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Cao, D.

Publications and source records attributed to Cao, D..

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

OmniSyn unifies target-aware molecular generation and optimization within a synthesis-native LLM framework across the human proteome

Designing target-specific bioactive molecules with actionable synthesis routes for the human proteome holds enormous potential for expanding therapeutic discovery, but remains a challenge. Existing target-aware generative models often depend on protein structures and generate molecules before assessing synthetic feasibility. Here we present OmniSyn, a protein-sequence-conditioned Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) language model that couples a task-conditioned interaction module with a synthesis-action decoder to generate molecules with explicit synthesis traces, thereby unifying de novo ligand generation, synthesizability projection and hit-to-lead (H2L) optimization within synthesis-traceable chemical space. OmniSyn is pre-trained with self-distillation and post-trained with task-specific reinforcement learning (RL) to adapt expert routing and optimize molecular properties across design modes. On unseen protein targets from MolGenBench, a real-world drug-discovery benchmark, OmniSyn achieves state-of-the-art performance across de novo design and H2L optimization, including target-awareness and hit-rediscovery metrics, despite relying only on protein sequences rather than three-dimensional (3D) pocket structures. By embedding synthesis planning into the design process, OmniSyn shifts molecular generation from a generate-then-filter paradigm toward design-with-synthesis paradigm, transforming virtual predictions into experimentally actionable candidates. Independent AiZynthFinder evaluation yielded retrosynthetic success rates of 68.47% for de novo generation and 71.92% for H2L optimization, improving over the strongest baselines by 61.3% and 184.2%, respectively, and supporting the synthetic feasibility of OmniSyn-generated molecules. In synthesizability projection, OmniSyn further converts outputs from external generative models into close analogues with improved retrosynthetic feasibility while preserving molecular similarity. Having established strong benchmark performance and external retrosynthetic feasibility, we next applied OmniSyn at human-proteome scale, spanning more than 21,000 targets. Rapid sequence-conditioned sampling enabled the construction of, to our knowledge, the largest human-proteome-scale generative virtual library, comprising 2.7 billion target-specific molecules, each accompanied by model-derived synthesis traces and target-specific prioritization scores. By enabling scalable target-specific molecular design with synthesis-aware generation across the human proteome, OmniSyn opens new opportunities for exploring previously inaccessible therapeutic targets, including those lacking experimentally resolved structures.

bioinformatics↗

Foxp4+ Mandibular Skeletal Stem Cells Orchestrate Bone/Tooth Development and Regeneration

The identity of stem/progenitor cells that drive mandible/tooth development and regeneration remains poorly understood. Here, we show that cranial neural crest-derived Foxp4+ mesenchymal cells condense to form Meckels cartilage, and simultaneously promote mandible development and tooth germ formation. In postnatal mandibles, Foxp4+ cells localize in the endosteum, periosteum and dental pulp, which undergo osteogenesis and odontogenesis under steady state, as well as chondrogenesis during fracture repair. Importantly, transplantation of embryonic or adult Foxp4+CD200+CD105- mandibular skeletal stem cells (mdSSCs) generate ectopic bone and tooth. In contrast, genetic ablation of Foxp4+ cells severely impairs mandible/tooth development and delays fracture healing. Mechanistically, we find that primary cilia critically regulate mdSSC maintenance and differentiation into bone and tooth. FOXP4+PDPN+CADM1+ mdSSCs also exist in adult human mandible, which generate ectopic bone and intact tooth upon transplantation into immunodeficient mice. Taken together, we identify Foxp4+ mdSSCs with potential therapeutic applications in regenerating mandibular bone and tooth.

cell biology↗

Teatime for Triticum: (how) can the presence of plants slow down decomposition?

