Biology subjects

Li, H.

Publications and source records attributed to Li, H..

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Functional impact of PCSK9 variants on LDL uptake in a knockout hepatic model

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) is a central regulator of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol metabolism, yet the functional consequences of many clinically observed PCSK9 variants remain unknown. To establish a rigorous system for quantitative variant assessment, we generated a PCSK9 knockout (KO) HepG2 cell line through CRISPR/Cas9-mediated deletion of exons 2-8, effectively removing both the prodomain and catalytic regions required for PCSK9 function. This null background enabled systematic functional mapping of wild-type (WT) PCSK9 and multiple clinically relevant variants representing well-characterized, recurrent, and previously understudied alleles. Functional assays revealed pronounced heterogeneity among variant activities. The classical gain-of-function (GOF) variants D374Y and R496W exhibited robust suppression of LDL uptake, whereas A443T--an infrequently reported and previously uncharacterized variant--demonstrated a loss-of-function (LOF)-like phenotype with significantly enhanced LDL uptake. Additional poorly characterized variants, including V4I, R104C/V114A, and R496W/N425S, displayed minimal functional profiles, providing novel mechanistic insights. Surface LDL receptor (LDLR) levels generally correlated with LDL uptake but revealed unique patterns for specific variants. This KO-based rescue system provides a high-resolution framework for mechanistic classification of both established and poorly characterized PCSK9 variants, bridging the gap between genetic discovery and functional interpretation while supporting precision lipid-lowering strategies.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2026

Preferential formation of NUP98-KDM5A condensates at specific H3K4me3-rich loci drives leukemogenic gene expression

Chromosomal translocations involving NUP98 generate fusion proteins that alter gene expression programs, yet the fundamental principles governing their gene targeting and condensate behavior remain poorly understood. Using NUP98-KDM5A as a model, we integrate cellular imaging, in vitro reconstitution, and genomic analyses to dissect how chromatin engagement shapes condensate formation. We find that NUP98-KDM5A forms sub-diffraction-limited, gel-like condensates whose assembly is potentiated by binding to H3K4me3. This interaction creates a quantitative targeting mechanism in which, at the native expression level, condensates preferentially form at genomic loci with high local H3K4me3 density. Such local density-dependent recruitment explains selective enrichment at the leukemogenic HOX gene clusters, despite widespread presence of H3K4me3 across the genome. Analysis of single-cell sequencing data from patients further supports a correlation between local H3K4me3 density and transcriptional activation in NUP98-KDM5A-driven leukemia. Together, our findings reveal how activating chromatin marks and condensate-forming proteins synergize to generate specificity within euchromatin, offering a generalizable framework for understanding how chromatin-associated condensates interpret epigenetic landscapes.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2026

Microencapsulation of a novel Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron strain: a promising strategy to fortify intestinal barrier fortification in weaned pig model

Porcine Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron LYH5 demonstrated in vitro antimicrobial activity, suggesting probiotic potential. Due to poor gastric juice tolerance, LYH5 was encapsulated via extrusion using sodium alginate (SA) and gellan gum. Box-Behnken design optimization yielded optimal parameters: SA 1.5%, gellan gum 0.4%, CaCl2 0.9%, bacteria:glue ratio 1:4, achieving an encapsulation rate of 84.22{+/-}0.17%. Its effect on weaned piglet intestinal health was evaluated using 78 piglets (7.69{+/-}0.52 kg) randomly assigned to 4 groups for 40 days: CON (control), T (basal diet + LYH5 live bacteria, 1x10{superscript 1} CFU/mL), TJ (basal diet + LYH5 microcapsules, 1x10{superscript 1} CFU/mL, J (basal diet + empty capsules). The results of this experiment showed that compared with the control group, LYH5 microcapsule can improve the intestinal barrier function without affecting the growth performance of piglets, and provide ideas and references for the development of human next-generation probiotics (NGP). IMPORTANCEThis study addresses the key bottleneck of poor gastric acid tolerance of probiotics via microencapsulation and provides a practical reference for the development of human next-generation probiotics.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2026

GCN-Mamba: Graph Convolutional Network with Mamba for Antibacterial Synergy Prediction

