Biology subjects

Wang, G.

Publications and source records attributed to Wang, G..

At least 451 records · Page 25Linked to original sources

bioRxiv2020

Analysis of metagenome-assembled genomes from the mouse gut microbiota reveals distinctive strain-level characteristics

The laboratorial mouse harbors a unique gut microbiota with potential value for human microbiota-associated studies. Mouse gut microbiota has been explored at the genus and species levels, but features rarely been showed at the strain level. The identification of 833,051 and 658,438 nonredundant genes of faeces and gut content samples from the laboratorial C57/BL mice showed over half of these genes were newly found compared to the previous mouse gut microbial gene catalogue. Metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) was used to reconstruct 46 nonredundant MAGs belonging to uncultured specieses. These MAGs included members across all phyla in mouse gut (i.e. Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Deferribacteres, Verrucomicrobia, and Tenericutes) and allowed a strain-level delineating of the mouse gut microbiota. Comparison of MAGs with human gut colonies revealed distinctive genomic and functional characteristics of mouses Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes strains. Genomic characteristics of rare phyla in mouse gut microbiota were demonstrated by MAG approach, including strains of Mucispirillum schaedleri, Parasutterella excrementihominis, Helicobacter typhlonius, and Akkermansia muciniphila. ImportanceThe identification of nonredundant genes suggested the existence of unknown microbes in the mouse gut samples. The metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) instantiated the specificity of mouse gut species and revealed an intestinal microbial correlation between mouse and human. The cultivation of faeces and gut contents sample validated the existence of MAGs and estimate their accuracy. Full-length 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequencing enabled taxonomic characterization. This study highlighted a unique ecosystem in the gut of laboratorial mice that obviously differed with the human gut flora at the strain level. The outcomes may be beneficial to researches based on laboratorial mouse models.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2020

Acetylation-mediated phase control of the nucleolus regulates cellular acetyl-CoA responses

The metabolite acetyl-CoA serves as an essential element for a wide range of cellular functions including ATP production, lipid synthesis and protein acetylation. Intracellular acetyl-CoA concentrations are associated with nutrient availability, but the mechanisms by which a cell responds to fluctuations in acetyl-CoA levels remain elusive. Here, we generate a cell system to selectively manipulate the nucleo-cytoplasmic levels of acetyl-CoA using CRISPR-mediated gene editing and acetate supplementation of the culture media. Using this system and quantitative omics analyses, we demonstrate that acetyl-CoA depletion alters the integrity of the nucleolus, impairing ribosomal RNA synthesis and evoking the ribosomal protein-dependent activation of p53. This nucleolar remodeling appears to be mediated through the class IIa HDAC deacetylases regulating the phase state of the nucleolus. Our findings highlight acetylation-mediated control of the nucleolus as an important hub linking acetyl-CoA fluctuations to cellular stress responses.

cell biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Diversity and Structural Variability of Bacterial Microbial Communities in Rhizocompartments of Desert Leguminous Plants

By assessing diversity variations of bacterial communities under different rhizocompartment types (i.e., roots, rhizosphere soil, root zone soil, and inter-shrub bulk soil), we explore the structural variability of bacterial communities in different root microenvironments under desert leguminous plant shrubs. Results will enable the influence of niche differentiation of plant roots and root soil on the structural stability of bacterial communities under three desert leguminous plant shrubs to be examined. High-throughput 16S rRNA genome sequencing was used to characterize diversity and structural differences of bacterial microbes in the rhizocompartments of three xeric leguminous plants. Results from this study confirm previous findings relating to niche differentiation in rhizocompartments under related shrubs, and they demonstrate that diversity and structural composition of bacterial communities have significant hierarchical differences across four rhizocompartment types under leguminous plant shrubs. Desert leguminous plants had significant effects on the enrichment and filtration of specific bacterial microbiomes across different rhizocompartments (P<0.05). The core bacterial microbiomes causing structure and composition variability of bacterial communities across different niches of desert leguminous plants are also identified. By investigating the influence of niches on the structural variability of soil bacterial communities with the differentiation of rhizocompartments under desert leguminous plant shrubs, we provide data support for the identification of dominant bacteria and future preparation of inocula, and provide a foundation for further study of the host plants-microbial interactions. IMPORTANCEColonization by plant communities make valued contribution to sand-fixing in poor ecological desert environments, thereby reducing the effects of wind erosion in these areas. Our study revealed that specific core bacterial microbiomes in under-shrub soil microbial communities had a significant hierarchical enrichment effect among rhizocompartments, and were filtered into roots. The root endophyte microbiomes thus formed had low abundance and diversity, but their structural variability was the highest. In addition, our data also verified that the rhizocompartments of under desert leguminous plant shrubs had a significant differentiation effect for the core bacterial microbiomes enriched and filtered by host plants, and that each rhizocompartment represented a unique niche of bacterial communities. Understanding the interactions between xeric shrubs and soil microbial communities is a fundamental step for describing desert soil ecosystems, which in turn can offer a microbe-associated reference for evaluating the restoration of desert vegetation.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2020

