fascinating palm tree native to southwestern China, India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. It is an economically important and threatened species and appears as a canopy dominant in some karst areas in Yunnan. We aim to clarify the forest structure, species diversity, population status and regeneration dynamics of C. obtusa in the karst forest ecosystem of Yunnan, China. We established 56 vegetation plots dominated by C. obtusa in 10 counties of southern Yunnan. Based on the plot data, we analyzed the community stratification, floristic composition and C. obtusa’s population structure. We used questionnaires to interview local people and recorded the human activity history in C. obtusa-dominated forests. Caryota obtusa palm forests were distributed on limestone mountain slopes and gullies. There were seven forest community types. The stratification of each community included arborous layer, shrub layer and understory. The communities had rich species composition. For all the plots as a whole of each community type, Shannon–Wiener diversity index of either woody or herbaceous species ranged from 2.1 to 3.8. The diameter at breast height (DBH)-class frequency distribution of C. obtusa was a multimodal type. The regeneration was sporadic and dependent on intermediate natural disturbances. In the current population structure, a number of C. obtusa trees with small DBHs consisted mainly of the forest communities with no or a slight degree of human disturbances. Intensive human activities terribly hindered recruitment of C. obtuse, followed by the medium intensity of human activities.