The escalating crisis of antimicrobial resistance necessitates novel therapeutic strategies, among which drug combination therapy shows great promise by enhancing efficacy and reducing toxicity. However, identifying effective synergistic pairs from the vast combinatorial space remains experimentally challenging and resource-intensive. To address this, we introduce GCN-Mamba, a deep learning framework that integrates Graph Convolutional Networks (GCN) with the Mamba State Space Model. This architecture captures both local molecular topological structures and global implicit interactions by leveraging Extended 3-Dimensional Fingerprints (E3FP) and bacterial gene expression profiles. Evaluation on a comprehensive dataset demonstrated that GCN-Mamba significantly outperforms classical machine learning models in predictive accuracy. In a targeted case study against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the model successfully rediscovered known synergistic pairs, such as Quercetin and Curcumin, consistent with recent literature. Furthermore, prospective in vitro validation confirmed a novel synergistic combination of Shikimic acid and Oxacillin, validating the models practical utility. By efficiently prioritizing potential candidates, GCN-Mamba serves as a powerful and reliable tool for accelerating the discovery of synergistic antimicrobial combinations, effectively bridging the gap between computational prediction and experimental validation.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2026

Chemical Proteomic Profiling of the Histaminylation Proteome in Cancer Cells Unveils Uncharted Epigenetic Marks on Core Histones

Histamine is a key signaling molecule in pathophysiology that can exhibit significant regulatory roles in diverse health and disease status. Besides the well-studied noncovalent interactions between histamine and its receptors, protein histaminylation is a recently discovered mechanism of action, through which histamine regulates cellular signaling pathways in a covalent modification manner. Histaminylation is an emerging protein post-translational modification, where an isopeptide bond is formed between the histamine primary amine and {gamma}-carboxyl group of glutamine through a transamidation reaction catalyzed by transglutaminase 2 (TGM2). However, due to the lack of efficient pan-specific antibodies targeting histaminylated glutamine, the histaminylation proteome in cells remains poorly explored. Here, we report the design and development of a novel N{tau}-propargylated histamine (N{tau}-PH) probe as well as its successful application in chemical proteomic profiling of the histaminylation proteome in cancer cells. Notably, new TGM2-catalyzed epigenetic marks on core histones, e.g., H2AX-Q84 and Q104 histaminylation, have been identified from cancer cells and verified. Lastly, the crosstalk between H2AX histaminylation and {gamma}H2AX formation was discovered in this study, suggesting that TGM2-mediated histaminylation plays a critical role in DNA damage responses.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2026

A Resolution-Agnostic Geometric Transformer for Chromosome Modeling Using Inertial Frame

AO_SCPLOWBSTRACTC_SCPLOWChromosomes are the carriers of genetic information. Further understanding their 3D structure can help reveal gene-regulatory mechanisms and cellular functions. However, high-resolution 3D structures are often missing due to the high cost and inherent noise of experimental screening. A standard pipeline for reconstructing the chromosome 3D structure first applies the single-cell Hi-C high-throughput screening method to measure pairwise interactions between DNA fragments at different resolutions; then it adopts computational methods to reconstruct the 3D structures from these contacts. These include traditional numerical methods and deep learning models, which struggle with limited model expressiveness and poor generalization across resolutions. To handle this issue, we propose InertialGenome, a novel transformer-based framework for robust and resolution-agnostic chromosome reconstruction. InertialGenome first adopts the inertial frame for the pose canonicalization. Then, based on such an invariant pose, it proposes a Transformer with geometry-aware positional encoding, leveraging Nystrom estimation. To verify the effectiveness of InertialGenome, we conduct experiments on two single-cell 3D reconstruction datasets with four resolutions, reaching superior performance over all four computational baselines. Additionally, we observe that the 3D structure reconstructed by InertialGenome is more in line with the results of real experimental results on two functional verification tasks. Finally, we leverage InertialGenome for cross-resolution transfer learning, yielding up to a 5% improvement from low to high resolution. The source code is available at https://github.com/yize1203/InertialGenome.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2026

