Biology subjects

Sui, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Sui, C..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2022

Respiratory mucosal vaccination of peptide-poloxamine-DNA nanoparticles provides complete protection against lethal SARS-CoV-2 challenge

The ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic represents a brutal reminder of the continual threat of mucosal infectious diseases. Mucosal immunity may provide robust protection at the predominant sites of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, it remains unclear whether respiratory mucosal administration of DNA vaccines could confer protective immune responses against SARS-CoV-2 challenge due to the insurmountable barriers posed by the airway. Here, we applied self-assembled peptide-poloxamine nanoparticles with mucus-penetrating properties for pulmonary inoculation of a COVID-19 DNA vaccine (pSpike/PP-sNp). Not only displays the pSpike/PP-sNp superior gene-transfection and favorable biocompatibility in the mouse airway, but pSpike/PP-sNp promotes a tripartite immunity consisting of systemic, cellular and mucosal immune responses that are characterized by mucosal IgA secretion, high levels of neutralizing antibodies, and resident memory phenotype T-cell responses in the lungs of mice. Most importantly, pSpike/PP-sNp completely eliminates SARS-CoV-2 infection in both upper and lower respiratory tracts and enables 100% survival rate of mice following lethal SARS-CoV-2 challenge. Our findings indicate PP-sNp might be a promising platform in mediating DNA vaccines to elicit all-around mucosal immunity against SARS-CoV-2.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2022

The Chromosome-level Genome of Dracaena cochinchinesis Provides Insights into its Biological Features and the Mechanism of Dragon's Blood Formation

Dracaena, a remarkably long-lived and slowly maturing species, is famous all over the world for the production of dragons blood, a precious traditional medicine used by different cultures since ancient times. However, lacking a high-quality genome,the molecular mechanisms underlying these traits are largely unknown and that greatly restricts the protection and regeneration of the rare and endangered plant resources. Here, we sequenced and assembled a chromosome-level genome of the Dracaena cochinchinensis, the first to be sequenced of Dracaena Vand. ex L. The D. cochinchinensis genome covering 1.21 Gb with a scaffold N50 of 50.06 Mb, and encodes 31,619 predicted protein-coding genes. We found D. cochinchinensis has undergone two whole genome duplications (WGDs) and two long terminal repeats (LTRs) insertion burst events. The expansion of cis-zeatin O-glucosyltransferase (cZOGT) and small auxin up-regulated RNA (SAUR) genes is account for its longevity and slow growth. In flavonoids biosynthesis pathway, transcription factors bHLH and MYB were predicted as the core regulators, and ROS as the specific signal molecule during the process of injury-induced dragons blood formation. Our study not only provides high-quality genomic knowledge of D. cochinchinensis, but also deciphered the mystery of its longevity, and preliminarily elucidated the molecular mechanism of dragons blood formation, which will facilitate the resource protection and sustainable utilization of Dracaena. SHORT SUMMARYThis study reports a chromosome-level genome assembly for D. cochinchinensis, the first genome of Dracaena Vand. ex L. It 29 provides valuable genetic resources and creates a large scope for studying Dracaena. We found the significant expansion of genes associated with its longevity and slow growth, and genes in flavonoids biosynthesis were first completely identified. Moreover, transcription factors bHLH and MYB as the core regulator of flavonoids biosynthesis, and ROS as the specific signal molecule during the process of injury-induced dragons blood formation were also identified. These results not only deciphered the mystery of its longevity, but also elucidated the molecular mechanism of dragon[s blood formation preliminarily, which will facilitate the resource protection and sustainable utilization of Dracaena.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2021

Comprehensive Analysis of Spatial Architecture in Primary Liver Cancer

Heterogeneity is the major challenge for cancer prevention and therapy. Here, we firstly constructed high-resolution spatial transcriptomes of primary liver cancers (PLCs) containing 84,823 spots within 21 tissues from 7 patients. The sequential comparison of spatial tumor microenvironment (TME) characteristics from non-tumor to leading-edge to tumor regions revealed that the tumor capsule potentially affects intratumor spatial cluster continuity, transcriptome diversity and immune cell infiltration. Locally, we found that the bidirectional ligand-receptor interactions at the 100 m wide cluster-cluster boundary contribute to maintaining intratumor architecture. Our study provides novel insights for diverse tumor ecosystem of PLCs and has potential benefits for cancer intervention.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2018

5-Hydroxymethylcytosines from Circulating Cell-free DNA as Diagnostic and Prognostic Markers for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The lack of highly sensitive and specific diagnostic biomarkers is a major contributor to the poor outcomes of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the second-most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide. We sought to develop a clinically convenient and minimally-invasive approach that can be deployed at scale for the sensitive, specific, and highly reliable diagnosis of HCC, and to evaluate the potential prognostic value of this approach. The study cohort comprised of 2,728 subjects, including HCC patients (n = 1,208), controls (n = 965) (572 healthy individuals and 393 patients with benign lesions), as well as patients with chronic hepatitis B infection (CHB) (n =291), liver cirrhosis (LC) (n = 110), and cholangiocarcinoma (CCC) (n = 154), was recruited from three major liver cancer hospitals in Shanghai, China, from July 2016 to November 2017. Circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) were collected from plasma samples from these individuals before surgery or any radical treatment. Applying our 5hmC-Seal technique, the summarized 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) profiles in cfDNA were obtained. Molecular annotation analysis suggested that the profiled 5hmC loci in cfDNA were enriched with liver tissue-derived regulatory markers (e.g., H3K4me1). We showed that a weighted diagnostic score (wd-score) based on 117 genes detected using the summarized 5hmC profiles in cfDNA accurately distinguished HCC patients from controls (AUC = 95.1%; 95% CI, 93.6-96.5%) in the validation set, markedly outperformed -fetoprotein (AFP) with superior sensitivity. The wd-scores, which not only detected early BCLC stages (e.g., Stage 0: AUC = 96.2%; 95% CI,94.1-98.4%) and small tumors (e.g., < 2 cm: AUC = 95.7%; 95% CI: 93.6-97.7%), also showed high capacity for distinguishing HCC from non-cancer patients with CHB/LC (AUC = 80.2%; 95% CI, 75.8-84.6%). Moreover, the prognostic value of 5hmC markers in cfDNA was evaluated for HCC recurrence, showing that a weighted prognostic score (wp-score) based on 16 marker genes predicted the recurrence risk (HR = 6.67; 95% CI, 2.81-15.82, p < 0.0001) in 555 patients who have been followed up after surgery. In conclusion, we have developed and validated a robust 5hmC-based diagnostic model that can be applied routinely with clinically feasible amount of cfDNA (e.g., from ~2-5 mL of plasma). Applying this new approach in the clinic could significantly improve the clinical outcomes of HCC patients, for example by early detection of those patients with surgically resectable tumors or as a convenient disease surveillance tool for recurrence.

cancer biology↗