Decomposition of organic matter is a key process in soils contributing to carbon and nutrient cycling. To identify management strategies for agroecosystems that reduce nutrient losses while maximizing plant growth, it is important to understand which parameters determine decomposition rates. This study therefore investigated how the presence of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum var. Asory) affects decomposition in a controlled Ecotron setup with two soil types with varying organic matter content across three simulated climates (2013, 2068, 2085). Using the tea bag index, interstitial soil pore water analyses, microbial biomass quantification, bacterial and fungal gene abundance, and soil respiration measurements, we tested the hypotheses that plant exudates would enhance decomposition rate and microbial biomass, while plant nitrogen uptake would deplete soil nitrate, potentially mitigated by fertilization. Contrary to expectations, decomposition rates were lower in planted than in unplanted soils, suggesting resource competition between plants and microbes. No significant differences were observed in microbial biomass or respiration due to plant presence, and fertilization effects on nitrate or microbial mineralization were undetectable, likely due to rapid turnover of organic molecules including uptake by plants and microbes. Mechanistically, fungi and soil humidity were more important for decomposition than bacteria or temperature. The findings corroborate climate impacts on decomposition but also indicate microbial resilience and highlight the potential of management strategies like cover crops, adjusted planting dates and crop residual management which can contribute to healthy soils by sustaining carbon and nutrient cycling.

ecology↗

Macrophage Antigen Presentation Is Unleashed by Pan-RAS Inhibition to Promote Antitumor Immunity

Pan-RAS inhibitors have emerged as potent targeted therapies designed to suppress oncogenic signaling in RAS-mutant tumors. However, whether these inhibitors possess therapeutic utility beyond tumors with intrinsic RAS dependency remains unclear. Here we show that the clinical-stage pan-RAS(ON) inhibitor RMC-6236 (Daraxonrasib) induces robust regression of NRAS-wild-type B16 tumors in immunocompetent mice, a response mediated by a mechanism independent of direct tumor-cell targeting. Instead, RMC-6236 acts by remodeling the tumor microenvironment, specifically enhancing the antigen-presenting capacity of tumor-associated macrophages through upregulated MHC-I expression. This anti-tumor efficacy is abrogated in T cell-deficient hosts, identifying a macrophage-dependent, T cell-mediated mechanism of control. Mechanistically, RMC-6236 does not directly block canonical RAS signaling in macrophages. Rather, it suppresses a Myc-Hdac2 epigenetic program, leading to enhanced histone H4 acetylation at the Nlrc5 locus and subsequent activation of the MHC-I master regulator NLRC5. Together, our findings reveal a macrophage-centered, epigenetically wired immune mechanism for pan-RAS inhibition that broadens the therapeutic scope of targeting the "undruggable" RAS pathway beyond tumor genotype towards systemic immune modulation.

immunology↗

Multi-Omics Reveals Activated Fibroblasts with Dual Functional Roles in Repair and Negative Barrier in the CD8+ T Cell Cytotoxic Niche for Lung Cancer Neoadjuvant Therapy

A major challenge in elucidating immune activation and tolerance is that single-omics technologies are inherently limited. Since single-cell transcriptomics lacks spatial information and spatial transcriptomics lacks resolution or depth, neither can adequately model the multidimensional tumor immune microenvironment (TiME) features. We present NICHE (Niche Integrated Cellular Heterogeneity Elucidator), an integrative multi-omics framework. By aligning physical cell-cell interactions with single-cell ligand-receptor (L-R) expression, NICHE leverages single-cell transcriptomics, spatial proteomics, and AI modeling to systematically decode the composition, spatial interactions, and communications within immune functional niches. To validate NICHEs capabilities, we applied it to human tonsil tissue. The framework successfully identified key structural and functional units and deeply elucidated the cell-cell interactions and molecular crosstalk within them. Furthermore, these results were validated through orthogonal methods, including single-cell spatial transcriptomics and multiplexed immunofluorescence, which confirmed the accuracy and reproducibility of our analyses. In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients undergoing neoadjuvant immunotherapy, CD8+ T cell cytotoxic niches mediate tumor clearance with variable outcomes, to define the cellular and molecular drivers behind this functional spectrum, we utilized NICHE to analyze the TiME from patients with complete versus partial pathological response, both pre- and post-treatment. We found that neoadjuvant immunotherapy may induce the activation of CXCL12+, NECTIN2+, POSTN+, and COL6A1+ fibroblasts through the activation of cytotoxic T cells. Paradoxically, these fibroblasts support tissue repair but also establish an immunosuppressive niche that protects residual tumor cells, ultimately attenuating treatment efficacy. Our work establishes a multidimensional framework for dissecting dynamic immune activity, with direct implications for understanding tumor immunology and identifying novel therapeutic targets.

