Embryo implantation involves a complex interaction between the embryo and the endometrium of the mother, the study of which faces a variety of problems. The modeling of endometrial epithelial organoids and endometrial assembloids provides a new way to study the process of embryo implantation in vitro. This paper summarized the latest research progress in embryo implantation, the regulation mechanism of endometrial receptivity by estrogen- progesterone coordination and embryo-derived signals, the establishment of endometrial organoids, and the development and application of endometrial assembloids in the research on mother-embryo interaction, providing new strategies for studying the communication between embryo and maternal uterus during implantation.
Endometrium/physiology* ; Organoids/cytology* ; Embryo Implantation/physiology* ; Female ; Animals ; Progesterone/pharmacology* ; Pregnancy ; Estrogens/metabolism* ; Humans

Objective To explore thc clinical manifestation of secondary generalized myasthenia gravis(GMG) and analyze the factors affecting the progression from ocular myasthenia gravis(OMG) to GMG.Methods This research constitutes a single-center,retrospectively-collected prospective cohort study.We comprehensively reviewed our self-managed myasthenia gravis (MG) database drawn from personal clinical experience from January 2000 to Junc 2013.Patients underwent series of examination including repetitive nerve stimulation (RNS) tests,measurement of serum acetylcholine receptors antibody and serum muscle-specific tyrosine kinase antibodies,thymus computer tomography scan etc.Patients were treated with pyridostigmine bromide,corticosteroid therapy and (or) thymectomy based on a nonrandomization pattern and they were documented for their respective symptoms of OMG and GMG and date of GMG conversion.Logistic regression analysis was adopted to determine the influencing factors correlated with the development of GMG during the follow-up.Results Totally 770 patients initially diagnosed with OMG were included,among whom 573 (74％) patients remained with OMG (R-OMG group) and 197(26％) patients developed into GMG (GMG group) during the follow-up.(1) In comparison with their R-OMG counterparts,patients with secondary GMG were older at onset; Displayed more frequent RNS abnormality of facial nerve,accessory nerve and ulnar nerve ; Showed higher incidence of thymoma and were less treated by early corticosteroids.(2) For GMG group,81％ (160/197) of them displayed bulbar MG; 67％ (132/197) of GMG conversion occurred within 2 years,and 84％ (166/197) within 5 years.In comparison with the patients with onset of≤ 14-year-old,both of patients with15-49-year-old and≥ 50-year-old displayed higher conversion rate and shorter conversion duration (median:10 years versus 1 year and 6.5 months).(3) RNS abnormality of accessory nerve(OR =6.650,95％ CI 3.547-12.471 ; P ＜ 0.05) and thymoma(OR =7.924,95％ CI 2.554-24.585 ; P ＜ 0.05) were prognostic factors for the development of GMG,while early corticosteroid(OR =0.232,95％ CI 0.119-0.452 ; P ＜ 0.05) predicted the reduction of the risk of generalization.Conclusions Multiple factors including abnormal RNS of proximal limb muscles,thymoma,early corticosteroids therapy and possibly even onset age of over 15-year-old may involve the generalization in patients with OMG at onset.

ObjectiveTo assess the differences of short- and long-term postintervention status on ocular and systemic symptoms for patients with ocular myasthenia gravis (OMG) after pyridostigmine bromide, corticosteroid, thymectomy, or thymectomy-corticosteroid combination therapy ( combination ).MethodsThis retrospective plus prospective study included 180 OMG patients, whose age of onset ≥ 15 years, treated non-randomly with above therapies separately: thymectomy group (60 cases ), corticosteroid group (39 cases), combination group ( 31 cases ), symptomatic group ( 50 cases ). Postintervention status complying with Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA)complete stable remission ,pharmacologic remission, or minimal manifestations was considered as desirable response, which was used as statistical indicator. Results ①Corticosteroid group showed higher desirable response rates on ptosis, ophthalmoplegia and general weakness at 3-6 months after treatment than other groups, and 42. 1％( 16/38 ) of them at 3 months achieved the desired state of ptosis, higher than the symptomatic group (7/48,14. 6％, ×2 = 8. 200, P = 0. 004 ). ② Ascending ideal rates had been presented in both combination and thymectomy groups since 1 year after treatments, while a little bit higher rate was presented in the former. At the end of observation, 21.7％ ( 13/60 )of patients in thymectomy group achieved complete stable remission.By paired longitudinal comparisons,thymectomy group showed higher ideal rates on ptosis (22/40,55.0％ ), ophthalmoplegia ( 16/27,59. 3％ ) and general weakness (20/40,50. 0％ ) at 2 years than that at 3 months( 11/59,18.6％ ;11/44,25.0％ ;9/60,15.0％ ;P =0. 002, 0. 031,0.000). ③For those patients by symptomatic treatment, the average age of onset was (51.9 ± 18.0) years, higher than that by other 3 therapies (F = 10. 563 ,P =0. 000). ④OMG patients with ophthalmoplegia more likely select corticosteroid or combined therapy. Ophthalmoplegia in combination group was higher than that in symptomatic and surgery groups( ×2 = 12. 939,14. 380, P =0. 000 in both). Ophthalmoplegia in corticosteroid group was higher than that in surgery group ( ×2 = 8. 017, P = 0. 005 ).Conclusions Corticosteroid appears to early overcome ptosis, ocular motor dysfunction and general weakness for patient with OMG in early-to-middle adulthood.Thymectomy andsurgery-corticosteroid combinationtherapies bothshowlong-term effectonthem.

