Biology subjects

Ning, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Ning, S..

12 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Transcriptome Profiling Identifies a Natural Antisense Transcript of IRF4 Associated with EBV Latency

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) establishes distinct latency programs that drive B-cell transformation through coordinated viral and host gene regulation. However, the contribution of host long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) to EBV-mediated pathogenesis remains poorly understood. Here, we performed transcriptome-wide lncRNA profiling comparing Type I and Type III EBV latency and identified differentially expressed host lncRNAs, among which we characterized a previously unannotated natural antisense transcript (NAT) of IRF4, designated IRF4-AS1. IRF4-AS1 is markedly upregulated in Type III latency and positively correlates with IRF4 expression across EBV-transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) established from diverse clinical backgrounds. Functional studies indicate a context-dependent positive regulatory relationship between IRF4-AS1 and IRF4. While overexpression of IRF4-AS1 increased IRF4 expression and IRF4 overexpression increased IRF4-AS1 levels, loss-of-function analyses suggest that this relationship is modulated by additional regulatory inputs in established transformed cells. In contrast to IRF4, IRF4-AS1 transcription is not regulated by the LMP1- NF{kappa}B signaling, indicating that the two transcripts are regulated through partially distinct mechanisms. In addition, we identified MIR3142HG as a highly induced latency-associated lncRNA and found that its embedded miRNAs, miR-146a and miR-3142, exhibited divergent expression patterns, suggesting differential post-transcriptional regulation. Together, these findings identify IRF4-AS1 as a NAT lncRNA for IRF4 and reveal extensive remodeling of host lncRNA networks during EBV latency, providing a foundation for future studies of lncRNA- mediated host-virus interactions in EBV pathogenesis. ImportanceEBV drives B-cell transformation through extensive reprogramming of host transcriptional networks, yet the contribution of host long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) to this process remains poorly defined. Transcriptome-wide lncRNA profiling, together with functional analysis, identified IRF4-AS1 as a previously unannotated natural antisense transcript of IRF4. IRF4- AS1 is upregulated in Type III latency and positively correlates with IRF4 expression across EBV-transformed cells. Together, this study provides a foundation for future mechanistic studies of lncRNA-mediated host-virus interactions in EBV pathogenesis.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2026

Task-space dimensions guide human exploration in complex environments

Efficient exploration is essential for rapid learning in high-dimensional environments, where rewards depend on a sparse and unknown subset of task dimensions. Here, we developed a multidimensional value-learning task in which participants explored without explicit knowledge of the underlying structure. Across multiple task designs, participants consistently demonstrated successful learning under structural uncertainty. Behavioral analyses revealed that over half of participants adopted a structured exploration strategy--Full Dimension Scan (FDS)--with three key properties. First, participants systematically isolated and sampled one candidate dimension at a time, effectively reducing search complexity. Second, FDS was temporally persistent within dimensions while maintaining diverse sampling of feature values, enabling efficient local inference. Third, participants sequentially deployed FDS across dimensions, achieving broad coverage of the task space. Importantly, this strategy transferred across tasks: prior experience in lower-dimensional environments promoted stronger FDS use and improved performance in higher-dimensional settings. Consistent with these findings, a dimension-guided exploration model incorporating dimension-level attentional control best captured human behavior. Together, these results identify dimension-guided exploration as a core principle that transforms high-dimensional search into tractable, structured learning, providing new insight into adaptive behavior in complex environments.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2026

Large-scale quantum computing framework enhances drug discovery in multiple stages

Coherent Ising machines (CIMs) excel at solving large-scale combinational optimization problems (COPs), but their insufficient long-term stability has hindered their applications in compute-intensive tasks like computer-aided drug discovery (CADD). By improving fiber vibration isolation and temperature control system, we have implemented a 2000-node CIM named QBoson-CPQC-3Gen achieving stable solutions over one hour on large-scale COPs. Graph-based encoding schemes were further introduced to realize a CIM-based CADD workflow including allosteric site detection, protein-peptide docking and intermolecular similarity calculation. CIM-based methods demonstrated superior speed and accuracy than heuristic algorithms. Especially, QBoson-CPQC-3Gen identified 2 novel druggable sites and bioactive compounds for 6 targets, which were further validated in vitro, in-cell and by crystal structures. Our contributions established a quantum-computing framework for multi-stage drug discovery, representing a significant advancement in both quantum computing applications and pharmaceutical research.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2026