immunology↗

TUPAD: A Tn5-Mediated, Pre-amplification/Adapter-Dimer-Free Platform for Ultra-Uniform, One-Step PGT Profiling with High Stability and Broad Compatibility

High-throughput sequencing stands as a cornerstone of clinical molecular diagnostics, particularly in preimplantation genetic testing (PGT)--a key application where the selection of chromosomally normal embryos is critical to enhancing in vitro fertilization (IVF) success rates. A fundamental challenge inherent to PGT, however, lies in the ultra-low gDNA input (typically <100 pg) from embryo biopsies. To mitigate this limitation, traditional workflows rely on whole genome amplification (WGA) technologies, such as MDA, PicoPlex, and MALBAC. Yet these WGA-based protocols inherently entail pre-amplification of gDNA prior to standard library construction---a step that introduces significant coverage bias and compromised uniformity. These are intrinsic flaws irreparable by downstream library preparation or bioinformatics analysis, ultimately leading to clinical uncertainty in the interpretation of copy number variations (CNVs). In this study, we developed TUPAD (Tn5-Mediated, Uniform Pre-amplification-free and Adapter-Dimer-Free Library preparation), a transformative technology that bypasses the limitations of traditional WGA. By engineering a novel adapter-dimer-free transposon system, TUPAD enables high-efficiency library construction from as little as 1 picogram (pg) of gDNA. This breakthrough allows for a pre-amplification-free workflow, effectively eliminating the primary source of amplification bias. Compared to existing WGA standards, these advantages are fully retained in embryo biopsy and positive sample testing, TUPAD consistently generates highly uniform library data, significantly enhancing the detection limit and accuracy of CNVs and other genomic variants. Beyond these performance advantages, TUPAD also cuts wet-lab processing time by 50%. Practical validation confirms TUPAD results are stable, reliable, with proven practical utility in PGT testing.

molecular biology↗

Longitudinal Identification of Zebrafish Individuals by Deep Learning

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a critical vertebrate model organism in biomedical research. Accurate identification and longitudinal tracking of individual fish within cohorts enable linking genotype to complex phenotypes, essential for elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying disease pathogenesis and trait formation. Nevertheless, the establishment of reliable long-term individual identification remains a significant challenge, primarily due to their diminutive size and minimal interindividual morphological variations. We developed ESC-IDNet, a dual-stage deep learning cascade architecture deployed on the FishIndivID platform (http://bioinfo.ihb.ac.cn/fishindivid), enabling high-precision identification. Trained and tested on [~]300,000 images from 450 zebrafish (31-122 dpf), our lateral body-based identification maintained >95% accuracy with updates only every 20 days, significantly outperforming dorsal head identification (requiring [~]13-day updates). Both views achieved 100% accuracy in 1-2 day tasks. ESC-IDNet surpassed alternatives in segmentation, alignment, feature extraction, and feature matching. This framework provides a robust, transferable paradigm for individual identification in fish species.

bioinformatics↗

The 9p21.3 Coronary Artery Disease Risk Locus Modulates Vascular Cell-State Transitions via Enhancer-Driven Regulation of MTAP