Phenotypic Bioactivity Prediction as Open-set Biological Assay Querying

The traditional drug discovery pipeline is severely bottlenecked by the need to design and execute bespoke biological assays for every new target and compound--a process that is both time-consuming and prohibitively expensive. While machine learning has accelerated virtual screening, current models remain confined to "closed-set" paradigms, unable to generalize to entirely novel biological assays without target-specific experimental data. Here, we present OpenPheno, a groundbreaking multimodal foundation model that fundamentally redefines bioactivity prediction as an open-set, visual-language question-answering (QA) task. By integrating chemical structures (SMILES), universal phenotypic profiles (Cell Painting images), and natural language descriptions of biological assays, OpenPheno unlocks the highly coveted "profile once, predict many" paradigm. Instead of conducting countless target-specific wet-lab experiments, researchers only need to capture a single, low-cost Cell Painting image of a novel compound. OpenPheno then evaluates this universal phenotypic "fingerprint" against the text-based description of any unseen assay, predicting bioactivity in a zero-shot manner. On 54 entirely unseen assays, it achieves strong zero-shot performance (mean AUROC 0.75), exceeding supervised baselines trained with full labeled data, and few-shot adaptation further improves predictions. In the most stringent setting where both compounds and assays are novel, OpenPheno maintains robust generalization (mean AUROC 0.66), opening up a new paradigm for a highly scalable, cost-effective, and universal engine for next-generation drug discovery.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2026

MYC-ATF4-ASS1 axis governs intracellular arginine synthesis and dictates the immune microenvironment in melanoma

Drug resistance is a major challenge for both targeted therapies and immunotherapies in cancer. Arginine starvation has proven a promising strategy to overcome recurrent tumors. However, key molecules involved and how immune responses are elicited are not well understood. Here we identify in melanoma cells MYC-ATF4-ASS1 signaling as a pathway, which not only governs intracellular arginine synthesis but also modulates antitumor immunity. ATF4 knockout in melanoma cells phenocopied ASS1 knockout in the same cells, both showing greater sensitivity to arginine depletors such as ADI-PEG20. A combination strategy of BRAF/MEK inhibitors and an arginine depletor shows significant therapeutic effects in a immune-compromised mouse model. Both Atf4 and Ass1 knockout melanomas exhibited enhanced infiltration of Cd8+ T cells and significantly reduced tumor growth in a syngeneic mouse model. Single cell transcriptomics profiled the reshaped tumor microenvironment and revealed that a subset of resident macrophages were reprogrammed by endogenous arginine blockade. Overall, our findings reveal that the MYC-ATF4-ASS1 axis not only controls arginine vulnerability of melanomas but also shapes the immune microenvironment.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2026

Sex-specific Genetic Regulatory Effects in Chickens

Sexual dimorphism is a defining vertebrate feature, yet its sex-specific molecular architecture remains poorly understood. Here we established a sex-balanced, uniformly reared chicken cohort to map this landscape, integrating individual whole-genome sequencing with 7,969 bulk and 779,380 single nucleus transcriptomes across 32 tissues from 280 birds. We identified 495,098 independent expression quantitative trait loci for 20,194 genes, including 10,937 loci modulated by cell-type composition. Notably, 340 genes were regulated by 449 loci in a sex-dependent manner, significantly enrichment in endocrine tissues like adipose and the adrenal gland. Furthermore, we fine-mapped 1,219 structural variants, demonstrating their unique roles to tissue- and sex-specific expression beyond SNPs. Ultimately, we showed the utility of these regulatory effects in elucidating the molecular basis of metabolism and complex traits in both chickens and humans. This comprehensive atlas of regulatory effects provides profound insights into the genomic and molecular basis of sexual dimorphism in vertebrates.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2026

Gene conversion is a key driver of diversity hotspots in M. tuberculosis antigens and virulence-associated loci