The Red Rice Bran Extract (RRBE) Mitigates Photoaging by Targeting Mitochondrial Oxidative Stress and Regulating Thermal Damage Responses

The photoprotective efficacy of natural skin-active complexes is well recognized, yet their ap-plication is often hindered by the challenge of deciphering their complex, multi-component, and multi-target mechanisms. To bridge the gap between established phenotypes and molecular mechanisms, we developed an AI-driven integrated platform that combines phytochemical profiling, network pharmacology, and deep learning-based target prediction with rigorous biophysical validation. We applied this platform to investigate RRBE, a bioactive complex refined from red rice bran extract. In vivo clinical studies confirmed that RRBE significantly accelerates the resolution of UV-induced erythema, while cellular and 3D tissue models demonstrated robust suppression of oxidative stress and DNA damage responses. To decode its material basis, the platform deconstructed RRBE into 10 distinct chemical modules. Leveraging our SCOPE-DTI deep learning model for global target prediction, we identified flavonoids (Module 1) and phenolic acids (Module 10) as the primary bioactive drivers relevant to photoprotection. These computational predictions were structurally supported by molecular docking and definitively validated in a physiological environment via Cellular Thermal Shift Assay-Mass Spectrometry (CETSA-MS). Mechanistically, RRBE functions through a synergistic polypharmacology: (1) Module 1 components, represented by procyanidin B2, target NDUFA7 to stabilize mitochondrial function and mitigate ROS; (2) Module 10 components, exemplified by caffeic acid, ferulic acid, and p-coumaric acid, engage FKBP11 and HSP90AA1 to regulate protein homeostasis and stress responses. This work not only deciphers the polypharmacological basis of RRBEs photoprotective action but also validates a scalable "AI-guided, cell-validated" discovery pipeline, offering a rational paradigm for uncovering the protective benefits of complex natural extracts.

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Adipocytes are dispensable in shaping the ovarian cancer tumor microenvironment in the omentum

The omentum, a specialized adipose tissue within the peritoneum, is a primary niche for ovarian cancer (OC) dissemination during peritoneal carcinomatosis. Traditionally, omental adipocytes are thought to promote OC growth by supplying lipids, supported by evidence that global FABP4 deficiency reduces tumor progression. Here, we generated mice lacking mature adipocytes in the peritoneum, including the omentum. ID8p53-/-Brca2-/-, BPPNM, and KPCA OC cells retained a propensity to seed regions typically associated with adipocytes, even without mature adipocytes. However, the lack of mature adipocytes did not suppress peritoneal OC expansion, whereas removing the adipocyte-free omentum did. Murine and human single-cell RNA sequencing revealed that endothelial FABP4 was high in the omentum. Indeed, endothelial cell-selective deficiency of FABP4 reduced OC growth in the peritoneum. These findings prompt a reevaluation of adipocyte contributions to OC progression and suggest a key role of the omental vasculature in supporting OC metabolic growth.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Neural signaling contributes to heart formation and growth in the invertebrate chordate, Ciona robusta.