The 9p21.3 locus is the strongest genetic association with coronary artery disease (CAD), yet its causal mechanisms remain unresolved. We map the regulatory architecture of 9p21.3 in disease-relevant vascular cells, identifying 12 enhancers within the CAD risk haplotype that respond dynamically to inflammatory and metabolic stress in fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells. These activated states are enriched for CAD heritability, implicating stress-responsive vascular wall cells in disease pathophysiology. Dense CRISPRi tiling integrated with fine-mapping and genomic constraint across >500,000 individuals nominates MTAP as the effector gene, with rs1537371 as a likely causal variant. Perturbation and multi-modal analyses show that MTAP loss induces pro-fibrotic and angiogenic programs and sensitizes vascular cells to TGF-{beta}-driven pathological transitions. Our findings reveal a vascular-specific enhancer network through which noncoding variation at 9p21.3 modulates CAD risk via MTAP--a previously unrecognized regulator of vascular remodeling located 269 kb from the risk haplotype. HighlightsO_LI9p21.3 CAD risk locus harbors 12 functional enhancers active in vascular wall cell types C_LIO_LICAD heritability is enriched in stressed vascular fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells C_LIO_LIHigh-resolution CRISPRi-MAC-seq maps 9p21.3 enhancer-gene and SNP-gene interactions C_LIO_LIMTAP identified as a causal effector gene regulated by 9p21.3 fine-mapped and constrained variants C_LIO_LIMTAP modulates TGF-{beta}-driven pathological vascular cell transitions C_LI

genomics↗

Dynamic interactions in human amygdala subregions support hierarchical processing of fearful faces

Fearful-expression recognition is critical for adaptive responses to potential threats and relies on both rapid threat detection and fine-grained face encoding. Yet how human amygdala subregions differentially support these distinct cognitive components remains unclear. Here, we recorded intracranial EEG from lateral and medial amygdala in epilepsy patients performing an emotional face-matching task and combined multivariate decoding, time-frequency and directed-connectivity analyses with intracranial stimulation. The lateral amygdala exhibited early fear-specific responses, characterized by higher decoding accuracy and increased theta/alpha-band (4-12 Hz) power, and transmitted this fear-related information to the medial amygdala, which showed delayed and sustained activation. By contrast, the medial amygdala encoded face-specific information at later stages in the 2-16 Hz band with superior decoding accuracy and then relayed this information back to the lateral amygdala. Intracranial stimulation produced a double dissociation in behavior, with lateral amygdala stimulation disrupting fear detection, whereas medial amygdala stimulation selectively accelerated neutral-face recognition. Together, these findings reveal a temporal hierarchy in the human amygdala, whereby dynamic bidirectional interactions between subregions implement distinct components of fearful-expression recognition, providing a circuit-level framework for understanding social threat processing.

neuroscience↗

Benchmarking Real-World Applicability of Molecular Generative Models from De novo Design to Lead Optimization with MolGenBench

Structure-based drug design (SBDD) has been profoundly reshaped by the advent of deep generative models, yet their practical impact on drug discovery remains limited. A central issue is the absence of a rigorous, application-oriented benchmark that mirrors the multi-stage, target-aware workflows of real-world pharmaceutical development. Inspired by recent advances in benchmarking for computer vision and large language models, where systematic evaluation has catalysed rapid progress, we introduce MolGenBench, a comprehensive benchmark designed to close the gap between molecular generation algorithms and tangible drug discovery outcomes. MolGenBench integrates a structurally diverse, large-scale dataset spanning 120 protein targets, 5,433 chemical series comprising 220,005 experimentally confirmed active molecules. Beyond conventional de novo generation, it incorporates a dedicated hit-to-lead (H2L) optimization scenario, which represents a critical phase in hit optimization that is seldom evaluated in existing benchmarks. We further introduce novel, pharmaceutically grounded metrics that assess a models ability to both rediscover target-specific actives or progressively optimize compounds for potency. Through extensive evaluation, MolGenBench uncovers significant gaps between current generative models and the demands of real-world drug development, establishing a foundational resource for building generative models with enhanced practical impact and accelerated translational potential.