Despite the long-held view of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) as a genetically conserved pathogen, many genomic regions remain poorly resolved due to high sequence homology and repetitive content. Using complete genome assemblies generated from long-read sequencing of 151 globally representative clinical isolates, we comprehensively analyzed genome-wide patterns of genetic diversity and evolution across the Mtb genome. Our analysis uncovers pronounced diversity hotspots within paralogous regions generated by recurrent gene conversion between homologous genes. In many cases, these hotspots exhibit more than an order of magnitude greater genetic diversity than the rest of the Mtb genome, which is otherwise characterized by remarkably low variation. Mutations within these regions display clustered substitution patterns, excess paralog-matching variants, and distinct mutational spectra consistent with ongoing gene conversion. Our analysis identifies over 300 individual gene conversion events distributed throughout the Mtb phylogeny. These gene conversion events occur predominantly within gene families associated with virulence and host-pathogen interactions, including the PE, PPE, and ESX families. Several of the most pronounced diversity hotspots occur in antigens encoded within paralogous regions. Among these, the vaccine candidate PPE18 harbors mutations in validated epitope sequences and predicted alterations in HLA-II binding. Together, these findings demonstrate that gene conversion actively shapes antigenic and virulence-associated diversity in Mtb.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2026

Mitotic bookmarking by Prox1 preserves mammalian neuronal lineage identity memory via promoting timely H3K27me3 restoration

Mitosis poses a daunting challenge to transgenerational inheritance of cell identity memory. How neuronal lineage identity is faithfully transmitted across mitosis remains largely unexplored. Here we report that, in mouse hippocampus, the transcription factor Prox1 acts as a mitotic bookmark for safeguarding neuronal lineage identity across cell divisions. Prox1 exhibits mitotic retention in dentate gyrus (DG) neural stem cells and defines DG lineage identity by suppressing the alternative cornu ammonis (CA) identity. Mitotic bookmarking by Prox1 at key bivalent CA identity genes promotes timely and precise restoration of Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2)-mediated H3K27me3 deposition to avoid ectopic expression of CA identity genes and lineage identity crisis. Remarkably, specific mitotic retention-deficient Prox1 conditional knock-in mice produce severe DG developmental defects. Thus, mitotic bookmarking imprints neuronal lineage identity in mouse hippocampus, which is likely to represent a fundamental principle underlying the preservation of lineage identity memory in mammalian brain development.

developmental biology↗

bioRxiv2026

Stool Metabolomics Reveals Catecholamine and Tryptophan-NAD+ Pathway Alterations in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Gut-brain axis dysregulation and microbiome-linked metabolic disturbances have been implicated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet gut-derived neuroactive metabolites remain incompletely characterized. We applied targeted liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in a cross-sectional case-control study to quantify 18 stool metabolites related to catecholamine synthesis, GABAergic signaling, and tryptophan (Trp) and NAD+ metabolism in 59 participants (32 ASD, 27 non-ASD controls). Group differences were evaluated using log2 fold change and covariate-adjusted linear models. Random forest classifiers with five-fold cross-validation assessed multivariate discriminative performance, and within-group Spearman correlations examined metabolic network organization. Norepinephrine exhibited the largest elevation in ASD, while dopamine and tetrahydrobiopterin showed nominal group effects consistent with altered BH4-dependent catecholamine metabolism. Among individual metabolites, tetrahydrobiopterin, GABA, and kynurenine were the most informative, and their combination achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.737 (95% confidence interval, 0.603 to 0.871). Correlation analyses revealed conserved lithocholic acid-deoxycholic acid coupling in both groups. In controls, Trp correlated with kynurenine, whereas ASD showed expanded Trp associations with GABA, norepinephrine, anandamide, and nicotinic acid, consistent with reorganization of Trp-NAD+ precursor pathways. These findings identify coordinated, gut-linked metabolic differences in ASD and define a metabolite signature reflecting altered catecholaminergic and Trp-related network structure. ImportanceAutism spectrum disorder is currently diagnosed using behavioral assessments, and objective biological measures are limited. The gut microbiome produces many small molecules that can influence brain development and function, but the specific metabolites involved in ASD remain unclear. Using targeted analysis of stool samples, we identified changes in metabolites related to neurotransmitter synthesis and tryptophan metabolism and showed that their relationships form distinct metabolic networks in individuals with ASD. A small panel of metabolites provided moderate ability to distinguish ASD from controls. These results suggest that gut-derived metabolites capture biologically meaningful variation in ASD and may help guide future studies aimed at understanding gut-brain communication and developing noninvasive biomarkers.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2026

