Biology subjects

Jie, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Jie, C..

7 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Transcriptome analysis provides insights into candidate genetic regulators of birch response to salt stress

Abstract Background: Soil salinization is a worldwide matter of concern and can result in a series of agricultural and ecological problems. Previous transcriptome data have shown genetic regulatory mechanisms of salt stress response in a salt-tolerant species of Betula halophila and a salt-sensitive species of B. platyphylla, but comparative analysis of transcriptional changes in the the two species remains limited. Aims: We compared gene expression in leaves of B. halophila and leaves and roots of B. platyphylla. Methods: Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified after 24 h of salt stress, followed by Gene Ontology enrichment and gene regulatory network (GRN) construction. Selected DEGs were examined by quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). Results: Compared with 0 h, 956 DEGs were found in B. halophila leaves (BHLeaf), 2,955 in B. platyphylla leaves (BPLeaf), and 3,827 in B. platyphylla roots (BPRoot). BHLeaf DEG expression patterns were similar to those of BPRoot. DEGs from BHLeaf and BPRoot were enriched in cell wall organization or biogenesis, whereas hormone biosynthesis and signaling genes were altered mainly in B. platyphylla. RT-qPCR showed that selected DEGs were induced by 200 mM NaCl for 24 h in B. platyphylla. Conclusions: Our work uncovered genetic mechanisms of salt stress response commonly and uniquely occurring in two birch species and provides resources for breeding salt-tolerant birch.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Apposed networks of interacting TCRs and BCRs exhibiting mosaicked CDR3 sequences made of fixed junctional motifs

T and B cells are the two arms of the adaptive immune system that mediate cellular and humoral immunity, respectively, using highly diverse repertoires of antigen receptors. T cells recognize antigens using the T cell receptor (TCR), whereas B cells use the B cell receptor (BCR or surface immunoglobulin). Complementary determining regions (CDR3) of TCRs and BCRs are randomly generated through somatic VDJ recombination and nucleotide deletions and insertions at the V-D and D-J junctions. Contrary to this paradigm, here we describe two networks of millions of TCR{beta} and IGH clonotypes that are made from only two CDR3 sequences and associated with more 63 diseases. The TCR{beta} network members bore either the prototypic signature CDR3 sequence (CASSPGTEAFF), its N-terminal VD motif (CASSPGT) recombined with various J{beta} segments (CASSPGT-J{beta}x) or its DJ{beta} motif recombined with various V{beta} (V{beta}x-PGTEAFF). The BCR network members exhibit one signature CDR3 sequence (CARx1-4DTAMVYYFYDW) made from an invariant DJH motif (DTAMVYYFDYW) combined with various VH genes. The prototypes of the two networks are apparently teleogically related as they were dually expressed on the rare population of dual expresser (DE) lymphocytes and molecular dynamic simulations show that they were interacting partners. We conclude that members of the two networks represent a core set of evolutionary-conserved primordial antigen receptors that play fundamental roles in host defense and autoimmune diseases.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2022

WDR82 mediated H3K4me3 is associated with tumor proliferation and therapeutic efficacy in pediatric high-grade gliomas

Pediatric high-grade gliomas (pHGGs) are common malignant brain tumors without effective treatment and poor patient survival. Abnormal posttranslational modification at the histone H3 tail plays critical roles in tumor cell malignancy. We have previously shown that trimethylation of lysine 4 at histone H3 (H3K4me3) plays a significant role in pediatric ependymoma malignancy and is associated with tumor therapeutic sensitivity. Here, we show that H3K4me3 and its methyltransferase WDR82 are elevated in pHGGs. Reduction of H3K4me3 by downregulating WDR82 decreases H3K4me3 promoter occupancy and expression of genes associated with stem cell features, cell proliferation, the cell cycle and DNA damage repair. Reduction of WDR82 mediated H3K4me3 increases the response of pediatric glioma cells to chemotherapy. These findings suggest that WDR82 mediated H3K4me3 is an important determinant of pediatric glioma malignancy and therapeutic response. This highlights the need for a more thorough understanding of the potential of WDR82 as an epigenetic target to increase therapeutic efficacy and improve prognosis for children with malignant gliomas.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2021

Rest/Stress Myocardial Perfusion Imaging by Positron Emission Tomography with 18F-Flurpiridaz: A Feasibility Study in Mice

