Biology subjects

Both, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Both, S..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Neuroanatomy of the clitoris

The clitoris is one of the least studied organs of the human body. The detailed anatomy of the clitoris is challenging to address through a gross dissection, as most of its parts are embedded internally, surrounded by pubic bone and several pelvic organs. While clinical imaging methods such as magnetic resonance imaging can capture the gross 3D morphology, they lack the spatial resolution required to resolve the detailed structures. In this study, we generated micron-scale computed tomography images of the female pelvises, leveraging a synchrotron radiation X-ray source. This unique data revealed the complex trajectory of the dorsal nerve of the clitoris, the main sensory nerve of the clitoris. Notably, the nerve trunks within the clitoral glans were revealed, with the maximum diameter ranging from 0.2 to 0.7 mm. They showed a tree-like branching pattern projecting towards the surface of the glans. We also revealed that some branches of the dorsal nerve of the clitoris ramify to innervate the clitoral hood and mons pubis. Finally, the posterior labial nerve, a branch of the perineal nerves, was shown to innervate the surroundings of the clitoris and the labial structures. These findings have an immediate impact on operations performed around the vulva area, such as gender-affirmation surgery and reconstruction surgery after genital mutilation.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Identification of targetable vulnerabilities of PLK1-overexpressing cancers by synthetic dosage lethality

Tumor heterogeneity poses a significant challenge in combating treatment resistance. Despite Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) being universally overexpressed in cancers and contributing to chromosomal instability (CIN), direct PLK1 inhibition hasnt yielded clinical progress. To address this, we utilized the synthetic dosage lethality (SDL) approach, targeting PLK1s genetic interactions for selective killing of overexpressed tumor cells while mitigating heterogeneity-associated challenges. Employing computational methods, we conducted a genome-wide shRNA screen, identifying 105 SDL candidates. Further in vivo CRISPR screening in a breast cancer xenograft model and in vitro CRISPR analysis validated these candidates. Employing Perturb-seq revealed IGF2BP2/IMP2 as a key SDL hit eliminating PLK1-overexpressing cells. Suppression of IGF2BP2, genetically or pharmacologically, downregulated PLK1 and limited tumor growth. Our findings strongly propose targeting PLK1s genetic interactions as a promising therapeutic approach, holding broad implications across multiple cancers where PLK1 is overexpressed.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Variable responses of individual species to tropical forest degradation

The functional stability of ecosystems depends greatly on interspecific differences in responses to environmental perturbation. However, responses to perturbation are not necessarily invariant among populations of the same species, so intraspecific variation in responses might also contribute. Such inter-population response diversity has recently been shown to occur spatially across species ranges, but we lack estimates of the extent to which individual populations across an entire community might have perturbation responses that vary through time. We assess this using 524 taxa that have been repeatedly surveyed for the effects of tropical forest logging at a focal landscape in Sabah, Malaysia. Just 39 % of taxa - all with non-significant responses to forest degradation - had invariant responses. All other taxa (61 %) showed significantly different responses to the same forest degradation gradient across surveys, with 6 % of taxa responding to forest degradation in opposite directions across multiple surveys. Individual surveys had low power (< 80 %) to determine the correct direction of response to forest degradation for one-fifth of all taxa. Recurrent rounds of logging disturbance increased the prevalence of intra-population response diversity, while uncontrollable environmental variation and/or turnover of intraspecific phenotypes generated variable responses in at least 44 % of taxa. Our results show that the responses of individual species to local environmental perturbations are remarkably flexible, likely providing an unrealised boost to the stability of disturbed habitats such as logged tropical forests.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Logging alters tropical forest structure, while conversion reduces biodiversity and functioning

The impacts of degradation and deforestation on tropical forests are poorly understood, particularly at landscape scales. We present an extensive ecosystem analysis of the impacts of logging and conversion of tropical forest to oil palm from a large-scale study in Borneo, synthesizing responses from 82 variables categorized into four ecological levels spanning a broad suite of ecosystem properties: 1) structure and environment, 2) species traits, 3) biodiversity, and 4) ecosystem functions. Responses were highly heterogeneous and often complex and non-linear. Variables that were directly impacted by the physical process of timber extraction, such as soil structure, were sensitive to even moderate amounts of logging, whereas measures of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning were generally resilient to logging but more affected by conversion to oil palm plantation. One-Sentence SummaryLogging tropical forest mostly impacts structure while biodiversity and functions are more vulnerable to habitat conversion.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Positive effects of tree diversity on tropical forest restoration in a field-scale experiment

Experiments under controlled conditions have established that ecosystem functioning is generally positively related to levels of biodiversity, but it is unclear how widespread these effects are in real-world settings and whether they can be harnessed for ecosystem restoration. We used a long-term, field-scale tropical restoration experiment to test how the diversity of planted trees affected recovery measured across a 500 ha area of selectively logged forest using multiple sources of satellite data. Replanting with species rich mixtures of tree seedlings that had higher phylogenetic and functional diversity accelerated restoration rates. Our results are consistent with a positive relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in the lowland dipterocarp rainforests of SE Asia and demonstrate that using diverse mixtures of species can enhance initial recovery after logging.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2017

Strong positive biodiversity-productivity relationships in a subtropical forest experiment

Forest ecosystems contribute substantially to global terrestrial primary productivity and climate regulation, but, in contrast to grasslands, experimental evidence for a positive biodiversity-productivity relationship in highly diverse forests is still lacking1. Here, we provide such evidence from a large forest biodiversity experiment with a novel design2 in subtropical China. Productivity (stand-level tree basal area, aboveground volume and carbon and their annual increment) increased linearly with the logarithm of tree species richness. Additive partitioning3 showed that increasing positive complementarity effects combined with weakening negative selection effects caused a strengthening of the relationship over time. In 2-species mixed stands, complementary effects increased with functional distance and selection effects with vertical crown dissimilarity between species. Understorey shrubs reduced stand-level tree productivity, but this effect of competition was attenuated by shrub species richness, indicating that a diverse understorey may facilitate overall ecosystem functioning. Identical biodiversity-productivity relationships were found in plots of different size, suggesting that extrapolation to larger scales is possible. Our results highlight the potential of multi-species afforestation strategies to simultaneously contribute to mitigation of climate change and biodiversity restoration.

ecology↗