Cell Type Architecture and Positional Gene Gradients in an Adult Animal at Subcellular Resolution

The spatial organization of cell types and gene expression underlies tissue architecture and organismal physiology. However, resolving complete cellular and molecular landscapes within a three-dimensional context remains challenging, particularly in organisms with high cellular heterogeneity and complex geometry. Here, we developed a semi-supervised workflow to reconstruct high-resolution three-dimensional spatial transcriptomic models of the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea at single-cell resolution. Planarians are basal bilaterians capable of regenerating body structures after injury. Our reconstruction maps the distribution of cell types and spatially patterned gene expression across the intact organism and identifies 119 candidate positional control genes (PCGs). These genes are expressed across muscle, neural, and epidermal populations. Functional perturbation of selected candidates, including pitx3, ptpn11, pi4ka, upf3b, and cul1, revealed roles in regeneration following injury. In addition, we identify intestinal cells as prominent components of the microenvironment surrounding adult tgs1 pluripotent stem cells (neoblasts). Together, these results demonstrate the utility of three-dimensional spatial transcriptomic reconstruction for mapping cellular architecture and positional gene regulation in complex adult organisms.

developmental biology↗

bioRxiv2026

Integrative multi-omics and multi-trait analysis prioritizes regulatory mechanisms and genes for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a prevalent condition that progresses from simple steatosis to advanced fibrosis, significantly affecting liver function and systemic health. Despite its widespread impact, therapeutic options are limited, highlighting the urgent need for comprehensive exploration to identify potential therapeutic targets. In this study, we created an analysis pipeline anchored on liver gene expression, integrating differential meta-analysis of transcriptomic data across three MASLD stages, transcriptome-wide Mendelian randomization (MR), and transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS), to identify 39 candidate genes potentially involved in MASLD progression. Furthermore, we prioritized these genes using a scoring system that incorporated gene expression-clinical phenotype correlation meta-analysis, proteome-wide association studies (PWAS), and external genetic data from the GWAS Catalog and ExPheWAS. Single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) analysis of liver cells from healthy to cirrhotic stages revealed stage- and cell-type-specific expression patterns of these prioritized genes. Through experimental validation in a lipid overload hepatocyte model, we confirmed the role of MLIP in lipid metabolism. These findings, available through an interactive web portal (masldportal.net), provide valuable insights into MASLD mechanisms and offer an easy-accessible resource for the research community. Graphic abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=200 SRC="FIGDIR/small/706502v2_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (58K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@184c03eorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@6965ccorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@19a5937org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@576b53_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2026

FACT safeguards promoter topology by maintaining nucleosomes and restricting chromatin factor spreading

Facilitates chromatin transcription (FACT) is a histone chaperone that displaces and re-assembles histones during transcription. Recent studies have reported a minor role for FACT in chromatin architecture. We have recently shown that active gene promoters form nanoscale domains and proposed they are created by the biophysical properties of nucleosome-free regions. Here we use base-pair resolution Micro Capture-C ultra to show that, following FACT degradation, nanoscale domains are lost and subnucleosomal chromatin interactions are rearranged at active promoters. Nucleosome-free regions at these promoters expand and chromatin-binding factors invade the newly accessible chromatin, indicating FACT maintains the integrity of active promoters by opposing DNA-binding factor spreading into gene bodies. Finally, we show increased interactions between promoters across topologically associating domains, suggesting large-scale structural changes upon FACT loss. Thus, we demonstrate FACT plays a major role in chromatin organisation and provide in vivo evidence that nucleosomes drive both local and long-range chromatin architecture.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2026

4D Single-Cell Spatial Transcriptomics Reveals Dynamic Morphogenetic Gradients and Regenerative Domains in Planarians

