Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) continue to reign supreme, although cellular and gene therapies are slowly starting to gather momentum. Burgeoning growth in biosimilars may threaten future brand monopolies for mAbs and other biologics.

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Biopharmaceutical benchmarks 2018.

MeCP2isachromosomal protein whichbinds toDNA that ismethylated atCpG.Insitu immunofluorescence inmouse cells hasshownthattheprotein ismost concentrated inpericentromeric heterochromatin, suggesting that MeCP2mayplay arole intheformation ofInert chromatin. Herewe haveIsolated a minimal methyl-CpG binding domaln (MBD) fromMeCP2.MBD Is85aminoacids Inlength, andbindsexclusively to DNA thatcontains one or more symmetrically methylated CpGs.MBD hasnegligable non-specific affinity forDNA,confirming thatnon-specific and methyl-CpG specific binding domainsofMeCP2are distinct. Invitrofootprlnting Indicates thatMBDbinding can protect a 12nucleotide regionsurrounding a methyl-CpG pair, withan approximate dissociation constant of10-9M.

Dissection ofthemethyl-CpG binding domainfromthe chromosomal protein MeCP2

Errors in development of fetuses and placentas from in vitro-produced bovine embryos.

Trabajo presentado en el Genomic Instability and DNA Repair, Keystone Symposia, celebrado en Banff, Alberta (Canada) del 3 al 8 de marzo de 2013

Regulation of DNA double strand break repair pathways

Glucose is the molecule that drives milk production, and insulin plays a pivotal role in the glucose metabolism of dairy cows. The effect of insulin on the glucose metabolism is regulated by the secretion of insulin by the pancreas and the insulin sensitivity of the skeletal muscles, the adipose tissue, and the liver. Insulin resistance may develop as part of physiologic (pregnancy and lactation) and pathologic processes, which may manifest as decreased insulin sensitivity or decreased insulin responsiveness. A good knowledge of the normal physiology of insulin is needed to measure the in vivo insulin resistance of dairy cows.

Insulin resistance in dairy cows.

Effects of fusion-activation interval and embryo aggregation on in vitro and in vivo development of bovine cloned embryos.

Animals: RNA Interference (RNAi)

The reason why shearing ewes in mid-pregnancy does increase the lamb birth weight is not completely clears. Therefore, we focused on the analyses of the deposition of glycogen in different fetal tissues to investigate this issue. Thirteen pregnant Australian Merino ewes, raised in native pasture, were separated in two groups. One group (n = 7) was shorn (SE) at 70 days of pregnancy, whereas another group (n = 6) remained unshorn (NSE). Cesarean section was conducted in all the ewes at near parturition, when placenta and fetuses sampling were collected. Placenta, liver and muscle samples were fixed and stained with glycoprotein-reactive acid-Schiff acid for analysis under light microscopy. The quantification of these glycoproteins was performed with the support of a program that analyzes the measurement of the intensity of staining by field. Five random fields from each sample were used, where statistical analyzes was used as normal test T. Among the analyzed regions, the deposition of glycoprotein between SE and NSE groups was statistically different in the hepatic portal vein (54,499.23 µm 2 in SE and 34,830.73 µm2 in NSE) and in the total muscle area of the sample fragment (41,128, 7 µm2 and 31,942.7 µm2 , respectively; P < 0.05). We conclude that shearing ewes at the 70th day of gestation lead to accumulation of glycoproteins in the liver and muscle of fetuses, which may be responsible for the increase in birth weights in that group.

/pdf/mid-pregnancy-ewe-shearing-and-the-effects-on-fetus-liver-p72q4es5z5.pdf

Mid-pregnancy ewe shearing and the effects on fetus liver and muscle glycoprotein deposits.

Twenty-f﻿ive adult crossbred goats, divided in two groups, were fed over a period of 16 months with diets based on Tifton hay and concentrate feed with (DCM) or without (WDCM) detoxif﻿ied castor bean meal as a substitute for soybean meal. Throughout 480 days, blood samples were taken to measure lactate dehydrogenase, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, urea, albumin and creatinine. The animals were euthanized, and the anatomical components (lungs, heart, spleen, liver, kidneys, tongue, empty stomach, empty intestines, omentum, cardiac and renal adipose tissue), carcass and commercial cuts (shoulder, ham, loin, ribs and neck) were weighed. Thereafter, an anatomic dissection of the loin was performed, separating the muscle, adipose and bone tissues. On the muscular part of the loin, longissimus dorsi, the proximate composition, fatty acid prof﻿ile and the expression of SEW-1, IGF-I and IGF-II were analyzed. A higher incidence of bone tissue was observed in the anatomical dissections of the loin and a lower incidence of fat in the proximate composition of the longissimus dorsi of the DCO group compared to the WDCM group (p < 0.05). The expression of the IGF-II and SEW-1 genes was higher (p < 0.001 for each) in the muscle tissue of the DCM animals. Thus, using detoxif﻿ied castor bean meal for long periods does not produce signif﻿icant changes in the anatomical composition of the loin or the proximate composition of the longissimus dorsi. However, the differences in gene expression suggest the need for new investigations and care when using this product for animal feeding.

Anatomic and tissue characteristics in goats fed for extended periods with residue of castor biodiesel production Características anatômicas e teciduais em cabras alimentadas por longos períodos com resíduo da indústria do biodiesel da mamona

Luciana Relly Bertolini

Papers

Effects of fusion-activation interval and embryo aggregation on in vitro and in vivo development of bovine cloned embryos.

Animals: RNA Interference (RNAi)

Mid-pregnancy ewe shearing and the effects on fetus liver and muscle glycoprotein deposits.

Anatomic and tissue characteristics in goats fed for extended periods with residue of castor biodiesel production Características anatômicas e teciduais em cabras alimentadas por longos períodos com resíduo da indústria do biodiesel da mamona