Regulation of olfactory-based sex behaviors in the silkworm by genes in the sex-determination cascade

Insect courtship and mating depend on integration of olfactory, visual, and tactile cues. Compared to other insects, Bombyx mori, the domesticated silkworm, has relatively simple sexual behaviors as it cannot fly. Here by using CRISPR/Cas and electrophysiological techniques we found that courtship and mating behaviors are regulated in male silk moths by mutating genes in the sex determination cascade belonging to two conserved pathways. Loss of Bmdsx gene expression significantly reduced the peripheral perception of the major pheromone component bombykol by reducing expression of the product of the BmOR1 gene which completely blocked courtship in adult males. Interestingly, we found that mating behavior was regulated independently by another sexual differentiation gene, Bmfru. Loss of Bmfru completely blocked mating, but males displayed normal courtship behavior. Lack of Bmfru expression significantly reduced the perception of the minor pheromone component bombykal due to the down regulation of BmOR3 expression; further, functional analysis revealed that loss of the product of BmOR3 played a key role in terminating male mating behavior. Our results suggest that Bmdsx and Bmfru are at the base of the two primary pathways that regulate olfactory-based sexual behavior. Author SummaryThe fundamental insect sexual behaviors, courtship and mating, result from successful integration of olfactory, vision, tactile and other complex innate behaviors. In the widely used insect model, Drosophila melanogaster, the sex determination cascade genes fruitless and doublesex are involved in the regulation of courtship and mating behaviors; however, little is known about the function of these sexual differentiation genes in regulating sex behaviors of Lepidoptera. Here we combine genetics and electrophysiology to investigate regulation pathway of sexual behaviors in the model lepidopteran insect, the domesticated silk moth, Bombyx mori. Our results support the presence of two genetic pathways in B. mori, named Bmdsx-BmOR1-bombykol and Bmfru-BmOR3-bombykal, which control distinct aspects of male sexual behavior that are modulated by olfaction. This is the first comprehensive report about the role of sex differentiation genes in the male sexual behavior in the silk moth.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2020

Selective germline genome edited pigs and their long immune tolerance in Non Human Primates

Organ transplantation is the only curative treatment for patients with terminal organ failure, however, there is a worldwide organ shortage. Genetically modified pig organs and tissues have become an attractive and practical alternative solution for the severe organ shortage, which has been made possible by significant progress in xenotransplantation in recent years. The past several decades witnessed an expanding list of genetically engineered pigs due to technology advancements, however, the necessary combination of genetic modifications in pig for human organ xenotransplantation has not been determined. In the current study, we created a selective germline genome edited pig (SGGEP). The first triple xenoantigens (GGTA, B4GAL, and CAMH) knockout somatic cells were generated to serve as a prototype cells and then human proteins were expressed in the xenoantigen knockout cells, which include human complement system negative regulatory proteins (CD46, CD55, and CD59); human coagulation system negative regulatory proteins thrombomodulin (THBD); tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI); CD39; macrophage negative regulatory proteins (human CD47); and natural killer cell negative regulatory human HLA-E. After the successful establishment of SGGEP by the nuclear tranfer, we engrafted SGGEP skin to NHP, up to 25 days graft survival without immunosuppressive drugs was observed. Because a pig skin graft does not impact the success of a subsequent allograft or autograft or vice versa, thus our SGGEP could have a great potential for clinical value to save severe and large area burn patients and the other human organ failure. Therefore, this combination of specific gene modifications is a major milestone and provides proof of concept to initiate investigator-initiated clinical trials (IITs) in severe burn patients with defined processes and governance measures in place and the other clinical application.

