Biology subjects

Usman, S.

Publications and source records attributed to Usman, S..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Dysregulation of anti-Ro60 B cell autoreactivity in systemic lupus erythematosus

To understand the dysregulation of autoreactive B cells in SLE, we tracked Ro60-specific cells in seropositive (SP) and seronegative (SN) patients and healthy donors (HD), using flow cytometry and monoclonal antibodies. Consistent with permissive central tolerance, Ro60+ naive B cells were present in all groups with increased anergy in HD. HD and SN SLE also had greatly decreased or absent Ro60+ memory and ASC, which were greatly increased in active SP SLE, thereby indicating defective distal tolerance in the latter group. Notably, Ro60 autoreactivity was strictly purged from naive-derived extra-follicular B cells in HD and SN SLE, but expanded in SP SLE, suggesting the importance of autoreactivity censoring in this pathway. SLE clustering of the distribution of Ro60+ B cells identified disease heterogeneity in tolerance enforcement in SLE. Finally, we demonstrate a much higher degree of polyreactivity against other lupus antigens in SLE Ro60+ naive cells, which is greatly attenuated in memory cells. Our work represents the first systematic study of antigen-specific autoreactive B cells and ASC in SLE. It enhances our understanding of human B cell tolerance and defines new approaches to measuring autoimmune activity in the course of SLE, including the assessment of immune resetting after B cell depletion therapies.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2025

Mapping Four Decades of Microbial Waste Valorization Research in Africa through a Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis

The annual Africa waste production has been predicted to triple by 2050. Due to lack of proper waste disposal plans and services in many African countries, wastes are indiscriminately dumped leading to environmental and human health issues. Microorganisms with their complex biochemical functionaries play a significant role in waste valorization. Research in the application of microorganisms in waste conversion has been ongoing globally. However, there i no information on the extent of research on this subject with regards to Africa using bibliometric and systematic review approaches. This study was aimed at understanding the extent of research in microbially-driven waste valorization in Africa to identify research gaps and future perspectives. Bibliographic and systematic literature review (SLR) methodology guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) were used for this study. Bibliographic data (752) was extracted from Scopus database. Thereafter, 264 data were excluded and the remaining 488 data were analysed using Biblioshiny, Vosviewer and Excel analytical tools. Nigeria with 369 published articles ranked above other countries from 1984-2024. However, using the number of citations and single country publication (SCP) South Africa dominated with 3233 and 75% SCP. Themes like wastewater treatment, composting, recycling, and microorganisms evolved to biodegradation, biomass, microbial community, anaerobic digestion etc. The findings suggest that emerging themes are still revolving around biomass and anaerobic digestion, as more research is still on wastewater treatment and management, recycling and fermentations in waste valorization. This knowledge contributes to future research designing and gap identification in the area of waste valorization in Africa. Graphical abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=141 SRC="FIGDIR/small/683771v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (36K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@11c6478org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1081f92org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@50e74borg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@18108c8_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2025

Systematic Review of Over A Century of Global Bioscience Research

Bioscience encompasses studies on living organisms, their components, and their interactions, with the main aim of translating research into useful applications for medical, clinical, industrial, and environmental uses. The broad field of bioscience has witnessed tremendous growth in research output. This study was designed to evaluate the current trends in bioscience research using bibliometric approaches and develop future policy pointers following the innovative systems framework. Research articles focusing on bioscience published between 1883 and 2024 were sourced from the Scopus database. From the retrieved dataset, relevant articles were systematically screened and included for the analysis. Bibliometrix package, VOSviewer, and Microsoft Excel were used to analyze and visualize the parameters. 8,678 documents involving 30,380 authors from diverse institutions across the globe were published in 3,549 sources, with an annual rise of 4.41%. Exponential growth in bioscience research output was observed after 2007 and remained steady till 2024. The United States and China were leading nations for bioscience research. The most relevant affiliation was the University of California, United States, while the most relevant source was the Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research, in terms of the number of publications. Among the authors, Wang Y had the highest number of documents, while the most impactful author was Zhang J. The most frequent keywords in bioscience research included biological research, genetics, procedures, metabolism, biology, DNA, gene expression, proteins, genomics, and fluorescence. Furthermore, themes such as bioinformatics, microRNA, synthetic biology, CRISPR/Cas9, deep learning, multi-omics, and big data represented the recent research interests. The bioscience research landscape is defined by the dominance of high-income countries and a shift toward omics-driven and data-intensive approaches. Yet global participation remains uneven, with limited representation from low- and middle-income regions. This study highlights the need for inclusive, globally coordinated strategies that foster equitable access, capacity building, and cross-regional collaboration.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2025

Plasmodium falciparum Research in Africa from 2000 to 2024: A Systematic Review and Bibliometric Visualisation

