Biology subjects

Majumder, P. P.

Publications and source records attributed to Majumder, P. P..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

A Community-Driven Single-Cell PBMC Reference Integrating Landmark Datasets Spanning Health and Disease

Blood provides an accessible window into human health, yet the absence of a peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) reference with standardized immune cell annotations has constrained comparisons between single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) studies. Here, we present HARP (Human Cell Atlas Reference for PBMCs), an integrated atlas of ~9 million PBMCs from >2,600 donors across 15 studies spanning four continents, encompassing diverse populations, neonates to 97 years, across health and diverse immune-related diseases. We developed optimized integration workflows, including novel label-free metrics to assess integration quality, and generated community-driven consensus annotations for 192 immune cell subsets, identifying rare populations representing as few as 0.004% of PBMCs. HARP reveals coordinated cellular modules associated with age, sex, and disease, identifies female-biased interferon and inflammatory gene programs and their perturbation by COVID-19, and uncovers a novel sexual dimorphism in prostaglandin signaling. Finally, we introduce scTiger, a hierarchical label-transfer framework that accurately projects these 192 cell annotations onto ~18 million additional PBMCs, providing a robust and transferable reference for harmonizing future PBMC studies. HARP provides a high-resolution community-driven reference atlas for PBMC annotation and analysis, as a basis for emerging clinical applications of single-cell genomics.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2026

Cellular Complexity and Systemic Immune Profiles across Ancestral Diversity in Thailand and Mainland Southeast Asia

Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA) remains under-represented in global immunogenomic references despite its extensive genetic heterogeneity. We present the first single-cell immune atlas of an MSEA population, utilizing Thai individuals from the Asian Immune Diversity Atlas (AIDA) as a representative cohort. We demonstrate that the Thai population is highly genetically diverse, reflecting its history as a geographic nexus for Asian admixture. By integrating single-cell transcriptomics with high-resolution genotyping, we show that genetic ancestry significantly shapes innate immune profiles, specifically CD14+ monocytes, highlighting potential evolutionary adaptations to regional pathogens. We identify specific sex-by-ancestry interactions that may drive the baseline activation of pro-inflammatory pathways in females, providing a long-sought cellular rationale for the high prevalence of autoimmune disorders observed in Southeast Asian populations. Ultimately, our study reveals that population-specific genetic architecture dictates immune heterogeneity often missed by self-reported ethnicity or country of origin, providing a critical immunogenomic reference for precision medicine in MSEA regions.

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Prognostic relevance of correlated co-expression of coding and noncoding RNAs in cervical cancers

Human papillomavirus (HPV) drives cervical cancer (CaCx) pathogenesis and viral oncoproteins jeopardize global gene expression in such cancers. We aimed to identify differentially expressed coding (DEcGs) and long noncoding (sense intronic and Natural Antisense Transcripts) RNA genes (DElncGs) in HPV16-positive CaCx patients (N=44) compared to HPV-negative normal individuals (N=34). Thereby, employing strand-specific RNA-seq, we determined the relationships between DEcGs and DElncGs and their clinical implications. Gene set enrichment and protein-protein interaction analyses of DEcGs revealed enrichment of processes crucial for abortive virus life cycle and cancer progression. The DEcGs formed 16 gene clusters, portraying cancer-related functions. We recorded significantly correlated co-expression of 79 DElncGs with DEcGs at proximal genomic loci, and 24 such pairs portrayed significantly altered correlation coefficients among patients, compared to normal individuals. Of these, 6 DEcGs belonged to 5 gene clusters, one of which was survival-associated. Out of the 24 correlated DEcG: DElncG pairs, 3 pairs were identified, where expression of both members was significantly associated with patient overall survival. Besides being prognostically relevant, disruption of the significant correlative relationships of such gene pairs in CaCx bears immense potential for patient-targeted therapy. O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=141 SRC="FIGDIR/small/573593v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (50K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@19091c8org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@52fbeaorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@18ecf3org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@6c5e30_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG O_FLOATNOGraphical Abstract:C_FLOATNO A schematic representation of the analyses undertaken to draw insights on the biological relevance of joint analysis of co-expressed and significantly correlated DElncGs and DEcGs considering the ncNATs and sense intronic DElncGs, in HPV16-positive CaCx patients compared with HPV-negative normal individuals. C_FIG

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Global Spread of SARS-CoV-2 Subtype with Spike Protein Mutation D614G is Shaped by Human Genomic Variations that Regulate Expression of TMPRSS2 and MX1 Genes

COVID-19 pandemic is a major human tragedy. Worldwide, SARS-CoV-2 has already infected over 3 million and has killed about 230,000 people. SARS-CoV-2 originated in China and, within three months, has evolved to an additional 10 subtypes. One particular subtype with a non-silent (Aspartate to Glycine) mutation at 614th position of the Spike protein (D614G) rapidly outcompeted other pre-existing subtypes, including the ancestral. We assessed that D614G mutation generates an additional serine protease (Elastase) cleavage site near the S1-S2 junction of the Spike protein. We also identified that a single nucleotide deletion (delC) at a known variant site (rs35074065) in a cis-eQTL of TMPRSS2, is extremely rare in East Asians but is common in Europeans and North Americans. The delC allele facilitates entry of the 614G subtype into host cells, thus accelerating the spread of 614G subtype in Europe and North America where the delC allele is common. The delC allele at the cis-eQTL locus rs35074065 of TMPRSS2 leads to overexpression of both TMPRSS2 and a nearby gene MX1. The cis-eQTL site, rs35074065 overlaps with a transcription factor binding site of an activator (IRF1) and a repressor (IRF2). IRF1 activator can bind to variant delC allele, but IRF2 repressor fails to bind. Thus, in an individual carrying the delC allele, there is only activation, but no repression. On viral entry, IRF1 mediated upregulation of MX1 leads to neutrophil infiltration and processing of 614G mutated Spike protein by neutrophil Elastase. The simultaneous processing of 614G spike protein by TMPRSS2 and Elastase serine proteases facilitates the entry of the 614G subtype into host cells. Thus, SARS-CoV-2, particularly the 614G subtype, has spread more easily and with higher frequency to Europe and North America where the delC allele regulating expression of TMPRSS2 and MX1 host proteins is common, but not to East Asia where this allele is rare.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2018

Cell-intrinsic genetic regulation of peripheral memory-phenotype T cell frequencies

Memory T and B lymphocyte numbers are thought to be regulated by recent and cumulative microbial exposures. We report here that memory-phenotype lymphocyte frequencies in B, CD4 and CD8 T-cells in 3-monthly serial bleeds from healthy young adult humans were relatively stable over a 1-year period, while recently activated -B and -CD4 T cell frequencies were not, suggesting that recent environmental exposures affected steady state levels of recently activated but not of memory lymphocyte subsets. Frequencies of memory B and CD4 T cells were not correlated, suggesting that variation in them was unlikely to be determined by cumulative antigenic exposures. Immunophenotyping of adult siblings showed high concordance in memory, but not of recently activated lymphocyte subsets, suggesting genetic regulation of memory lymphocyte frequencies. To explore this possibility further, we screened effector memory (EM)-phenotype T cell frequencies in common independent inbred mice strains. Using two pairs from these strains that differed predominantly in either CD4EM and/or CD8EM frequencies, we constructed bi-parental bone marrow chimeras in F1 recipient mice, and found that memory T cell frequencies in recipient mice were determined by donor genotypes. Together, these data suggest cell-autonomous determination of memory T niche size, and suggest mechanisms maintaining immune variability.

immunology↗