Biology subjects

Oh, S. H.

Publications and source records attributed to Oh, S. H..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Maternal age modulates progeny social behavior via a small RNA-neuropeptide axis

Parental age influences offspring traits across species, yet the molecular pathways by which maternal state modulates progeny neural function remain poorly defined. Here we demonstrate that maternal age in C. elegans regulates progeny avoidance of the social pheromone by modulating the activity of a defined sensory circuit. Progeny of young mothers exhibit stronger activity of the pheromone-sensing ADL neurons and enhanced pheromone avoidance, whereas progeny of old mothers display reduced neuronal responses and weaker repulsion. We identify an ERI-1-microRNA-neuropeptide signaling axis operating in peptidergic AVH interneurons that modulates ADL circuit responsiveness. ERI-1 promotes expression of the neuropeptide gene flp-26 by repressing mir-8207, and signaling from AVH to ADL establishes pheromone sensitivity. Maternal aging is associated with reduced ERI-1 expression in progeny AVH neurons and dampening this signaling pathway. Consequently, progeny of young mothers, though developmentally less robust, disperse more readily from crowded, pheromone-rich environments, offsetting their early-life disadvantages. Our findings reveal a molecular and circuit-level mechanism by which maternal physiology adaptively configures offspring neural computation and behavioral strategy across generations.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Monitoring Gene Expression in Retina with Synthetic Serum Markers

Gene expression underlies retinal development, function, and pathogenesis. However, monitoring retinal gene expression in vivo is challenging. In this study, we apply synthetic serum markers, called Released Markers of Activity, or RMAs, to quantify gene expression in an intact retina through a simple blood test. We show that RMAs can quantify transduction of multiple retinal cell-types and monitor cell implantation or cell loss. We found RMAs are sensitive enough to measure transduction of rare cell populations, such as retinal ganglion cells and could detect transplantation of as few as 100 stem cells. Expression of RMAs showed no evidence of cell loss or immune activation in the retina. Overall, these findings demonstrate that RMAs are highly sensitive, tissue non-destructive gene expression reporters that can continuously track gene delivery and cell survival in intact retina through a simple blood test.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2024

Integrating short-read and long-read single-cell RNA sequencing for comprehensive transcriptome profiling in mouse retina

The vast majority of protein-coding genes in the human genome produce multiple mRNA isoforms through alternative splicing, significantly enhancing the complexity of the transcriptome and proteome. To establish an efficient method for characterizing transcript isoforms within tissue samples, we conducted a systematic comparison between single-cell long-read and conventional short-read RNA sequencing techniques. The transcriptome of approximately 30,000 mouse retina cells was profiled using 1.54 billion Illumina short reads and 1.40 billion Oxford Nanopore long reads. Consequently, we identified 44,325 transcript isoforms, with a notable 38% previously uncharacterized and 17% expressed exclusively in distinct cellular subclasses. We observed that long-read sequencing not only matched the gene expression and cell-type annotation performance of short-read sequencing but also excelled in the precise identification of transcript isoforms. While transcript isoforms are often shared across various cell types, their relative abundance shows considerable cell-type-specific variation. The data generated from our study significantly enhance the existing repertoire of transcript isoforms, thereby establishing a foundational resource for future research into the mechanisms and implications of alternative splicing within retinal biology and its links to related diseases.

bioinformatics↗