Biology subjects

Ding, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Ding, C..

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Field Survey of Anopheles Mosquito and Their Culturable Gut Bacteria in the Border Regions of Yunnan Province, China

Despite the elimination of domestic malaria transmission within China, the border areas of Yunnan Province continue to face a heightened risk of imported cases due to the presence of diverse Anopheles mosquito species and the widespread burden of malaria in neighboring countries. While the mosquito gut microbiota offers a promising avenue for developing anti-malaria strategies, a meticulous investigation of the various Anopheles species and their associated gut microbiota in Yunnans border areas has yet to be undertaken. To address this gap, field surveys were conducted over the years 2020, 2021, and 2023. These surveys resulted in the collection of a substantial sample comprising 4,221 adult female mosquitoes spanning sixteen species with Anopheles sinensis identified as the predominant species. Furthermore, 741 cultivable strains of gut symbiotic bacteria were isolated and classified into four phyla comprising 109 genera with the composition of dominant bacteria varying annually. This study provides valuable insights into the population dynamics of malaria vectors in the border regions of Yunnan province, China, along with the intestinal bacteria they harbor including several bacterial species which exhibit promising anti-plasmodium effects. By leveraging the antagonistic effects of symbiotic bacteria against Plasmodium, our findings contribute to an ongoing global endeavor to develop innovative Anopheles management and malaria prevention strategies.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2025

Reactive Oxygen Species Counteract Wound Contraction and Promote Wound Healing

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are second messengers that drive wound closure. However, the mechanism by which ROS regulate wound contraction to facilitate wound healing remains unclear. Here, we report that ROS counteract wound contraction by inhibiting the phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chain. Acute ROS inhibition, through pharmacological perturbations, disturbs wound relaxation, delays wound closure, and impairs regrowth following amputation. Moreover, actomyosin inhibition relaxes tailfin contraction without impairing wound closure or regrowth. Over-contraction, on the other hand, impedes wound closure. Meanwhile, chronic depletion of epithelial ROS during embryonic development, achieved through morpholino-mediated knockdown of the duox gene, alters tissue stiffness, as measured using atomic force microscopy-based nanoindentation. Despite a reduced contraction force, the wound also appears to be over-contracted, with delayed healing and regrowth. An in silico linear elasticity simulation to calculate the second principal stress based on node-wise prescribed displacement recapitulated the contraction dynamics during acute and chronic ROS inhibition. Together, our results provide a novel understanding of how reactive oxygen species (ROS) facilitate wound closure, a process instrumental in restoring tissue integrity and maintaining homeostasis.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Inwardly rectifying potassium channels regulate membrane potential polarization and direction sensing during neutrophil chemotaxis

Potassium channels regulate membrane potential and diverse physiological processes, including cell migration. However, the specific function of the inwardly rectifying potassium channels in immune cell chemotaxis is unknown. Here, we identified that the inwardly rectifying potassium channel Kir7.1 (KCNJ13) maintains the resting membrane potential and is required for directional sensing during neutrophil chemotaxis. Pharmacological or genetic inhibition of Kir7.1 in neutrophils impaired direction sensing toward various chemoattractants without affecting cell polarization in multiple neutrophil models. Using genetically encoded voltage indicators, we observed oscillating depolarization of the membrane potential in protrusions in zebrafish neutrophils, and Kir7.1 is required for polarized depolarization towards the chemokine source. Focal depolarization with optogenetic tools biases pseudopod selection and induces de novo protrusions. Global hyperpolarizing neutrophils stalled cell migration. Furthermore, Kir7.1 regulates GPCR signaling activation. This work adds membrane potential to the intricate feedforward mechanism, coupling the adaptive and excitable network required to steer immune cells in complex tissue environments.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2025

Spatio-temporal distribution patterns and ecological correlates of new mammal records in China