Neurons contribute to the complex interplay of signals that mediate heart development and homeostasis. Although a limited set of studies suggest that neuronal peptides impact vertebrate heart growth, the specific contributions of these peptides to cardiomyocyte progenitor differentiation or proliferation have not been elucidated. Here we show that the neuropeptide tachykinin along with canonical Wnt signaling regulate cardiomyocyte progenitor proliferation in the chordate model Ciona robusta. In C. robusta, the heart continues to grow throughout adulthood and classic histological studies indicate that a line of undifferentiated cells may serve as a reserve progenitor lineage. We found that this line of cardiomyocyte progenitors consists of distinct distal and midline populations. Distal progenitors divide asymmetrically to produce distal and midline daughters. Midline progenitors divide asymmetrically to produce myocardial precursors. Through single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of adult C. robusta hearts, we delineated the cardiomyocyte progenitor expression profile. Based on this data we investigated the role of Wnt signaling in cardiomyocyte progenitor proliferation and found that canonical Wnt signaling is required to suppress excessive progenitor proliferation. The scRNA-seq data also identified a number of presumptive cardiac neural-like cells. Strikingly, we found that a subset of these neuronal cells appears to innervate the distal cardiomyocyte progenitors. Based on the expression of the tachykinin receptor in these neuronal cells, we blocked tachykinin signaling using pharmacological inhibitors and found that this drove reduced proliferation in the distal progenitor pool. Through targeted CRISPR-Cas9 knockdown we then demonstrated that both extrinsic tachykinin and intrinsic, cardiac tachykinin receptors are required for formation of the myocardial heart tube. This work provides valuable insights into how organisms may deploy neural signals to regulate organ growth in response to environmental or homeostatic inputs.

developmental biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Bioinspired Bimetallic Ions Functionalized MOF SAzyme Nanocomposites for Synergistic Ferroptosis/Cuproptosis-Enhanced Immune Checkpoint Therapy

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) generates sustained responses in immunogenic cancers, but its effectiveness is limited in tumors lacking immune activity. Here, we construct a bioinspired bimetallic ions functionalized nanoscale metal-organic framework (NMOF) single-atom nanozyme (SAzyme) loaded with doxorubicin (Dox) (NMOF-Fe/Cu-Dox nanocomposite) to effectively trigger anti-tumor immune responses while addressing the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). The NMOF-Fe/Cu-Dox nanocomposite has been demonstrated to efficiently reverse the TME by generating reactive oxygen species and oxidizing glutathione. Camouflaging NMOF-Fe/Cu-Dox nanocomposites with bioinspired cancer cell membrane (NMOF-Fe/Cu-Dox@M) enables its navigation to the tumor region through homologous targeting. The highly efficient uptaken by cancer cells selectively induced synergistic ferroptosis and cuproptosis in these cells. Furthermore, in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrate that the ferroptosis in cancer cells can polarize tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) towards anti-tumoral M1 phenotype and significantly diminish pro-tumoral M2 phenotype. We find that NMOF-Fe/Cu-Dox@M could induce the ferroptosis of M2 macrophages, while no effect to M1 macrophages. In addition, a significant increase of anti-tumor infiltrating CD8+ T cells, while a remarkable decrease of CD4+ regulatory T cells were observed. These findings suggested that NMOF-Fe/Cu-Dox@M could efficiently modulate TME, enhance tumoricidal immunity and elevate the therapeutic efficiency of ICB. Moreover, the combination of NMOF-Fe/Cu-Dox@M with PD-1 effectively eradicated hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vivo, outperforming the use of either NMOF-Fe/Cu-Dox@M or PD-1 alone. In summary, our study presents a therapeutic strategy that leverages coordinated ferroptosis and cuproptosis with therapeutic efficiency of ICB, underscoring the promise of combined chemoimmunotherapy.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2023

AVM: a manually curated database of aerosol-transmitted virus mutations, human diseases, and drugs

Aerosol-transmitted viruses, with aerosol particles floating in the air to long distances, have the characteristics of strong infectivity and wide spread that is difficult to control. They cause various human diseases, posing a huge threat to human health. Some mutations can increase the transmissibility and virulence of the strain, which can reduce the protection of vaccines and weaken efficacy of antiviral drugs. Here, we established a manually curated database, AVM, to store this information. The current version of the AVM contains a total of 42,041 virus mutations, including 2613 immune escape mutations, 45 clinical information datasets, and 407 drugs, antibodies, or vaccines. In addition, we recorded 88 human diseases associated with viruses, and we found that the same virus can attack multiple target organs in the body and lead to diversified diseases. Further, the AVM database offers a straightforward user interface to expediently browse, retrieve, and download details. The AVM database is a comprehensive resource that provides timely and valuable assistance regarding the transmission, treatment, and related diseases of aerosol-transmitted viruses (http://bio-bigdata.hrbmu.edu.cn/AVM or http://www.bio-bigdata.center/AVM).