Summary: The protein expression of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), a cAMP-activated Cl- channel, in ovarian stimulated premature female rat ovary during a cycle of follicle development and corpus luteum formation was investigated. Animals were injected with 10 U pregnant Mare's serum gonadotropin (PMSG) and subsequently 10U hCG 48h later. Time-dependent immunohistochemistry and Western blotting experiments were performed before and 24, 48, 72h after hCG treatment. The immnnohistochemistry revealed that administration of PMSG stimulated the CFTR expression in theeal cell layer and granulosa cell layer of mature follicles 48 h post injection, coincident with the PMSG-induced peak in follicular estradiol. However, the expression of CFTR in the granuiose lutein cell layer and theeal lutein cell layer was time-dependently reduced following hCG injection, in accordance with the gradually increased progestogen level during luteum corpus formation. Western blotting analysis demonstrated that rat ovarian tissue expressed the special CFTR band at 170kD. It is concluded that cAMP-dependent Cl- channels are involved in regulation of follicle development and luteum formation.

The protein expression of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), a cAMP-activated Cl(-) channel, in ovarian stimulated premature female rat ovary during a cycle of follicle development and corpus luteum formation was investigated. Animals were injected with 10 U pregnant Mare's serum gonadotropin (PMSG) and subsequently 10 U hCG 48 h later. Time-dependent immunohistochemistry and Western blotting experiments were performed before and 24, 48, 72 h after hCG treatment. The immunohistochemistry revealed that administration of PMSG stimulated the CFTR expression in thecal cell layer and granulosa cell layer of mature follicles 48 h post injection, coincident with the PMSG-induced peak in follicular estradiol. However, the expression of CFTR in the granulose lutein cell layer and thecal lutein cell layer was time-dependently reduced following hCG injection, in accordance with the gradually increased progestogen level during luteum corpus formation. Western blotting analysis demonstrated that rat ovarian tissue expressed the special CFTR band at 170 kD. It is concluded that cAMP-dependent Cl(-) channels are involved in regulation of follicle development and luteum formation.
Connective Tissue Growth Factor/genetics ; Connective Tissue Growth Factor/*metabolism ; Connective Tissue Growth Factor/*physiology ; Corpus Luteum/growth & development ; Ovarian Follicle/growth & development ; Ovary/*metabolism ; Rats, Wistar

AIM:To investigate the effects of antioxidant N-acetylcysteine(NAC)on the lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induced MAPK phosphorylation in mouse liver.METHODS:54 male mice were divided into three groups:control(n=6),0.9% sodium chloride 0.2 mL ip;LPS group(n=24):LPS 5 mg ip;NAC+LPS group(n=24):NAC 150 mg?kg-1?d-1 ip,for 3 d;LPS 5 mg ip after 1 h of NAC administration at 3rd day.The liver was excised with carbrital anesthesia after LPS or 0.9 % sodium chloride injection at 0.5 h,1 h,2 h and 6 h for GSH and MDA assays.The protein extracted from liver was assayed for the phosphorylation of MEK1/2,ERK1/2,p38 MAPK by Western blotting.TNF-? in liver was assayed by radioimmunoassay.RESULTS:MDA in the liver was decreased remarkably and the GSH in the liver was increased significantly by NAC pretreatment.The phosphorylation of MEK1/2,ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK in liver were inhibited significantly by NAC pretreatment after LPS challenge.Meanwhile,TNF-? in liver was decreased markedly.CONCLUSION:Reactive oxygen species plays a critical role in MAPK signaling during the LPS induced acute liver injury.NAC partially inhibits LPS-induced MAPK signaling by antioxidant effect and decreases TNF-? production.