AbstractSpecies geographic distributions are central to research in biogeography, macroecology, and conservation biology. However, incomplete or inaccurate knowledge about their spatiotemporal ranges--known as the Wallacean shortfall--hampers our understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes. In this study, we systematically reviewed 192 papers that reported new distribution records of Chinas mammals from 2001 to 2023, covering 150 species in 26 families across 7 orders. We examined the taxonomic, spatiotemporal, and biogeographic characteristics of these newly recorded species. We used Bayesian Phylogenetic Generalized Linear Mixed Models (BPGLMM) to assess how intrinsic traits and extrinsic factors influenced the likelihood of discoveries and partial Poisson regressions to evaluate how species-level attributes, environmental and socio-economic factors shaped the number of new occurrence records across provinces. Our results showed that Chiroptera (n=69), Eulipotyphla (n=26) and Rodentia (n=23) had the highest number of new records. Among provinces, Yunnan (n=31), Guangdong (n=22), and Xizang (n=18) yielded the most newly recorded species. The amount of annual discoveries varied and peaked between 2017 and 2021. The Western Mountain and Plateau (n=39) and the East Hilly Plain (n=33) zoogeographic subregions had the greatest number of newly recorded species, including two new records extending into historically unrecognized zoogeographic realms. Notably, 61 (40.7%) species were found to extend towards the north or northeast of their known ranges, and 32 (21.3%) eastward, mainly due to the sampling bias. Smaller-bodied species and those with broader habitat ranges are more likely to yield new records, and the total number of new records was positively correlated with regional species richness and current survey efforts (r > 0.5, p < 0.05). These findings expand the known distributions of Chinas mammals and provide essential data for mitigating the Wallacean shortfall. They underscore the urgent need for intensified surveys in biodiversity-rich, underexplored regions--especially targeting small-bodied, data-deficient taxa--and for timely updates and data-sharing to better inform conservation strategies.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2024

Identification and genomic characterization of a novel bisegmented coronavirus in the lesser panda

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are enveloped positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses and are renowned for their capacity to infect a diverse range of animals, including humans. In this study, we report the identification and characterization of a novel bisegmented coronavirus, designated LpCoV, from a dead lesser panda, which exhibited severe clinical manifestations and lesions in multiple organs. The LpCoV represents the first documented coronavirus with a unique bisegmented genome while maintaining the typical coronavirus morphology. One genomic segment encodes the ORF1ab polyprotein, while the other segment encodes the spike and nucleocapsid proteins, notably lacking the envelope (E) and membrane (M) genes. The pairwise patristic distances of the five concatenated domains in the replicase region (3CLpro, NiRAN, RdRP, ZBD, and HEL1) between LpCoV and -{delta} coronaviruses range from 1.19 to 1.70. Based on the classification criteria established by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), LpCoV is proposed to constitute a new genus within the Coronaviridae family. An epidemiological investigation identified five LpCoV-like viruses in lesser pandas from two different provinces (Sichuan and Jiangsu) indicating the long-term circulation and expansion of bisegmented coronaviruses in wildlife. These findings highlight the imperative for comprehensive viral surveillance in wildlife, which is essential for understanding and mitigating the risk of animal diseases and zoonotic spillover.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2024

De novo assembled databases enable species-specific protein-based stable isotope probing of microbiomes without prior knowledge of the community composition

BackgroundProtein-based stable isotope probing (Protein-SIP) is a powerful approach that can directly link individual taxa to activity and substrate assimilation, elucidating metabolic pathways and trophic relationships within microbial communities. In Protein-SIP, peptides and corresponding taxa are identified by database matching, making database quality crucial for accurate analyses. For samples with unknown community composition, Protein-SIP typically employs either unrestricted reference databases or metagenome-derived databases. While (meta)genome-derived databases represent the gold standard, they may be incomplete and are typically resource-intensive to generate. In contrast, unrestricted reference databases can inflate the search space and require complex post-processing. ResultsHere, we explore the feasibility of using de novo peptide sequencing to construct peptide databases directly from mass spectrometry raw data. We then use the mass spectrometric data from labeled cultures to quantify isotope incorporation into specific peptides. We benchmark our approach against the canonical approach in which a sample-matching (meta)genome-derived protein sequence database is used on three different datasets: 1) a proteome analysis from a defined microbial community containing 13C-labeled E. coli cells, 2) time-course data of an anammox-dominated continuous reactor after feeding with 13C-labeled bicarbonate, and 3) a model of the human distal gut simulating a high-protein and high-fiber diet cultivated in either 2H2O or H218O. Our results show that de novo peptide databases are applicable to different isotopes, detecting similar amounts of labeled peptides compared to sample-matching (meta)genome-derived databases, and also identify labeled peptides missed by this canonical approach. Furthermore, we show that peptide-centric Protein-SIP allows up to species-specific resolution and enables the assessment of activity related to individual biological processes. Finally, we provide access to our modular Python pipeline to assist the construction of de novo peptide databases and subsequent peptide-centric Protein-SIP data analysis (https://git.ufz.de/meb/denovo-sip). ConclusionsDe novo peptide databases enable Protein-SIP of microbial communities without prior knowledge of the composition and can be used complementarily to (meta)genome-derived databases or as a standalone alternative in exploratory or resource-limited settings.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2024