BackgroundMyocardial perfusion imaging by positron emission tomography (PET-MPI) is the current gold standard for quantification of myocardial blood flow. 18F-flurpiridaz was recently introduced as a valid alternative to currently used PET-MPI probes. Nonetheless, optimum scan duration and time interval for image analysis are currently unknown. Further, it is unclear whether rest/stress PET-MPI with 18F-flurpiridaz is feasible in mice. MethodsRest/stress PET-MPI was performed with 18F-flurpiridaz (0.6-3.0 MBq) in 29 mice aged 7-8 months. Regadenoson (0.1 g/g) was used for induction of vasodilator stress. Kinetic modeling was performed using a metabolite-corrected arterial input function. Image-derived myocardial 18F-flurpiridaz uptake was assessed for different time intervals by placing a volume of interest in the left ventricular myocardium. ResultsTracer kinetics were best described by a two-tissue compartment model. K1 ranged from 6.7-20.0 mL/cm3/min, while myocardial volumes of distribution (VT) were between 34.6 and 83.6 mL/cm3. Of note, myocardial 18F-flurpiridaz uptake (%ID/g) was significantly correlated with K1 at rest and following pharmacological stress testing for all time intervals assessed. However, while Spearmans coefficients (rs) ranged between 0.478 and 0.672, R2 values were generally low. In contrast, an excellent correlation of myocardial 18F-flurpiridaz uptake with VT was obtained, particularly when employing the averaged myocardial uptake from 20-40 min post tracer injection (R2 [≥]0.98). Notably, K1 and VT were similarly sensitive to pharmacological stress induction. Further, mean stress-to-rest ratios of K1, VT, and %ID/g 18F-flurpiridaz were virtually identical, suggesting that %ID/g 18F-flurpiridaz can be used to estimate CFR in mice. ConclusionOur findings suggest that a simplified assessment of relative myocardial perfusion and coronary flow reserve (CFR), based on image-derived tracer uptake, is feasible with 18F-flurpiridaz in mice, enabling high-throughput mechanistic CFR studies in rodents.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2020

ATG5 is instrumental in the transition from autophagy to apoptosis during the degeneration of tick salivary glands

Female tick salivary glands undergo rapid degeneration several days post engorgement. This degeneration may be caused by the increased concentration of ecdysone in the hemolymph during the fast feeding period and both autophagy and apoptosis occur. In this work, we first proved ATG and Caspase gene expression peaks during degeneration of the tick salivary glands. We explored the regulatory role of Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides autophagy related 5 (RhATG5) in the degeneration of tick salivary glands. During the fast feeding phase, RhATG5 was cleaved and both calcium concentration and the transcription of RhCalpains increased in the salivary glands. Recombinant RhATG5 was cleaved by μ-Calpain only in the presence of calcium; the mutant RhATG5191-199Δ was not cleaved. Treatment with 20-hydroxyecdysone (20E) led to programmed cell death in the salivary glands of unfed ticks in vitro, RhATG8-phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) was upregulated in ticks treated with low concentration of 20E. Conversely, RhATG8-PE decreased and RhCaspase-7 increased in ticks treated with a high concentration of 20E and transformed autophagy to apoptosis. High concentrations of 20E led to the cleavage of RhATG5. Calcium concentration and expression of RhCalpains were also upregulated in the tick salivary glands. RNA interference (RNAi) of RhATG5 in vitro inhibited both autophagy and apoptosis of the tick salivary glands. RNAi of RhATG5 in vivo significantly inhibited the normal feeding process. These results demonstrated that high concentrations of 20E led to the cleavage of RhATG5 by increasing the concentration of calcium and stimulated the transition from autophagy to apoptosis.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.View Full Text

zoology↗

bioRxiv2019

Perceived Stress in First-Year Medical Students and its Effect on Gut Microbiota

Medical students are constantly under stress caused by strenuous medical programs, which may exert persistent physical and psychological effects on their well-being. Using medical students as a model population, this work explores the gut microbiome as a potential contributing mechanism for why individuals exposed to similar stimuli react variably. We evaluated the relationship of gut microbiome composition of first year medical students and stress resilience over a period of 4 months. Our objective was to identify gut microbiome characteristics of individuals that showed long-term stress resilience. Students were voluntarily recruited and screened for lifestyle and environmental factors at 3 timepoints during the first semester. Fecal samples were also collected at each timepoint. In order to identify candidates with stress resilience, their perceived stress and depression levels were normalized and summed to produce a psychologic index score. The most notable finding is a correlation between psychologic resiliency of Bacteriodete:Firmicute abundance as well as a relationship between durable resiliency and microbiome stability. Phylogenetic assembly of participants by microbiome relatedness found that 100% of subjects who were resilient to stress across all timepoints (n=8) were phylogenetically clustered in adjacent positions, showing a high degree of temporal stability. Of participants who were not durably resilient to stress, only 62% of participants (n=8) showed microbiomes that were phylogenetically related across the same 4 month period. We identified 2,102 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) which were unique to the durable resilience group and 94 OTUs which were unique to the susceptible group. Of the 4,794 observed OTUs, 6.1% (n=294) were significantly different between groups. These findings support that the gut microbiome may play an important role in stress resilience at a time scale of 4 months. A better understanding of the role of the gut microbiome in stress resilience may shed light on potential treatment to reduce stress/anxiety in general, as well as to promote wellbeing of our future health care providers and physicians.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2019

Trimester-specific Zika virus infection affects placental responses in women

Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during pregnancy is associated with neurologic birth defects, but the effects on placental development are unclear. Full-term placentas from three women, each infected with ZIKV during specific pregnancy trimesters, were harvested for anatomic, immunologic and transcriptomic analysis. In this study, each woman exhibited a unique immune response, but they collectively diverged from healthy controls with raised IL-1RA, IP-10, EGF and RANTES expression, and neutrophil numbers during the acute infection phase. Although ZIKV NS3 antigens co-localized to placental Hofbauer cells, the placentas showed no anatomical defects. Transcriptomic analysis of samples from the placentas revealed that infection during trimester 1 caused a disparate cellular response centered on differential eIF2 signaling, mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative phosphorylation. These findings should translate to improve clinical prenatal screening procedures for virus-infected pregnant patients.

immunology↗