bioinformatics↗

Transposon Regulation in the Caenorhabditis elegans Germline and Soma

Transposons are parasitic nucleic acids present in most genomes. The ability of transposons to mobilize makes them a source of genetic diversity and a threat to genome integrity. Interestingly, mutations in the C. elegans gene mut-2/rde-3 increases the rate of transposition in the germline, but not in the soma, suggesting that the C. elegans germline and soma employ different strategies to regulate Tc1 transposition. Here, we develop fluorescence reporters for studying DNA transposon regulation in living C. elegans in a tissue-specific manner and we use candidate gene testing and genetic screening approaches to identify factors that regulate Tc1 mobility in the germline and/or the soma of the animal. We find that both cytoplasmic and nuclear components of the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway silence Tc1 in the germline, but not in the soma. We identify a novel pathway involving the C. elegans ortholog of HNRNPC, and a gene we term suppressor of transposon mobilization (stm)-1, which regulates Tc1 primarily in the soma, likely by binding Tc1 RNA and preventing its splicing. Our findings reveal tissue-specific strategies for regulating parasitic nucleic acids and pave the way for future studies exploring how and why different tissues adopt different transposon silencing systems.

genetics↗

Mutations in the ubiA gene are the major mechanism of ethambutol resistance in Mycobacterium avium

Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex (MAC) infections are the most common nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infections, and ethambutol (EMB) is one of the main therapeutic agents used to treat MAC infections. However, the EMB resistance profile and its resistance mechanisms in M. avium remain poorly understood. This study determined the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) on 40 M. avium clinical strains, revealing that 97.5% (39/40) of the strains were intermediate (MIC=4 g/mL) or resistant (MIC[&ge;]8 g/mL) to EMB. One susceptible clinical isolate strain 245 (MIC=2 g/mL) was picked for EMB-resistant mutant isolation, and a total of 121 resistant mutants were isolated and subjected to whole-genome sequencing or Sanger sequencing. Integrated analysis revealed that 94.21% (114/121) of the mutants carried mutations in the ubiA gene, which encodes DPPR (decaprenylphosphoryl-{beta}-D-5-phosphoribose) synthase - an enzyme involved in cell wall biosynthesis that has been associated with high-level EMB resistance in M. tuberculosis. Complementation with the wild-type ubiA gene restored EMB susceptibility in EMB-resistant mutants and clinical strain 322 (EMB MIC=64 g/mL) with ubiA mutation, reducing the MICs from 32 g/mL to 4 g/mL and from 64 g/mL to 8 g/mL, respectively. This study indicates that the ubiA mutation is the major mechanism of EMB resistance in M. avium, which should facilitate the development of molecular tests for rapid detection of resistance in this organism.

microbiology↗

Oblique Thick Light-Sheet Microscopy with Spatiotemporal 3D Localization for RNA Imaging in Intact 50 μm-Thick Sections

Neuron typing in intact brain sections demands 3D imaging reconciling thickness compatibility with large-area coverage--a persistent challenge for RNA imaging methods limited by either restricted fields-of-view (<1 mm2) or thin-section constraints (<20 m). Here we introduce oblique thick light-sheet microscopy integrated with spatiotemporal 3D localization, enabling multiplexed RNA imaging across 50 m-thick tissue sections and centimeter-scale regions. The 45{degrees} illumination geometry achieves optical-interference-free imaging in >100 m-thick tissues during single-plane scans, while a spatiotemporal localization algorithm recovers submicron resolution by pinpointing fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) spots within volumetric excitation. This strategy reveals layer-spanning neuronal distributions and region-specific expression gradients unattainable with conventional RNA imaging approaches. By resolving the historical trade-off between imaging depth and spatial coverage, our platform advances whole-brain transcriptomics, enabling 3D neuron typing capability critical for deciphering brain-wide cellular architectures.