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2022

The role and mechanism of NRF2 in endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells of pulmonary artery

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a kind of fatal disease. There are no existing drugs that could reverse the diseas. NF-E2-related factor 2 (NRF2) is one of the most important moleculars in the range of cell protection. We examined the expression of NRF2 in PH models and explored the role of NRF2 in regulating abnormal phenotypes in pulmonary artery cells. We determined the expression level of NRF2 in lung tissues of PH model decreased significantly. We found that NRF2 was reduced in rat pulmonary artery endothelial cells (rPAEC) under hypoxia, while it was overexpressed in rat pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (rPASMC) under hypoxia. Next, the results showed that knockdown NRF2 in rPAEC promoted endothelial-mesenchymal transformation and upregulated reactive oxygen species level. After the rPASMC was treated with siRNA or activator, we found that NRF2 could promote cell proliferation by regulating PDGFR/ERK1/2 and mTOR/P70S6K pathways, and accelerate cell migration by affecting MMP2/3/7. Therefore, the study suggests that the combination of NRF2 activators should be considered to eliminate the promoting effect of NRF2 activators on proliferation and migration of rPASMC. Summary statementHypoxia regulates NRF2 in PAECs and PASMCs differently. We found that NRF2 could promote cell proliferation by regulating PDGFR/ERK1/2 and mTOR/P70S6K pathways, and accelerate cell migration by affecting MMP2/3/7.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2021

RNA2Immune: A Manually Curated Database of Experimentally Supported Data Linking Noncoding RNA Regulation to the Immune System

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), such as microRNAs (miRNAs), long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), circular RNAs (circRNAs), have emerged as important regulators of the immune system and are involved in the control of immune cell biology, disease pathogenesis as well as vaccine responses. A repository of ncRNA-immune associations will facilitate our understanding of ncRNA-dependent mechanisms in the immune system and advance the development of therapeutics for immune disorders as well as vaccines. Here, we describe a comprehensive database, RNA2Immune, which aims to provide a high-quality resource of experimentally supported database linking ncRNA regulatory mechanisms to immune cell function, immune disease, cancer immunology, and vaccines. The current version of RNA2Immune documents 50,433 immune-ncRNA associations in 42 host species, including: (i) 6690 ncRNA associations with immune functions involving 31 immune cell types; (ii) 38,672 ncRNA associations with 348 immune diseases; (iii) 4833 ncRNA associations with cancer immunology; and (iv) 238 ncRNA associations with vaccine responses involving 26 vaccine types targeting 22 diseases. RNA2Immune provides a user-friendly interface for browsing, searching and downloading ncRNA-immune system associations. Collectively, RNA2Immune provides important information about how ncRNAs influence immune cell function, the pathological consequences of dysregulation of these ncRNAs (immune diseases and cancers), and how ncRNAs affect immune responses to vaccines. RNA2Immune is available at http://bio-bigdata.hrbmu.edu.cn/rna2immune/home.jsp.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2021

RIF1-ASF1-mediated high-order chromatin structure safeguards genome integrity

The 53BP1-RIF1 pathway antagonizes resection of DNA broken ends and confers PARP inhibitor sensitivity on BRCA1-mutated tumors. However, it is unclear how this pathway suppresses initiation of resection. Here, we identify ASF1 as a partner of RIF1 via an interacting manner similar to its interactions with histone chaperones CAF-1 and HIRA. ASF1 is recruited to distal chromatin flanking DNA breaks by 53BP1-RIF1 and promotes non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) using its histone chaperone activity. Epistasis analysis shows that ASF1 acts in the same NHEJ pathway as RIF1, but via a parallel pathway with the shieldin complex, which suppresses resection after initiation. Moreover, defects in end resection and homologous recombination (HR) in BRCA1- deficient cells are largely suppressed by ASF1 deficiency. Mechanistically, ASF1 compacts adjacent chromatin by heterochromatinization to protect broken DNA ends from BRCA1-mediated resection. Taken together, our findings identified a RIF1-ASF1 histone chaperone complex that promotes changes in high-order chromatin structure to stimulate the NHEJ pathway for DSB repair.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2018

p62-mediated Selective Autophagy Endows Virus-transformed Cells with Insusceptibility to DNA Damage under Oxidative Stress