Plasmodium falciparum is the major cause of malaria in Africa, responsible for high morbidity and mortality across the continent. This study presents a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis of P. falciparum research conducted in Africa between 2000 and 2024 as shown in Figure 1. Using the PRISMA framework, 10,903 peer-reviewed articles were retrieved from the Scopus database. Bibliometric analysis was performed using Bibliometrix in R and VOSviewer to assess publication trends, authorship networks, keyword evolution, and thematic concentration. Results reveal contributions from 18,345 authors across 4,903 journals, with an average of 31.83 citations per article. Research output has grown steadily over the two-decade period, with significant input from African scholars and international collaborators. The most active research themes include epidemiology, antimalarial drug resistance, vaccine development, vector biology, and socio-economic factors in malaria control. Despite this progress, the review highlights persistent gaps in genomic surveillance, localised insecticide resistance monitoring, and integration of social determinants into malaria intervention strategies. Regional disparities in research output remain, with some high-burden areas underrepresented. Collaboration among African institutions is limited compared to international partnerships. These observations indicate the urgent need for targeted funding, strengthened intra-African collaboration, and policies that contextualise malaria research within local health systems. Addressing these gaps is essential for speeding the continents malaria elimination agenda. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=95 SRC="FIGDIR/small/681826v1_fig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (26K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1554b4aorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@c21204org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@12cc70corg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@c016ab_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG O_FLOATNOFigure 1:C_FLOATNO Flow chart of Methodology using PRISMA method. C_FIG O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=123 SRC="FIGDIR/small/681826v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (52K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@11056c9org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1b1cfb3org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@baf4b7org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@18304b_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG Graphical representation and summary of trends in Plasmodium falciparum in Africa. C_FIG

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2025

Metabolic Trajectories During Surgical Stress in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery

Stress hyperglycemia (SH) during acute illness is linked to adverse surgical outcomes, yet the accompanying metabolic perturbations are incompletely characterized. We profiled longitudinal metabolic changes in adults without diabetes undergoing cardiac surgery to identify pathways associated with perioperative SH (defined as point-of-care glucose [≥]140 mg/dL on [≥]3 readings or [≥]180 mg/dL once). Blood was collected at baseline before surgery (T0) and at 2 h (T1), 24-48 h (T2), and 72-96 h (T3) after surgical initiation. High-resolution metabolomics (LC-MS) was integrated with continuous glucose monitoring and inflammatory/cardiac biomarkers. At T0, several pathways were associated with subsequent SH, including bile acid metabolism, the carnitine shuttle, and fatty-acid oxidation, suggesting preoperative metabolic susceptibility. In longitudinal analyses, participants who developed SH showed coordinated postoperative changes with significant enrichment of pathways not evident at baseline, C21-steroid hormone biosynthesis, glycerophospholipid metabolism, and glycosphingolipid (ceramide) metabolism, consistent with lipid remodeling and inflammatory signaling during surgical stress. Individuals with SH also exhibited higher inflammatory biomarker levels (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor). A machine-learning model using early metabolomic features predicted SH with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.86. These findings highlight distinct preoperative and perioperative metabolic trajectories associated with SH and implicate established dysglycemia-related pathways, as well as stress-induced pathways in perioperative metabolic dysregulation. Pathway enrichment analyses were exploratory and hypothesis-generating; validation in larger cohorts and assessment of implications for clinical outcomes are warranted.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2024

A single cysteine residue in vimentin regulates long non-coding RNA XIST to suppress epithelial-mesenchymal transition and stemness in breast cancer

Vimentin is a type III intermediate filament (IF) protein, that is induced in a large number of solid tumours. A single cysteine at position 328 in vimentin plays a crucial role in assembly, organisation and stability of IFs. However, its exact function during epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cancer progression has not been investigated. To investigate this, we have transduced wildtype (WT) and C328S vimentin separately in MCF-7 cells that lack endogenous vimentin. The expression of C328-VIM impacted vimentin-actin interactions and induced EMT-like features that include enhanced cell proliferation, migration, invasion accompanied by reduced cell adhesion when compared to the wildtype cells. Functional transcriptomic studies confirmed the upregulation of EMT and mesenchymal markers, downregulation of epithelial markers as well as acquisition of signatures associated with cancer stemness (CD56, Oct4, PROCR and CD49f) thus transforming MCF-7 cells from oestrogen positive to triple reduced (ESR1, PGR, and HER2) status. We also observed a stark increase in the expression of long non-coding RNA, XIST in MCF-7 cells expressing C328-VIM. Targeting the mutant vimentin or XIST by RNA interference partially reversed the phenotypes in C328-VIM expressing MCF-7 cells. Furthermore, introduction of C328-VIM cells into nude mice promoted tumour growth by increasing cancer stemness in an oestrogen independent manner. Altogether, our studies provide insight into how cysteine 328 in vimentin dictates mechano-transduction signals to remodel actin cytoskeleton and protect against EMT and cancer growth via modulating lncRNA XIST. Therefore, targeting vimentin and/or XIST via RNA interference should be a promising therapeutic strategy for breast cancer treatment. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=116 SRC="FIGDIR/small/623301v2_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (24K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1381c7forg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@d70cd7org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@8c104dorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1826c08_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

cancer biology↗