Biology subjects

HU, X.

Publications and source records attributed to HU, X..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

MXRA7 Alleviates Epididymitis from Exercise-Induced Fatigue by Inhibiting Pyroptosis

AimsTo explore exercise-induced fatigue (EIF)s effects on the male reproductive system and MXRA7s regulatory role herein. MethodsWe recruited EIF volunteers for semen/serum tests, established a mouse EIF model via weight-loaded swimming to assess epididymal segmental injury, and constructed pyroptosis models of PC-1/DC-2 cells. Public database transcriptomic analysis identified MXRA7 expression and enriched pathways in epididymitis; MXRA7s function was verified via its knockdown/overexpression in DC-2 cells. PKC-MXRA7 association was explored by phosphorylation assays and CO-IP, and sperm incubation experiments evaluated MXRA7s effect on sperm function. ResultsEIF impaired human sperm motility, reduced mouse sperm quality and induced epididymitis with segment-specific pyroptosis. MXRA7 expression differed in PC-1/DC-2 cells and correlated with pyroptosis; it was phosphorylated by PKC, inhibited the NF-{kappa}B pathway to alleviate inflammation, and mitigated pyroptosis-induced sperm motility damage. ConclusionEIF induces epididymal epithelial pyroptosis and epididymitis, and MXRA7 exerts a protective effect mainly in caudal epididymal cells by alleviating pyroptosis, thus reducing sperm quality damage.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2022

Leveraging the local genetic structure for trans-ancestry association mapping

Over the past two decades, genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have successfully advanced our understanding of genetic basis of complex traits. Despite the fruitful discovery of GWASs, most GWAS samples are collected from European populations, and these GWASs are often criticized for their lack of ancestry diversity. Trans-ancestry association mapping (TRAM) offers an exciting opportunity to fill the gap of disparities in genetic studies between non-Europeans and Europeans. Here we propose a statistical method, LOG-TRAM, to leverage the local genetic architecture for TRAM. By using biobank-scale datasets, we showed that LOG-TRAM can greatly improve the statistical power of identifying risk variants in under-represented populations while producing well-calibrated p-values. We applied LOG-TRAM to the GWAS summary statistics of 29 complex traits/diseases from Biobank Japan (BBJ) and UK Biobank (UKBB), and achieved substantial gains in power (the effective sample sizes increased by 49% in average compared to the BBJ GWASs) and effective correction of confounding biases compared to existing methods. Finally, we demonstrated that LOG-TRAM can be successfully applied to identify ancestry-specific loci and the LOG-TRAM output can be further used for construction of more accurate polygenic risk scores (PRSs) in under-represented populations.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2019

Overcoming tissue scattering in wide-field deep imaging by extended detection and computational reconstruction

Compared to the golden technique of point-scanning multiphoton microscopy, line-scanning temporal focusing microscopy (LTFM) is competitive in high imaging speed while maintaining tight axial confinement. However, considering its wide-field detection mode, LTFM suffers from shallow penetration depth as a result of crosstalk induced by tissue scattering. In contrast to the spatial filtering based on confocal slit detection, we propose the extended detection LTFM (ED-LTFM), the first technique to extract signals from scattered photons and thus effectively extend the imaging depth. By recording a succession of line-shape excited signals in 2D and reconstructing signals under Hessian regularization, we can push the depth limitation in scattering tissue imaging. We valid the concept with numerical simulations, and demonstrate the performance of enhanced imaging depth in in vivo imaging of mouse brains.

neuroscience↗