Positive impact of Type-A and -C response regulator genes on growth and panicle architecture in rice

Cytokinin signal transduction occurs through a "two-component system." Type-A and -C response regulators (RRs) are groups of proteins of similar structures constituting significant components of cytokinin signal transduction. In rice, 13 (Type-A) and two (Type-C) RRs have been identified to date; however, their functions remain partially known. In this study, we examined the expression patterns of Type-A and Type-C RRs in rice using RNA-Seq and confirmed their functions by constructing mutants of the 15 genes with CRISPR/Cas9. Almost all Type-A RRs played positive roles in the development of secondary branches and secondary spikelets, particularly RR2 and RR4. Notably, rr1 rr2 and rr8 rr12 rr13 higher-order mutants displayed small panicle sizes and decreased plant height. Additionally, both Type-C RRs played positive roles in regulating heading date. RNA-seq revealed several genes with significantly altered expression in the rr2 and rr4 mutants, with almost half of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) overlapping between the two mutants. Many of the DEGs were associated with the cytokinin and abscisic acid pathways. Our findings provide new insights into the functions of Type-A and -C RRs in rice growth and may serve as a foundation for future studies focusing on cytokinin signaling.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2024

Loss of SARM1 protects against retinal ganglion cell degeneration in Autosomal Dominant Optic Atrophy

Autosomal Dominant Optic Atrophy (ADOA), the most prevalent inherited optic neuropathy, leads to retinal ganglion cell (RGC) degeneration and vision loss. ADOA is primarily caused by mutations in the OPA1 gene, which encodes a conserved GTPase important for mitochondrial inner membrane dynamics. To date, the disease mechanism remains unclear, and no therapies are available. Here, we present a novel mouse model carrying the pathogenic Opa1R290Q/+ allele that recapitulates key features of human ADOA, including mitochondrial defects, age-related RGC loss, optic nerve degeneration, and reduced RGC functions. We identify SARM1, a neurodegeneration switch, as a key driver of RGC degeneration in these mice. Sarm1 knockout nearly completely suppresses all the degeneration phenotypes. Additionally, we show that SARM1 is located within the mitochondrial intermembrane space (IMS). These findings indicate that SARM1 is activated downstream of mitochondrial dysfunction in ADOA, highlighting it as a promising therapeutic target.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Identification and Diagnostic Potential of Pyroptosis-Related Genes in Endometriosis: A Novel Bioinformatics Analysis

ObjectiveThis study aimed to identify and analyze potential signatures of pyroptosis-related genes in EMs. MethodsTranscriptomic datasets related to endometriosis were retrieved from the GEO databases (GSE7305, GSE7307, and GSE11691). Differential gene expression analysis was performed to identify pyroptosis-related differentially expressed genes (PRDEGs) by intersecting DEGs with a curated list of PRGs. Various bioinformatics tools were employed to explore the biological functions and pathways associated with PRDEGs. ResultsWe identified 26 PRDEGs from combined datasets and constructed an EMs diagnostic model using LASSO regression based on pyroptosis scores. The model included 5 DEGs: KIF13B, BAG6, MYO5A, HEATR, and AK055981. Additionally, 21 Key Module Genes (KMGs) were identified, leading to the classification of 3 distinct EMs subtypes. These subtypes were analyzed for immune cell infiltration, revealing a complex immune landscape in EMs. ConclusionsThis study reveals pyroptosis crucial role in EMs and offers a novel diagnostic model based on pyroptosis-related genes. Modulating pyroptosis may provide a new therapeutic approach for managing EMs.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2024

Longevity or Well-being? A Dual-Dimension Structure of Neuroticism

The development of personality traits is often viewed as evolutionarily adaptive. Current neuroticism research, however, predominantly highlights its negative health impacts, neglecting its potential evolutionary advantages. We propose that neuroticisms inter-individual variability can be structured into two distinct geometric dimensions. One, named the Emotional Reactivity-Instability/Distress Spectrum (ERIS), correlates strongly with longevity and is associated with chronic diseases and risk-averse lifestyle. This dimension is underpinned by evolutionarily conserved subcortical brain regions and genes. The other, resembling the overall neuroticism score, is primarily linked to mental and stress-related disorders, as well as life satisfaction. It involves higher-order emotional brain regions and is genetically enriched in human-accelerated regions. Collectively, these dimensions represent a dual-strategy personality framework that optimizes survival and well-being, with the former being evolutionarily conservative and the latter potentially a unique human adaptation.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Mapping Individual Differences in the Topological Landscape of Naturalistic Brain Dynamics