biophysics↗

Advancing Ligand Binding Affinity Prediction with Cartesian Tensor-Based Deep Learning

0.We present PBCNet2.0, a cartesian tensor-based Siamese Neural Network for protein-ligand relative binding affinity prediction. Trained on 8.6 million protein-ligand complex structure pairs, PBCNet2.0 achieves zero-shot performance comparable to computationally intensive physics-based simulations. Our prioritization experiments show that PBCNet2.0 speeds up binding affinity optimization by 718% while reducing resource use by 41%. Through extensive retrospective experiments, we demonstrate that PBCNet2.0 intrinsically comprehends protein-ligand interactions, showing high sensitivity to intermolecular interactions and exceptional perception of spatial geometric information. Strikingly, PBCNet2.0 exhibits an emergent capability to predict affinity changes induced by binding residue variations, highlighting its potential for identifying resistance mutation. We prospectively validated these capabilities on two targets ENPP1 and ALDH1B1, where PBCNet2.0 successfully identified affinity shifts arising from subtle molecular interactions and conformational differences, and pinpointed critical binding residues with an 83% hit rate. This combination of computational efficiency, spatial geometric perception of binding site, and generalizable affinity prediction establishes PBCNet2.0 as a transformative tool for developing pharmacological probes for all human proteins.

molecular biology↗

Divergent MIC of Clarithromycin and Azithromycin Against Clinical Isolates of Mycobacterium abscessus Complex

Current treatment guidelines for Mycobacterium abscessus complex (MAB) infections recommend macrolides (clarithromycin/CAM and azithromycin/AZM) as cornerstone therapies, considering them clinically interchangeable without distinction. This study evaluated the comparative in vitro activity of clarithromycin (CAM) and azithromycin (AZM) against 146 clinical isolates of Mycobacterium abscessus complex organisms. MIC distributions revealed significantly higher resistance to AZM (94.5% resistant at [&ge;]8 g/mL) compared to CAM (77.4% resistant at [&ge;]8 g/mL), with only 4.8% of isolates susceptible to both drugs. Notably, 26 strains (17.8% of total) showed AZM resistance despite being non-resistant to CAM (MIC <8 g/mL) among 146 clinical isolates. Among the 33 CAM-non-resistant isolates (including susceptible and intermediate strains), 78.8% (26/33) were AZM-resistant, demonstrating frequent discordance in susceptibility profiles. These findings contrast with current treatment guidelines that recommend using CAM and AZM interchangeably without distinction. Subspecies analysis showed three distinct susceptibility profiles: isolates susceptible to both antibiotics (n=3, M. massiliense), isolates resistant to both antibiotics (n=3, M. massiliense), and M. bolletii with CAM-susceptible/AZM-resistant phenotypes (n=2). This differential resistance pattern suggests that while both drugs face substantial resistance challenges, CAM retains meaningful activity against certain strains that are AZM-resistant-particularly in M. bolletii. These findings indicate that AZM and CAM should not be used interchangeably to treat MAB infections and emphasize the need to prioritize CAM over AZM in treatment regimens.

microbiology↗

Divergent Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations of Clarithromycin and Azithromycin Against Clinical Isolates of Mycobacterium abscessus Complex