Regeneration relies on precise spatiotemporal gene expression and cellular responses to establish tissue identity and body patterning. Using high-resolution Stereo-seq (715 nm) on 353 sections from 16 whole animals at 8 regeneration timepoints, we constructed a 4D spatiotemporal transcriptomic map of planarian regeneration. Our analysis captured 36 refined cell types from 3,508,004 segmented cells, enabling genome-wide transcriptional imputation of gene expression dynamics across body axes at cellular, tissue, and organismal scales. We identified dynamic positional gradients and distinct spatially distributed cell types during regeneration, including an injury-induced Anterior Regenerative Zone (ARZ). The ARZ exhibited enriched positional signals in epidermal, muscle, and neural cells and was regulated by Mediator 8, which is crucial for polarity remodeling and blastema formation. This study provides a comprehensive spatial molecular and cellular map of regenerative processes, highlighting injury-induced spatial domains and key regulatory factors in planarian regeneration. We also provide an interactive web portal, offering a valuable resource for exploring and analyzing regeneration mechanisms in a spatiotemporal context.

developmental biology↗

bioRxiv2026

MG53 Protects Against Intestinal Inflammation by Inhibiting NLRP3 Inflammasome Activation

Background and ObjectivesInflammatory bowel disease (IBD) involves dysregulated immune responses and chronic intestinal inflammation. The nod-like receptor pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome plays a critical role in IBD pathogenesis, but regulatory mechanisms remain not fully understood. Mitsugumin 53 (MG53, also known as TRIM72), originally identified as a critical membrane repair protein, has emerged as a novel regulator of inflammatory processes. To investigate the protective role of MG53 in colitis and elucidate its mechanisms in regulating NLRP3 inflammasome activation in IBD. MethodsWe used dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis models comparing MG53 knockout (MG53-/-) and wild-type (WT) mice, assessing disease severity, MG53 tissue uptake, and therapeutic effects of recombinant human MG53 (rhMG53). In vitro studies examined rhMG53s effects on NLRP3 inflammasome activation, caspase-1 cleavage, interleukin-1{beta} (IL-1{beta}) secretion, and MG53-NLRP3 interactions. ResultsMG53-/- mice showed more severe colitis with increased weight loss, higher disease activity scores, shortened colons, and greater inflammation. DSS treatment induced the accumulation of circulating MG53 in inflamed colonic tissue. rhMG53 administration ameliorated colitis severity in MG53-/- mice and dose-dependently suppressed NLRP3 inflammasome activation in vitro. MG53 interacted with NLRP3 and reduced apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC) speck formation and NLRP3 oligomerization without affecting upstream signaling or NLRP3 stability. ConclusionMG53 is a physiological regulator of NLRP3 inflammasome activation that protects against colitis, suggesting therapeutic potential for IBD.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2026

Evidence that injury can cause Drosophila gut differentiated, polyploid enterocytes to be recruited as stem cells via paligenosis

Differentiated cells can return to a progenitor-like state in response to injury via the evolutionarily conserved cellular program called paligenosis. Paligenosis proceeds by three stages: 1) autophagy/autodegradation of differentiated cell architecture, 2) metaplasia/progenitor gene induction, 3) TOR complex 1 (TORC1)-dependent cell cycle re-entry. Using multiple injury and reverse-lineage-tracing approaches in the Drosophila gut, we show that mature polyploid enterocytes dedifferentiate into diploid progenitors in response to epithelial injury. Several key findings suggest a role for paligenosis. Shortly after injury, enterocytes dramatically increased autophagic flux (stage 1); additionally, pharmacological and genetic inhibition of autophagy blocked progenitor recruitment. Rapamycin also blocked recruitment, indicating that TORC1 is required (stage 3). Finally, RNAi knockdown of ifrd1, an evolutionarily conserved protein required for paligenosis, blocked progenitor recruitment. Thus, replenishment of diploid progenitors from differentiated polyploid cells may occur by paligenosis. The Drosophila gut may offer a versatile system for dissecting the mechanisms of this evolutionarily conserved pathway. Impact StatementMature, polyploid Drosophila enterocytes may dedifferentiate to a stem cell-like, diploid state via the paligenosis cell regeneration program, adding to evidence that paligenosis is a fundamental cellular process and highlighting Drosophila gut as a potential model system for its study.

developmental biology↗