DNA damage response (DDR) and selective autophagy both can be activated by reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS), and both are of paramount importance in cancer development. The selective autophagy receptor and ubiquitin (Ub) sensor p62 plays a key role in their crosstalk. ROS production has been well documented in latent infection of oncogenic viruses including Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV). However, p62-mediated selective autophagy and its interplay with DDR have not been investigated in these settings. In this study, we provide evidence that considerable levels of p62-mediated selective autophagy are constitutively induced, and correlates with ROS-Keap1-NRF2 pathway activity, in virus-transformed cells. Inhibition of autophagy results in p62 accumulation in the nucleus, and promotes ROS-induced DNA damage and cell death, as well as downregulates the DNA repair proteins CHK1 and RAD51. In contrast, MG132-mediated proteasome inhibition, which induces rigorous autophagy, promotes p62 degradation but accumulation of the DNA repair proteins CHK1 and RAD51. However, pretreatment with an autophagy inhibitor offsets the effects of MG132 on CHK1 and RAD51 levels. These findings imply that p62 accumulation in the nucleus in response to autophagy inhibition promotes proteasome-mediated CHK1 and RAD51 protein instability. This claim is further supported by the findings that transient expression of a p62 mutant, which is constitutively localized in the nucleus, in B cell lines with low endogenous p62 levels recaptures the effects of autophagy inhibition on CHK1 and RAD51 protein stability. These results indicate that proteasomal degradation of RAD51 and CHK1 is dependent on p62 accumulation in the nucleus. However, small hairpin RNA (shRNA)-mediated p62 depletion in EBV-transformed lymphoblastic cell lines (LCLs) had no apparent effects on the protein levels of CHK1 and RAD51, likely due to the constitutive localization of p62 in the cytoplasm and incomplete knockdown is insufficient to manifest the effects on its nuclear function. Furthermore, shRNA-mediated p62 depletion in EBV-transformed LCLs results in significant increases of endogenous RNF168-{gamma}H2AX damage foci and chromatin ubiquitination, indicative of activation of RNF168-mediated DNA repair mechanisms. Our results have unveiled a pivotal role for p62-mediated selective autophagy that governs DDR in the setting of oncogenic virus latent infection, and provide a novel insight into virus-mediated oncogenesis. Author SummaryReactive oxygen/nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) can induce both DNA damage response (DDR) and selective autophagy, which play crucial roles in cancer development. The selective autophagy receptor and ubiquitin (Ub) sensor p62 links their crosstalk. However, p62-mediated selective autophagy and its interplay with DDR have not been investigated in latent infection of oncogenic viruses including Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV). In this study, we provide evidence that p62-mediated selective autophagy is constitutively induced in virus-transformed cells, and that its inhibition exacerbates ROS-induced DNA damage, and promotes proteasomal degradation of CHK1 and RAD51 in a manner depending on p62 accumulation in the nucleus. However, rigorous autophagy induction results in accumulation of DNA repair proteins CHK1 and RAD51, and p62 degradation. Further, transient expression of a constitutive nucleus-localizing mutant of p62 recaptured the effects of autophagy inhibition on CHK1 and RAD51 protein stability. These findings support the claim that p62 accumulation in the nucleus in response to autophagy inhibition promotes proteasome-mediated CHK1 and RAD51 protein instability. However, small hairpin RNA (shRNA)-mediated p62 depletion did not affect CHK1 and RAD51 protein levels; rather, shRNA-mediated p62 depletion activates RNF168-dependent DNA repair mechanisms. Our results have unveiled a pivotal role for p62-mediated selective autophagy in regulation of DDR by overriding traditional DDR mechanisms in the setting of oncogenic virus latent infection, and provide a novel insight into the etiology of viral cancers.

cancer biology↗