Biology subjects

Pan, Y.-T.

Publications and source records attributed to Pan, Y.-T..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Male Mice Have no Sugar-preference Behavior

Sugar-preference behavior is considered to be universally innate among humans and animals. Current research on the detection and mechanisms of sugar-preference behavior largely adopts the "two-bottle choice assay", and most experiments use male mice as the model, which has serious methodological flaws, leading to questionable conclusions. As expected, through adopting our improved experimental method, we discovered distinct sugar preferences between male and female mice: females possess an innate preference, while males do not. However, the innate sugar preference in female mice can be lost due to their long-term normal diet. Even after "training" with high-sugar food for a long time, the results still show differences between males and females. Female mice retain a significant preference for sugar, while male mice are not influenced by the training of high-sugar food and still do not evolve a sugar preference. From this, we conclude that gender determines the emergence and development of sugar preference in mice. Our results can provide researchers with a new understanding of sugar preference, which will help them fill in or even correct the gaps in the original experimental design methods to obtain more reliable conclusions.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2020

Study on β-Chitosan against the binding of SARS-CoV-2S-RBD/ACE2

SARS-CoV-2 invades human respiratory epithelial cells via an interaction between its spike RBD protein (SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD) and the host cell receptor angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE2). Blocking this interaction provides a potent approach to preventing and controlling SARS-CoV-2 infection. In this work, the ability of {beta}-chitosan to block the binding interaction between SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD and ACE2 was investigated. The inhibitory effect of {beta}-chitosan on inflammation induced by the SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD was also studied. Native-PAGE analysis indicated that {beta}-chitosan could bind with ACE2 and the SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD and a conjugate of {beta}-chitosan and ACE2 could no longer bind with the SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD. HPLC analysis suggested that a conjugate of {beta}-chitosan and the SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD displayed high binding affinity without dissociation under high pressure (40 MPa) compared with that of {beta}-chitosan and ACE2. Furthermore, immunofluorescent staining of Vero E6 cells and lungs from hACE2 mice showed that the presence of {beta}-chitosan prevented SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD from binding to ACE2. Meanwhile, {beta}-chitosan could dramatically suppress the inflammation caused by the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD both in vitro and vivo. Moreover, the decreased expression of ACE2 caused by {beta}-chitosan treatment was restored by addition of TAPI-1, an inhibitor of the transmembrane protease ADAM17. Our findings demonstrated that {beta}-chitosan displays an antibody-like function capable of neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD and effectively preventing the binding of the SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD to ACE2. Moreover, ADAM17 activation induced by {beta}-chitosan treatment can enhance the cleavage of the extracellular domain of ACE2, releasing the active ectodomain into the extracellular environment, which can prevent the binding, internalization, and degradation of ACE2 bound to the SARS-CoV-2 S-RBD and thus diminish inflammation. Our study provides an alternative avenue for preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection using {beta}-chitosan.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Free Energy Principle in Human Postural Control System: Skin Stretch Feedback Reduces the Entropy

Human upright standing involves an integration of multiple sensory inputs such as vision, vestibular and somatosensory systems. It has been known that sensory deficits worsen the standing balance. However, how the modulation of sensory information contributes to postural stabilization still remains an open question for researchers. The purpose of this work was to formulate the human standing postural control system in the framework of the free-energy principle, and to investigate the efficacy of the skin stretch feedback in enhancing the human standing balance. Previously, we have shown that sensory augmentation by skin stretch feedback at the fingertip could modulate the standing balance of the people with simulated sensory deficits. In this study, subjects underwent ten 30-second trials of quiet standing balance with and without skin stretch feedback. Visual and vestibular sensory deficits were simulated by having each subject close their eyes and tilt their head back. We found that sensory augmentation by velocity-based skin stretch feedback at the fingertip reduced the entropy of the standing postural sway of the people with simulated sensory deficits. This result aligns with the framework of the free energy principle which states that a self-organizing biological system at its equilibrium state tries to minimize its free energy either by updating the internal state or by correcting body movement with appropriate actions. The velocity-based skin stretch feedback at the fingertip may increase the signal-to-noise ratio of the sensory signals, which in turn enhances the accuracy of the internal states in the central nervous system. With more accurate internal states, the human postural control system can further adjust the standing posture to minimize the entropy, and thus the free energy.

neuroscience↗