synthetic biology↗

bioRxiv2020

A strategy for complete telomere-to-telomere assembly of ciliate macronuclear genome using ultra-high coverage Nanopore data

Ciliates contain two kinds of nuclei: the germline micronucleus (MIC) and the somatic macronucleus (MAC) in a single cell. The MAC usually have fragmented chromosomes. These fragmented chromosomes, capped with telomeres at both ends, could be gene size to several megabases in length among different ciliate species. So far, no telomere-to-telomere assembly of entire MAC genome in ciliate species is finished. Development of the third generation sequencing technologies allows to generate sequencing reads up to megabases in length that could possibly span an entire MAC chromosome. Taking advantage of ultra-long Nanopore reads, we established a simple strategy for the complete assembly of ciliate MAC genomes. Using this strategy, we assembled the complete MAC genomes of two ciliate species Tetrahymena thermophila and Tetrahymena shanghaiensis, composed of 181 and 214 chromosomes telomere-to-telomere respectively. The established strategy as well as the high-quality genome data will provide a useful approach for ciliate genome assembly, and a valuable community resource for further biological, evolutionary and population genomic studies.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2019

Benzaldehyde Synthases Are Encoded by Cinnamoyl-CoA Reductase Genes in Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.)

Benzaldedyde, commonly detected in plant VOC (volatile organic compounds) profiling, is derived from phenylalanine. However, the last enzymatic step for benzaldedyde formation, designated as benzaldehyde synthase, remains elusive for long time. Here, we demonstrated that cinnamoyl-CoA reductases are responsible for benzaldedyde production in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). Comprehensive tissue specificity of VOC profiling revealed that benzaldehyde was specifically accumulated in root and flower of cucumber plants. VOC-gene correlation analysis suggested that several CCRs are candidate genes for benzaldehyde production: CsaCCR7 had a root-specific expression pattern while CsaCCR9 and CsaCCR18 showed a flower-specific expression pattern. Enzymatic assay demonstrated that CsaCCR7, CsaCCR9 and CsaCCR18 convert benzoyl-CoA to benzaldehyde. Subcellular localization experiments revealed that CsaCCR7 and CsaCCR18 are localized in cytosol, while CsaCCR9 was localized in peroxisome. In contrast to the long-standing view that CCR enzymes are involved in lignin biosynthesis in plants, it is the first time here to add a new biochemical role of CCR as benzaldehyde synthase in plants. HighlightsBenzaldehyde is mainly produced in flower and root of cucumber plants. 14 genes encoding CCR enzyme from cucumber are comprehensively analyzed. Three CsaCCRs, function as benzaldehyde synthases, utilize benzoyl-CoA as substrate to produce benzaldehyde in vitro.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2019

Active monomer RTR-1 derived from the root of Rhodomyrtus tomentosa induces apoptosis in gastric carcinoma cells by inducing ER stress and inhibiting the STAT3 signalling pathway

ObjectiveRhodomyrtus tomentosa, a flowering plant belonging to the Myrtaceae family, is considered an antitumour substance with versatile biological and pharmacological activities. And RTR-1 is an active monomer purified from the root of Rhodomyrtus tomentosa. However, the detail of the mechanisms of anti-cancer activity of RTR-1 remains to be elucidated and the effect on gastric cancer cells is unknown. MethodsCell proliferation was determined by MTT and clone formation assay. The effect of RTR-1 on cell cycle and apoptosis was analyzed utilizing flow cytometry, respectively. Moreover, western blotting was used to detect the expression of cell cycle- and apoptosis-related protein. ResultsBased on MTT and clone formation assay, we noticed that RTR-1 inhibited the proliferation of gastric carcinoma (BGC823 and SGC7901) cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Furthermore, the results of flow cytometry and western blotting showed that RTR-1 induced cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase through the ATM-Chk2-p53-p21 signalling pathway and induced cell apoptosis by inhibiting the signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3) pathway and activating the endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress) pathway. ConclusionTaken together, these results demonstrate that RTR-1 induces cell cycle arrest and promotes apoptosis in gastric carcinoma, indicating its potential application for gastric cancer therapy.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2019

