Biology subjects

Muller, C. P.

Publications and source records attributed to Muller, C. P..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Estrogen receptor alpha regulates alcohol craving in females: convergent evidence from mouse models and human genetics

Alcohol craving and consumption fluctuate across the reproductive cycle in females with alcohol use disorder (AUD), suggesting that estrogen signaling contributes to disease vulnerability. Here, we investigated the role of estrogen receptor alpha (ER; Esr1; ESR1) in alcohol seeking using complementary mouse and human approaches, as this receptor was previously identified as a risk factor for AUD. Female mice were characterized in an IntelliCage-based multidimensional AUD paradigm that stratifies individuals into AUD-prone and AUD-resistant phenotypes. Transcriptomic profiling of the amygdala revealed that Esr1 is a top transcription factor for differentially expressed genes in mice drinking alcohol, and the estrogen signaling pathway was deregulated specifically in AUD-prone mice. Although alcohol exposure did not alter overall Esr1/ER mRNA or protein abundance, both transcript and protein levels positively correlated with cue-induced alcohol seeking, indicating that inter-individual variation in ER signaling predicts relapse-like behavior. Causal manipulations confirmed a functional role of ER. Local knockdown of Esr1 in the basolateral amygdala reduced excitatory synaptic transmission, attenuated alcohol motivation, cue-induced seeking, and relapse drinking, and impaired cue-associated memory recall without affecting anxiety-like behavior. Similarly, ovariectomy decreased amygdala ER expression, altered synaptic protein markers, and reduced alcohol-seeking behaviors, supporting regulation by endogenous ovarian hormones. Extending these findings to humans, ESR1 gene polymorphisms (rs6902771, rs11155819 and rs6557171) were associated with the probability of alcohol binge drinking and alcohol consumption days as well as craving and loss of control in real world in a longitudinal clinical cohort, while ESR1 mRNA blood levels were increased in women with AUD diagnosis. Together, these convergent molecular, circuit, behavioral, and genetic data identify ER signaling in the amygdala as an important modulator of alcohol-seeking behavior induced by alcohol cue and relapse vulnerability, highlighting estrogen pathways as potential therapeutic targets and markers for AUD.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2017

High-throughput sequencing of murine immunoglobulin heavy chain transcripts using single side unique molecular identifiers on an Ion Torrent PGM

With the advent of high-throughput sequencing (HTS), profiling immunoglobulin (IG) repertoires has become an essential part of immunological research. Advances in sequencing technology enable the IonTorrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM) to cover the full-length of IG mRNA transcripts. Nucleotide insertions and deletions (indels) are the dominant errors of the PGM sequencing platform and can critically influence IG repertoire assessments. Here, we present a PGM-tailored IG repertoire sequencing approach combining error correction through unique molecular identifier (UID) barcoding and indel detection through ImMunoGeneTics (IMGT), the most commonly used sequence alignment database for IG sequences. Using artificially falsified sequences for benchmarking, we found that IMGT efficiently detects 98% of the introduced indels through gene-segment frameshifts. Undetected indels are either located at the ends of the sequences or produce masked frameshifts with an insertion and deletion in close proximity. IMGTs indel correction algorithm resolves up to 87% of the tested insertions, but no deletions. The complementary determining regions 3 (CDR3s) are returned 100% correct for up to 3 insertions or 3 deletions through conservative culling. We further show, that our PGM-tailored unique molecular identifiers results in highly accurate HTS datasets if combined with the presented data processing. In this regard, considering sequences with at least two copies from datasets with UID families of minimum 3 reads result in correct sequences with over 99% confidence. The protocol and sample processing strategies described in this study will help to establish benchtop-scale sequencing of IG heavy chain transcripts in the field of IG repertoire research.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2017

Functionally Convergent B Cell Receptor Sequences in Transgenic Rats Expressing a Human B Cell Repertoire in Response to Tetanus Toxoid and Measles Antigens

The identification and tracking of antigen-specific immunoglobulin (Ig) sequences within total Ig repertoires is central to high-throughput sequencing (HTS) studies of infections or vaccinations. In this context, public Ig sequences shared by different individuals exposed to the same antigen could be valuable markers for tracing back infections, measuring vaccine immunogenicity, and perhaps ultimately allow the reconstruction of the immunological history of an individual. Here, we immunized groups of transgenic rats expressing human Ig against tetanus toxoid (TT), Modified Vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA), measles virus hemagglutinin and fusion proteins expressed on MVA and the environmental carcinogen Benzo[a]Pyrene, coupled to TT. We showed that these antigens impose a selective pressure causing the Ig Heavy chain (IgH) repertoires of the rats to converge towards the expression of antibodies with highly similar IgH CDR3 amino acid sequences. We present a computational approach, similar to differential gene expression analysis, that selects for clusters of CDR3s with 80% similarity, significantly overrepresented within the different groups of immunized rats. These IgH clusters represent antigen-induced IgH signatures exhibiting stereotypic amino acid patterns including previously described TT and measles specific IgH sequences. Our data suggest, that with the presented methodology, transgenic Ig rats can be utilized as a model to identify antigen-induced, human IgH signatures to a variety of different antigens.

immunology↗