Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of developmental pathologies that impair social communication and cause repetitive behaviors. The suggested roles of noncoding RNAs in pathology led us to perform a comparative analysis of the microRNAs expressed in the serum of human ASD patients. The analysis of a cohort of 45 children with ASD revealed that six microRNAs (miR-19a-3p, miR-361-5p, miR-3613-3p, miR-150-5p, miR-126-3p, and miR-499a-5p) were expressed at low to very low levels compared to those in healthy controls. A similar but less pronounced decrease was registered in the clinically unaffected parents of the sick children and in their siblings but never in any genetically unrelated control. Results consistent with these observations were obtained in the blood, hypothalamus and sperm of two of the established mouse models of ASD: valproic acid-treated animals and Cc2d1a^+/− heterozygotes. In both instances, the same characteristic miRNA profile was evidenced in the affected individuals and inherited together with disease symptoms in the progeny of crosses with healthy animals. The consistent association of these genetic regulatory changes with the disease provides a starting point for evaluating the changes in the activity of the target genes and, thus, the underlying mechanism(s). From the applied societal and medical perspectives, once properly confirmed in large cohorts, these observations provide tools for the very early identification of affected children and progenitors.

Background: N-heptyl-D-galactonamide (GalC7) is a small synthetic carbohydrate derivative that forms a biocompatible supramolecular hydrogel. In this study, the objective was to analyze more in-depth how neural cells differentiate in contact with GalC7. Method: Direct (ex vivo) cells of the fresh hippocampus and culture (In vitro) of the primary cells were investigated. In vitro, investigation performed under three conditions: on culture in neurospheres for 19 days, on culture in GalC7 gel for 7 days, and on culture in both neurospheres and GalC7 gel. Total RNA was isolated with TRIzol from each group, Sox8, Sox9, Sox10, Dcx, and Neurod1 expression levels were measured by qPCR. Result: Sox8 and Sox10, oligodendrocyte markers, and Sox9, an astrocyte marker, were expressed at a much higher level after 7 days of culture in GalC7 hydrogel compared to all other conditions. Dcx, a marker of neurogenesis, and Neurod1, a marker of neuronal differentiation, were expressed at better levels in the GalC7 gel culture compared to the neurosphere. Conclusions: These results show that the GalC7 hydrogel brings different and interesting conditions for inducing the differentiation and maturation of neural progenitor cells compared with polymer-based scaffolds or cell-only conditions. The differences observed open new perspectives in tissue engineering, induction, and transcript analysis.

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between severe novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) and hypercoagulable conditions that predispose patients to thrombosis such as the prothrombin ...

Effect of the allopregnanolone and allotetrahydrodeoxycorticosteron on spike-wave discharges in the EEG of absence epilepsy rat models