RNA Sequencing by Direct Tagmentation of RNA/DNA Hybrids

Transcriptome profiling by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) has been widely used to characterize cellular status but it relies on second strand cDNA synthesis to generate initial material for library preparation. Here we use bacterial transposase Tn5, which has been increasingly used in various high-throughput DNA analyses, to construct RNA-seq libraries without second strand synthesis. We show that Tn5 transposome can randomly bind RNA/DNA heteroduplexes and add sequencing adapters onto RNA directly after reverse transcription. This method, Sequencing HEteRo RNA-DNA-hYbrid (SHERRY), is versatile and scalable. SHERRY accepts a wide range of starting materials, from bulk RNA to single cells. SHERRY offers a greatly simplified protocol, and produces results with higher reproducibility and GC uniformity compared with prevailing RNA-seq methods. Significance StatementRNA sequencing is widely used to measure gene expression in biomedical research; therefore, improvements in the simplicity and accuracy of the technology are desirable. All existing RNA sequencing methods rely on the conversion of RNA into double-stranded DNA through reverse transcription followed by second strand synthesis. The latter step requires additional enzymes and purification, and introduces sequence-dependent bias. Here, we show that Tn5 transposase, which randomly binds and cuts double-stranded DNA, can directly fragment and prime the RNA/DNA heteroduplexes generated by reverse transcription. The primed fragments are then subject to PCR amplification. This provides a new approach for simple and accurate RNA characterization and quantification.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Allele-specific open chromatin in human iPSC neurons elucidates functional non-coding disease variants

Functional interpretation of noncoding disease variants, which likely regulate gene expression, has been challenging. Chromatin accessibility strongly influences gene expression during neurodevelopment; however, to what extent genetic variants can alter chromatin accessibility in the context of brain disorders/traits is unknown. Using human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neurons as a neurodevelopmental model, we identified abundant open-chromatin regions absent in adult brain samples and thousands of genetic variants exhibiting allele-specific open-chromatin (ASoC). ASoC variants are overrepresented in brain enhancers, transcription-factor-binding sites, and quantitative-trait-loci associated with gene expression, histone modification, and DNA methylation. Notably, compared to open chromatin regions and other commonly used functional annotations, neuronal ASoC variants showed much stronger enrichments of risk variants for various brain disorders/traits. Our study provides the first snapshot of the neuronal ASoC landscape and a powerful framework for prioritizing functional disease variants.\n\nOne Sentence SummaryAllele-specific open chromatin informs functional disease variants

genetics↗

bioRxiv2019

A Bayesian method for rare variant analysis using functional annotations and its application to Autism

Rare variant analysis is commonly used in whole-exome or genome sequencing studies. Compared to common variants, rare variants tend to have larger effect sizes and often directly point out causal genes. These potential benefits make association analysis with rare variants a priority for human genetics researchers. To improve the power of such studies, numerous methods have been developed to aggregate information of all variants of a gene. However, these gene-based methods often make unrealistic assumptions, e.g. the commonly used burden test effectively assumes that all variants chosen in the analysis have the same effects. In practice, current methods are often underpowered. We propose a Bayesian method: MIxture model based Rare variant Analysis on GEnes (MIRAGE). MIRAGE analyzes summary statistics, i.e. variant counts from inherited variants in trio-sequencing or from ancestry-matched case-control studies. MIRAGE captures the heterogeneity of variant effects by treating all variants of a gene as a mixture of risk and non-risk variants, and uses external information of variants to model the prior probabilities of being risk variants. We demonstrate in both simulations and analysis of an exome-sequencing dataset of autism, that MIRAGE significantly outperforms current methods for rare variant analysis. The top genes identified by MIRAGE are highly enriched with known or plausible autism risk genes. MIRAGE is available at https://xinhe-lab.github.io/mirage.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2019