Psychiatry seeks to unravel brain dysfunction and individual differences in real-world contexts. Naturalistic stimuli, like movie watching, are increasingly recognized for eliciting complex, context-dependent neural activity with high ecological validity. Yet, current methods often rely on standard paradigms that average data across time, limiting the full potential of such stimuli. Here, we present STIM, a Topological Data Analysis-based framework designed to dynamically track how individuals integrate complex contexts in real time. Applied to large-sample fMRI data from movie watching, STIM constructs a robust low-dimensional dynamical landscape that reflects group consensus while probing individual variations at both global (spanning narratives) and local (within specific narratives) levels. At the global level, individual differences emerge along a center-periphery gradient in the dynamical landscape, which significantly predicts fluid intelligence, underscoring the importance of neural adaptability and diversity. At finer scales, local geometric features correlate with context-specific psychological traits beyond cognition. STIM also captures developmental changes in the dynamical landscape and reveals abnormalities in conditions such as autism. These findings demonstrate that STIM leverages the rich information from movie stimuli and fMRI recordings as neural probes to assess individual differences in cognition and mental health.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Coronavirus Nucleocapsid Protein Enhances the binding of p-PKCα to RACK1: Implications for Inhibition of Nucleocytoplasmic Trafficking and Suppression of the Innate Immune Response

The hallmark of coronavirus infection lies in its ability to evade host immune defenses, a process intricately linked to the nuclear entry of transcription factors crucial for initiating the expression of antiviral genes. Central to this evasion strategy is the manipulation of the nucleocytoplasmic trafficking system, which serves as an effective target for the virus to modulate the expression of immune response-related genes. In this investigation, we discovered that infection with the infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) dynamically impedes the nuclear translocation of several transcription factors such as IRF3, STAT1, STAT2, NF-{kappa}B p65, and the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), leading to compromised transcriptional induction of key antiviral genes such as IFN{beta}, IFITM3, and IL-8. Further examination revealed that during the infection process, components of the nuclear pore complex (NPC), particularly FG-Nups (such as NUP62, NUP153, NUP42, and TPR), undergo cytosolic dispersion from the nuclear envelope; NUP62 undergoes phosphorylation, and NUP42 exhibits a mobility shift in size. These observations suggest a disruption in nucleocytoplasmic trafficking. Screening efforts identified the IBV nucleocapsid protein (N) as the agent responsible for the cytoplasmic distribution of FG-Nups, subsequently hindering the nuclear entry of transcription factors and suppressing the expression of antiviral genes. Interactome analysis further revealed that the IBV N protein interacts with the scaffold protein RACK1, facilitating the recruitment of activated protein kinase C alpha (p-PKC) to RACK1 and relocating the RACK1-PKC complex to the cytoplasm. These observations are conserved across pan-coronaviruses N proteins. Concurrently, the presence of both RACK1 and PKC/{beta} proved essential for the phosphorylation and cytoplasmic dispersion of NUP62, the suppression of antiviral cytokine expression, and efficient virus replication. These findings unveil a novel, highly effective, and evolutionarily conserved mechanism. Author summaryCoronaviruses employ diverse strategies to suppress the host innate immune defense. In this study, we uncovered a novel and highly effective strategy utilized by pan-coronaviruses to inhibit the innate immune response. Specifically, we found that the coronavirus N protein facilitates the binding of p-PKC to RACK1, leading to the phosphorylation of NUP62 and the cytoplasmic redistribution of multiple FG-Nups. This phenomenon is accompanied by the disruption of nuclear translocation of several innate immune response-related transcription factors and suppression of antiviral/pro-inflammatory genes expression. Our research represents the first elucidation of how the N protein targets and impairs NPC function through the promotion of RACK1-PKC interaction and NUP62 phosphorylation/disassembly. This discovery unveils a novel mechanism employed by pan-coronaviruses to counteract the host immune response.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2024

A novel sulfatase for acesulfame degradation in wastewater treatment plants as evidenced from Shinella strains

