Soy isoflavones are natural active ingredients of soy plants that are beneficial to many metabolic diseases, especially obesity. Many studies have reported that obesity is closely related to visceral fatty acid metabolism, but the effect has not been well defined. In this study, we show that soy isoflavones improve visceral fatty acid metabolism in diet-induced obese male rats, which was indicated by reduced body weight and visceral fat cell area, as well as suppressed visceral fat synthesis and accelerated fat hydrolysis. We also found that common components of soy isoflavones, daidzein and genistein, were able to inhibit the lipid accumulation process in 3T3-L1 cells. Moreover, we showed that soy isoflavones can promote on AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activity both in vivo and in vitro, which may be implicated in lipid metabolism regulation of soy isoflavones. Our study demonstrates the potential of soy isoflavones as a mechanism for regulating lipid homeostasis in visceral adipose tissue, proven to be beneficial for obesity treatment.

Intestinal organoids have emerged as powerful model systems for studying the complex structure and function of the intestine. However, there is a lack of widely applicable methods for the collection, labeling, and imaging of intestinal organoids. In this study, we developed a novel method for loading and labeling intestinal organoids, a method that efficiently collects the organoids and facilitates imaging of their three-dimensional (3D) structure. Based on this strainer platform, mouse intestinal organoids were adequately collected and immobilized, facilitating the immunolabeling workflow to target proteins of the organoids. After evaluation, the strainer size of 40 μm was considered to be more conducive to the collection and labeling of mouse intestinal organoids. More extensive research on organoids of multiple types and species origins will contribute to broadening the applicability of the methodology. Overall, our study proposes an innovative workflow for loading and analyzing intestinal organoids. The combination of a strainer-based collection method, fluorescent labeling, and 3D reconstruction provides valuable insights into the organization and complexity of these tissue models, thereby offering new avenues for investigating intestinal development, disease modeling, and drug discovery.

Poxviruses have been associated with humans for centuries. From smallpox to mpox to lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV), members of the poxvirus family have continued to threaten the lives of humans and domestic animals. A complete understanding of poxvirus-mediated cellular processes will aid in the response to challenges from the viruses. In this study, we demonstrate that LSDV infection results in an abnormal ultrastructure of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) lumen in primary bovine embryonic fibroblast (BEF) cells, and we further show that an ER imbalance occurs in LSDV-infected BEF cells. Additionally, we believe that ER stress-related apoptosis plays a role in the late apoptosis of BEF cells infected with LSDV, primarily through the activation of the CCAAT/enhancer binding protein homologous protein (CHOP)-Caspase-12 signal. In addition to cell apoptosis, a further investigation showed that LSDV could also activate autophagy in BEF cells, providing additional insight into the exact causes of LSDV-induced BEF cell death. Our findings suggest that LSDV-induced BEF cell apoptosis and autophagy may provide new avenues for laboratory diagnosis of lumpy skin disease progression and exploration of BEF cell processes.

Maturing male germ cells undergo a unique developmental process in spermiogenesis that replaces nucleosomal histones with protamines, the process of which is critical for testicular development and male fertility. The progress of this exchange is regulated by complex mechanisms that are not well understood. Now, with mouse genetic models, we show that barrier-to-autointegration factor-like protein (BAF-L) plays an important role in spermiogenesis and spermatozoal function. BAF-L is a male germ cell marker, whose expression is highly associated with the maturation of male germ cells. The genetic deletion of BAF-L in mice impairs the progress of spermiogenesis and thus male fertility. This effect on male fertility is a consequence of the disturbed homeostasis of histones and protamines in maturing male germ cells, in which the interactions between BAF-L and histones/protamines are implicated. Finally, we show that reduced testicular expression of BAF-L represents a risk factor of human male infertility.

The development of organoid research has raised new requirements for this methodology. In a previous study, we demonstrated that an emerging protocol achieved the collection, loading, and programmed immunolabeling of mouse intestinal organoids based on a strainer platform. To uncover the applied potential of this novel methodology on organoids from other species, the strainer platform was utilized to characterize the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV)-infected porcine intestinal organoid model. Based on a previous study, some steps were changed to improve the efficiency of the assay by simplifying the reagent addition procedure. In addition, we redefined the range of strainer sizes on porcine intestinal organoids, showing that strainers with pore sizes of 40 and 70 μm matched the above protocol well. Notably, the strainer platform was successfully used to label viral proteins, laying the foundation for its application in the visualization of viral infection models. In summary, the potential of the strainer platform for organoid technology was explored further. More extensive exploration of this platform will contribute to the development of organoid technology.