Biology subjects

Cheng, P.-C.

Publications and source records attributed to Cheng, P.-C..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

High-resolution retrospective single cell lineage tracing with mutable homopolymers

Retrospective reconstruction of cell lineages from somatic mutations holds substantial promise for understanding development, tissue homeostasis, and disease. Yet, current approaches are often constrained by low marker density, technical noise, and incomplete molecular readouts that limit the resolution and accuracy of inferred lineages. Here, we present RETrace2, a single-cell dual-omic method for simultaneous lineage tracing and cell-type identification. By identifying and targeting highly mutable homopolymers, which we show are approximately twice as informative as conventional microsatellite repeats, combined with technical improvements to increase marker coverage and reduce experimental errors of reading and amplifying homopolymers, RETrace2 can trace lineage continuously at an estimated resolution of fewer than five cell divisions in microsatellite-unstable organisms. Simultaneously, sparse methylation profiles were obtained from the same cells for cell-type identification. We validated the method using in vitro ground-truth models and demonstrated its utility in vivo by reconstructing multi-organ lineage trees from the brain, kidney and liver of Msh2-deficient mice.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2020

PDH Mediated Mitochondrial Respiration Controls the Speed of Muscle Stem Cell Activation in Muscle Repair and Aging

Decline in the skeletal muscle stem cell (MuSC) function is a major contributor to age-associated impairments in muscle regeneration and function. The ability of MuSCs to activate (i.e. exit quiescence, enter the cell cycle, and divide) following injury is a critical step that initiates muscle regeneration. However, the mechanisms that regulate MuSC activation function are poorly understood. Here, we show that the activation function, specifically the speed by which cells progress through G0-G1, declines tremendously with age in mouse MuSCs. Using a number of in vivo models and ex vivo assays of MuSC activation and muscle regenerative functions, live cell metabolic flux analyses, and metabolomics we present data indicating that changes in MuSC mitochondrial flux underlie age-associated changes in MuSC activation. We show that, in the course of MuSC activation, there is a profound,16-fold, increase in ATP production rates, which is fueled largely by increases in pyruvate flux into mitochondria. We found that MuSCs from aged mice display progressive defects in the ability to increase mitochondrial flux during activation and that this correlates with higher levels of phosphorylated, inactivated, pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH). Importantly, we demonstrate that pharmacologic and physiologic methods to induce dephosphorylation and activation of PDH in MuSCs are sufficient to rescue the activation and muscle regenerative functions of MuSCs in aged mice. Collectively the data presented show that MuSC mitochondrial function is a central regulator of MuSC activation and muscle regenerative functions. Moreover, our results suggest that approaches to increase MuSC pyruvate oxidation may have therapeutic potential to promote muscle repair and regeneration.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Novel Methodology to Detect Physical Interaction of Inositol Phospholipid with Potassium Ion Channel Using Luminescence Resonance Energy Transfer

Membrane proteins like ion channels are located within a lipid environment. While the bulk lipids provide a supporting architecture for proteins, some lipids also play important signaling roles in modulating protein activity. This modulation can occur through direct interaction with proteins without involving second messenger pathways. Phosphoinositides are one such lipids, which have been implicated in interactions with a diverse range of proteins and such interactions mediate a variety of cellular functions. Towards understanding how these lipids play their roles in regulating protein functions It is necessary to detect interactions between proteins and lipids and to identify binding sites on proteins. However, detection of protein-lipid interactions has been difficult especially in their native environment because only a fraction of lipids are bound to proteins while the bulk is freely diffusing. The purpose of this study is to develop an experimental method capable of identifying protein-lipid interactions in membrane environments. The strategy involves luminescence energy transfer to locally illuminate lipids around proteins thereby suppressing the large background of light from unbound lipid molecules. The approach is applied to an inward rectifier potassium ion channel for its interactions with phosphoinositide lipids. Experiments show that it can successfully detect phosphoinositides bound to proteins, and when combined with mutagenic approaches, can further identify binding site. The approach thus provides a valuable methodology for probing protein-lipid interactions in a native-like lipid environment.

biochemistry↗