The artificial sweetener acesulfame is a persistent pollutant in wastewater worldwide. So far, only a few bacterial isolates were recently found to degrade acesulfame efficiently. In Bosea and Chelatococcus strains, a Mn2+-dependent metallo-{beta}-lactamase-type sulfatase and an amidase signature family enzyme catalyze acesulfame hydrolysis via acetoacetamide-N-sulfonate (ANSA) to acetoacetate. Here, we describe a new acesulfame sulfatase in Shinella strains isolated from German wastewater treatment plants. Their genomes do not encode the Mn2+-dependent sulfatase. Instead, a formylglycine-dependent sulfatase gene was found, together with the ANSA amidase gene on a plasmid shared by all known acesulfame-degrading Shinella strains. Heterologous expression, shotgun proteomics and size exclusion chromatography corroborated the physiological function of the Shinella enzyme as a Mn2+-independent acesulfame sulfatase. Since both the Bosea/Chelatococcus sulfatase and the novel Shinella sulfatase are absent in other bacterial genomes or metagenome assembled genomes, we surveyed 60 tera base pairs of wastewater-associated metagenome raw datasets. The Bosea/Chelatococcus sulfatase gene was regularly found from 2014 on, particularly in North America, Europe and East Asia, whereas the Shinella sulfatase gene was first detected in 2020. The complete Shinella pathway is only present in five datasets from China, Finland and Mexico, suggesting that it emerged quite recently in wastewater treatment facilities. SynopsisA novel sulfatase was identified that hydrolyzes the once recalcitrant xenobiotic acesulfame. Surveying metagenome datasets revealed the recent emergence of gene homologs encoding this sulfatase in wastewater treatment systems worldwide.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2024

Unraveling principles of thermodynamics for genome-scale metabolic networks using graph neural networks

The fundamental laws of thermodynamics determine the feasibility of all natural processes including metabolism. Although several algorithms have been developed to predict the most important thermodynamic parameter, the standard Gibbs free energy, for metabolic reactions and metabolites, their application to genome-scale metabolic networks (GEMs) with thousands of metabolites and reactions is still limited. Here, we develop a graph neural network (GNN)- based model dGbyG for predicting Gibbs energy for metabolites and metabolic reactions which outperforms all existing methods in accuracy, versatility, robustness, and generalization ability. By applying dGbyG to the human GEM, Recon3D, we identify a critical subset of reactions with substantial negative values of the standard Gibbs free energy change, which we name thermodynamic driver reactions. These reactions exhibit distinctive network topological characteristics akin to driver nodes defined in control theory and remarkable heterogeneity in enzyme abundance, implying evolutionary constraints on the selection of thermodynamic parameters of metabolic networks. We also develop a thermodynamics-based flux balance analysis (TFBA) approach to integrate reaction thermodynamics with GEMs to curate these models. Our work not only transcends the augmentation of accessible thermodynamic data to facilitate an enriched understanding of metabolism, but also enables refinement of metabolic reconstructions from a thermodynamic perspective, thereby underscoring the critical role of thermodynamics in the accurate modeling of biological systems.

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Adenosinergic modulation of layer 6 microcircuitry in the medial prefrontal cortex is specific to presynaptic cell type

Adenosinergic modulation in the PFC is recognised for its involvement in various behavioural aspects including sleep homoeostasis, decision-making, spatial working memory and anxiety. While the principal cells of layer 6 (L6) exhibit significant morphological diversity, the detailed cell-specific regulatory mechanisms of adenosine in L6 remain unexplored. Here, we quantitatively analysed the morphological and electrophysiological parameters of L6 neurons in the rat medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) using whole-cell recordings combined with morphological reconstructions. We were able to identify two different morphological categories of excitatory neurons, those with a leading dendrite that was oriented either upright (towards the dial surface) or inverted (towards the white matter). These two excitatory neuron subtypes exhibited different electrophysiological and synaptic properties. Adenosine at a concentration of 30 {micro}M indiscriminately suppressed connections with either an upright or an inverted presynaptic excitatory neuron. However, using lower concentrations of adenosine (10 {micro}M) revealed that synapses originating from L6 upright neurons have a higher sensitivity to adenosine-induced inhibition of synaptic release. Adenosine receptor activation causes a reduction in the probability of presynaptic neurotransmitter release that could be abolished by specifically blocking A1 adenosine receptors (A1ARs) using 8-cyclopentyltheophylline (CPT). Our results demonstrate a differential expression level of A1ARs at presynaptic sites of two functionally and morphologically distinct subpopulations of L6 principal neurons, suggesting that they may play distinct roles in the maintenance of sleep homoeostasis by adenosine.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

