{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,4]],"date-time":"2025-12-04T01:50:52Z","timestamp":1764813052014,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,8]],"date-time":"2024-01-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1704672000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation for Youth Foundation","award":["32102621","IJRLD-KF202211"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32102621","IJRLD-KF202211"]}]},{"name":"Open Project Program of International Joint Research Laboratory in Universities of Jiangsu Province of China for Domestic Animal Germplasm Resources and Genetic Improvement","award":["32102621","IJRLD-KF202211"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32102621","IJRLD-KF202211"]}]},{"name":"University Superiority Discipline Construction Project of Jiangsu","award":["32102621","IJRLD-KF202211"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32102621","IJRLD-KF202211"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Life"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Erhualian pigs exhibit one of the highest reproductive rates globally, and cryptorchidism is a crucial factor affecting reproductive abilities of boars. This investigation focused on cryptorchid tissues from Erhualian pigs, where the histological structure of cryptorchidism was observed using specialized staining. In addition, protein expression of P53\/NF-\u03baB in cryptorchid tissues was assessed using Western blot and immunohistochemistry. In comparison to normal Erhualian testes, Masson\u2019s trichrome staining indicated a reduction in collagen fibers in the connective tissue and around the basal membrane of the seminiferous tubules in cryptorchid testes. Moreover, collagen fiber distribution was observed to be disordered. Verhoeff Van Gieson (EVG) and argyrophilic staining demonstrated brownish-black granular nucleoli organized regions in mesenchymal cells and germ cells. When compared to normal testicles, the convoluted seminiferous tubules of cryptorchids exhibited a significantly reduced number and diameter (p &lt; 0.01). Notably, VEGF\/EGFR and P53\/NF-\u03baB expression in cryptorchidism significantly differed from that in normal testes. In particular, the expression of VEGF and P53 in cryptorchid tissues was significantly higher than that in normal testes tissues, whereas the expression of EGFR in cryptorchid tissues was significantly lower than that in normal testes tissues (all p &lt; 0.01). NF-\u03baB expressed no difference in both conditions. The expressions of VEGF and NF-\u03baB were observed in the cytoplasm of testicular Leydig cells and spermatogenic cells, but they were weak in the nucleus. EGFR and P53 were more positively expressed in the cytoplasm of these cells, with no positive expression in the nucleus. Conclusion: There were changes in the tissue morphology and structure of the cryptorchid testis, coupled with abnormally high expression of VEGF and P53 proteins in Erhualian pigs. We speculate that this may be an important limiting factor to fecundity during cryptorchidism.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/life14010100","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,8]],"date-time":"2024-01-08T07:59:20Z","timestamp":1704700760000},"page":"100","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Special Staining and Protein Expression of VEGF\/EGFR and P53\/NF-\u03baB in Cryptorchid Tissue of Erhualian Pigs"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Penggang","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"},{"name":"International Joint Research Laboratory in Universities of Jiangsu Province of China for Domestic Animal Germplasm Resources and Genetic Improvement, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yiming","family":"Shao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Caihong","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Veterinary Medicine, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiaoyang","family":"Lv","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Joint Research Laboratory in Universities of Jiangsu Province of China for Domestic Animal Germplasm Resources and Genetic Improvement, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"},{"name":"Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture and Agri-Product Safety of Ministry of Education of China, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Seth Yaw","family":"Afedo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Science, School of Agriculture, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast P.O. Box 5007, Ghana"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5486-2253","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wenbin","family":"Bao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Key Laboratory for Animal Genetics, Breeding, Reproduction and Molecular Design of Jiangsu Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,1,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"242","article-title":"Conservation priorities analysis of Chinese indigenous pig breeds in the Taihu Lake Region","volume":"12","author":"Zhao","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front. 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