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Biology subjects

Gu, P.

Publications and source records attributed to Gu, P..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Organs-on-a-Chip Database (OOCDB): A Comprehensive, Systematic and Real-time Organs-on-a-chip Database

Organs-on-a-Chip is a microfluidic microphysiological system that uses microfluidic technology to make high-resolution and real-time imaging analysis on the structure and function of living human cells at the level of tissue and organ in vitro. Compared with the traditional two-dimensional cell culture model and animal model, organs-on-a-chip technology can simulate the pathological and toxicological interactions between different organs or tissues more closely and reflect the collaborative response of multiple organs to drugs. Although lots of organs-on-a-chip-related literature have been published, none of current databases have achieved all the following functionalities yet: searching, downloading and analyzing data and results from literature of organs-on-a-chip. To address this need, we established a database named organs-on-a-chip database (OOCDB), as a platform to integrate information related to organs-on-a-chip from various sources: literature, patents, microarray and transcriptome sequencing raw data, many open access data of organs-on-a-chip and organoids, as well as the data generated in our lab. OOCDB comprises dozens of sub databases and analysis tools and each sub database contains a number of data related to organs-on-a-chip, aiming to provide a comprehensive, systematic and convenient search engine for researchers. In addition, it provides functions such as mathematical modeling, three-dimensional model and citation map to meet the needs of researchers and to promote the development of organs-on-a-chip. The organs-on-a-chip database can be visited at http://www.organchip.cn.

bioinformatics↗

TrpA1 is a shear stress mechanosensing channel regulating intestinal homeostasis in Drosophila

Adult stem cells are essential for maintaining normal tissue homeostasis and supporting tissue repair. Although genetic and biochemical programs controlling adult stem cell behavior have been extensively investigated, how mechanosensing regulates stem cells and tissue homeostasis is not well understood. Here, we show that shear stress can activate enteroendocrine cells, but not other gut epithelial cell types, to regulate intestine stem cell-mediated gut homeostasis. This shear stress sensing is mediated by transient receptor potential A1 (TrpA1), a Ca2+-permeable ion channel that expressed only in enteroendocrine cells among all gut epithelial cells. Genetic depletion of TrpA1 or modification of its shear stress sensing function causes reduced intestine stem cell proliferation and intestine growth. We further show that among the TrpA1 splice variants, only select isoforms are activated by shear stress. Altogether, our results suggest the naturally occurring mechanical force such as fluid passing generated shear stress regulates intestinal stem cell-mediated tissue growth by activating enteroendocrine cells, and Drosophila TrpA1 as a new shear stress sensor.

developmental biology↗

Continuous Theta Burst Stimulation to the Secondary Visual Cortex Does Not Impair Central Vision in Humans

Continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS) is a powerful form of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation capable of suppressing cortical excitability for up to 50 min. A growing number of studies have applied cTBS to the visual cortex in human subjects to investigate the neural dynamics of visual processing, but few have specifically examined its effects on central vision, which has crucial implications for safety and inference on downstream cognitive effects. The present study assessed the safety of offline, neuronavigated cTBS to V2 by examining its effects on central vision performance. In this single-blind, randomized sham-controlled, crossover study, 17 healthy adults received cTBS (at 80% active motor threshold) and sham to V2 1-2 weeks apart. Their central vision ([≤]8{degrees}) was tested at 1-min (T1) and again at 50-min (T50) post-stimulation. Effects of condition (cTBS vs. sham) and time (T1 vs. T50) on accuracy and reaction time were examined using Bayes factor. Bayes factor results suggested that cTBS did not impair stimulus detection over the entire central visual field nor subfields at T1 or T50. Our results offer the first explicit evidence supporting that cTBS applied to V2 does not create blind spots in the central visual field in humans during a simple detection task. Any subtler changes to vision and downstream visual perception should be investigated in future studies.

neuroscience↗