Current treatment guidelines for Mycobacterium abscessus complex (MAB) infections recommend macrolides (clarithromycin/CAM and azithromycin/AZM) as cornerstone therapies, considering them clinically interchangeable without distinction. This study evaluated the comparative in vitro activity of clarithromycin (CAM) and azithromycin (AZM) against 146 clinical isolates of Mycobacterium abscessus complex organisms. MIC distributions revealed significantly higher resistance to AZM (94.5% resistant at [&ge;]8 g/mL) compared to CAM (77.4% resistant at [&ge;]8 g/mL), with only 4.8% of isolates susceptible to both drugs. Notably, 26 strains (17.8% of total) showed AZM resistance despite being non-resistant to CAM (MIC <8 g/mL) among 146 clinical isolates. Among the 33 CAM-non-resistant isolates (including susceptible and intermediate strains), 78.8% (26/33) were AZM-resistant, demonstrating frequent discordance in susceptibility profiles. These findings contrast with current treatment guidelines that recommend using CAM and AZM interchangeably without distinction. Subspecies analysis showed three distinct susceptibility profiles: isolates susceptible to both antibiotics (n=3, M. massiliense), isolates resistant to both antibiotics (n=3, M. massiliense), and M. bolletii with CAM-susceptible/AZM-resistant phenotypes (n=2). This differential resistance pattern suggests that while both drugs face substantial resistance challenges, CAM retains meaningful activity against certain strains that are AZM-resistant--particularly in M. bolletii. These findings indicate that AZM and CAM should not be used interchangeably to treat MAB infections and emphasize the need to prioritize CAM over AZM in treatment regimens.

microbiology↗

Bridging 3D Molecular Structures and Artificial Intelligence by a Conformation Description Language

Artificial intelligence, particularly language models (LMs), is reshaping research paradigms across scientific domains. In the fields of chemistry and pharmacy, chemical language models (CLMs) have achieved remarkable success in two-dimensional (2D) molecular modeling tasks by leveraging one-dimensional (1D) representations of molecules, such as SMILES and SELFIES. However, extending these successes to three-dimensional (3D) molecular modeling remains a significant challenge, largely due to the absence of effective 1D representations for capturing 3D molecular structures. To address this gap, we introduce ConfSeq, a novel molecular conformation description language that integrates SMILES with internal coordinates including dihedral angles, bond angles, and pseudo-chirality. This design naturally ensures SE(3) invariance, while preserving the human readability and conciseness characteristic of SMILES. ConfSeq enables the reformulation of a range of 3D molecular modeling tasks, such as molecular conformation prediction, 3D molecular generation, and 3D molecular representation, into sequence modeling problems. Then, by simply employing a standard Transformer architecture, we achieve state-of-the-art performance on various benchmark sets. Furthermore, compared to widely used diffusion-based approaches in 3D molecular modeling, the ConfSeq-based method offers unique advantages in inference efficiency, generation controllability, and enables scoring of generated molecules. We believe that ConfSeq can serve as a foundational tool, advancing the development of sequence-based 3D molecular modeling methods.

bioinformatics↗

A real-time detection and non-destructive warning method for zebrafish body surface anomalies based on improved YOLOv8 framework

The detection of anomalies on fish surfaces is of critical importance for assessing fish health status, preventing fish disease outbreaks, predicting changes in water quality, enhancing fish welfare. The zebrafish (Danio rerio), a key model organism, has been increasingly utilized in various fields, including medicine, genetics and environmental toxicology. This has led to a corresponding increase in demand for intelligent management and detection systems. However, traditional methods of fish disease detection may have irreversible effects on fish, particularly small species, and often fail to meet the precision, non-destructive warning, and real-time requirements for zebrafish detection. To address this issue, this study proposes a novel method based on the YOLOv8 framework, designated ESC-YOLOv8-seg. This method significantly enhances the precision and speed of detecting surface abnormalities on small fish in complex settings by integrating the EMA the SPPELAN and C2f-Faster modules, and adding a detection head tailored for small targets. Furthermore, the integration of positional information and surface features enables the method to achieve real-time monitoring and non-destructive early warning of fish surface abnormalities. The proposed method enhances precision in small target detection and achieves high accuracy in discerning subtle differences among detection targets. In real aquaculture settings, it can reach an average speed of 106 FPS with a detection accuracy of 98%. Although this study has been designed to meet the specific needs of zebrafish scientific research, it is highly generalisable and can be applied to the real-time detection of underwater surface abnormalities in a range of fish species in aquaculture.

bioinformatics↗