Developing tree improvement strategies for challenging environmental stresses under global climate change: a review from traditional tree breeding to genomics of adaptive traits for the quaking aspen

Quaking or trembling aspen in North America and Euro-Asia (Populus tremuloides and P. tremula, respectively) are both widely distributed species with a long history of scientific research and tree improvement work in areas such as carbon sequestration, biomass, bioenergy, wood, and fiber, as well as studies evaluating the social, economic, and ecological benefits of the species. This chapter reviews the ecological genetics and genomics of quaking aspens adaptive traits with a broad perspective of the relationship between phenotypic variation and genetic (G) and environmental (E) effects as well as their interactions (GxE). Based on recent studies, several adaptive traits are discussed, including spring and fall phenology and stress tolerance to environmental factors such as frost, salinity, drought, heat, UV radiation, etc. We also conducted a meta-analysis of empirical studies on adaptive traits of P. tremuloides and its sister species, as research using P. tremuloides as a true "model species" is currently limited. However, molecular tools and experimental designs in the form of different common gardens constitute an integrated pathway for the development of traits and varieties/populations to promote reforestation under changing climatic conditions.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2023

Polarized localization of kinesin-1 and RIC-7 drives axonal mitochondria anterograde transport

Mitochondria transport is crucial for mitochondria distribution in axons and is mediated by kinesin-1-based anterograde and dynein-based retrograde motor complexes. While Miro and Milton/TRAK were identified as key adaptors between mitochondria and kinesin-1, recent studies suggest the presence of additional mechanisms. In C. elegans, ric-7 is the only single gene described so far, other than kinesin-1, that is absolutely required for axonal mitochondria localization. Using CRISPR engineering in C. elegans, we find that Miro is important but is not essential for anterograde traffic, whereas it is required for retrograde traffic. Both the endogenous RIC-7 and kinesin-1 act at the leading end to transport mitochondria anterogradely. RIC-7 recruitment to mitochondria requires its N-terminal domain and partially relies on MIRO-1, whereas RIC-7 accumulation at the leading end depends on its disordered region, kinesin-1 and metaxin2. We conclude that polarized transport complexes containing kinesin-1 and RIC-7 form at the leading edge of mitochondria, and that these complexes are required for anterograde axonal transport. Summary statementAnterograde transport of axonal mitochondria is critical for maintenance of the mitochondria pool and neuronal health. Wu et al. show that the endogenous kinesin-1 and RIC-7 localize at the leading end of mitochondria to drive axonal anterograde transport in vivo.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Srcap Haploinsufficiency Induced Autistic-Like Behaviors in Mice through Disruption of Satb2 Expression

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder with significant genetic predispositions. Among these, loss-of-function mutations of the chromatin remodeling gene SRCAP have been identified in individuals with ASD, but their pathogenic mechanisms have yet to be fully elucidated. In this study, we established a germline mutant mouse model harboring a heterozygous frameshift mutation in the Srcap gene (Srcap+/-). The Srcap+/- mice exhibited notable impairments in social novelty, repetitive and stereotyped behaviors, anxiety, and learning and memory deficits. We observed a decreased number of parvalbumin (PV)-expressing neurons in their retrosplenial cortex (RSC) and dentate gyrus (DG). Furthermore, abnormalities in dendritic structure, synaptic density, and synaptic transmission were noted in the DG of Srcap+/- mice. RNA sequencing revealed that the expression of 27 genes, implicated in ASD, was dysregulated in the Srcap haploinsufficiency mice. Among these genes, we found that Srcap haploinsufficiency resulted in decreased Satb2 expression due to diminished H2A.z-binding within the promoter region of Satb2. Remarkably, intervention through retro-orbital injection of AAV vectors expressing Satb2 in newborn Srcap+/- mice reversed autistic-like behaviors and developmental defects in the RSC and DG regions. Similarly, in adolescent Srcap+/- mice, stereotactic injection of AAV expressing Satb2 into the RSC ameliorated deficits in social novelty. Collectively, these findings highlight the crucial role of the Srcap in neurodevelopment by regulating Satb2 expression, particularly impacting the development of RSC and DG regions.

neuroscience↗