SECNVs: A Simulator of Copy Number Variants and Whole-Exome Sequences from Reference Genomes

Copy number variants are insertions and deletions of 1 kb or larger in a genome that play an important role in phenotypic changes and human disease. Many software applications have been developed to detect copy number variants using either whole-genome sequencing or whole-exome sequencing data. However, there is poor agreement in the results from these applications. Simulated datasets containing copy number variants allow comprehensive comparisons of the operating characteristics of existing and novel copy number variant detection methods. Several software applications have been developed to simulate copy number variants and other structural variants in whole-genome sequencing data. However, none of the applications reliably simulate copy number variants in whole-exome sequencing data. We have developed and tested SECNVs (Simulator of Exome Copy Number Variants), a fast, robust and customizable software application for simulating copy number variants and whole-exome sequences from a reference genome. SECNVs is easy to install, implements a wide range of commands to customize simulations, can output multiple samples at once, and incorporates a pipeline to output rearranged genomes, short reads and BAM files in a single command. Variants generated by SECNVs are detected with high sensitivity and precision by tools commonly used to detect copy number variants. SECNVs is publicly available at https://github.com/YJulyXing/SECNVs.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2019

Widespread dose-dependent effects of RNA expression and splicing on complex diseases and traits

The resources generated by the GTEx consortium offer unprecedented opportunities to advance our understanding of the biology of human diseases. Here, we present an in-depth examination of the phenotypic consequences of transcriptome regulation and a blueprint for the functional interpretation of genome-wide association study-discovered loci. Across a broad set of complex traits and diseases, we demonstrate widespread dose-dependent effects of RNA expression and splicing. We develop a data-driven framework to benchmark methods that prioritize causal genes and find no single approach outperforms the combination of multiple approaches. Using colocalization and association approaches that take into account the observed allelic heterogeneity of gene expression, we propose potential target genes for 47% (2,519 out of 5,385) of the GWAS loci examined. Our results demonstrate the translational relevance of the GTEx resources and highlight the need to increase their resolution and breadth to further our understanding of the genotype-phenotype link.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2019

High-depth resequencing reveals hybrid population and insecticide resistance characteristics of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) invading China

The rapid wide-scale spread of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) has caused serious crop losses globally. However, differences in the genetic background of subpopulations and the mechanisms of rapid adaptation behind the invasion are still not well understood. Here we report a 393.25-M chromosome-level genome assembly of fall armyworm with scaffold N50 of 13.3 M consisting of 23281 annotated protein-coding genes. Genome-wide resequencing of 105 samples from 16 provinces in China revealed that the fall armyworm population comprises a complex inter-strain hybrid, mainly with the corn-strain genetic background and less of the rice-strain genetic background, which highlights the inaccuracy of strain identification using mitochondrial or Tpi genes. An analysis of genes related to pesticide- and Bt-resistance showed that the risk of fall armyworm developing resistance to conventional pesticides is very high, while remaining currently susceptible to Bt toxins. Laboratory bioassay results showed that insects invading China carry resistance to organophosphate and pyrethroid pesticides, but are sensitive to genetically modified maize expressing Cry1Ab in field experiments. Additionally, we found that two mitochondrial fragments are inserted into the nuclear genome, and the insertion event occurred after the differentiation of the two strains. This study represents a valuable advancement toward the analysis of genetic differences among subpopulations and improving management strategies for fall armyworm.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2019

Cell type specific genetic regulation of gene expression across human tissues

The Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project has identified expression and splicing quantitative trait loci (cis-QTLs) for the majority of genes across a wide range of human tissues. However, the interpretation of these QTLs has been limited by the heterogeneous cellular composition of GTEx tissue samples. Here, we map interactions between computational estimates of cell type abundance and genotype to identify cell type interaction QTLs for seven cell types and show that cell type interaction eQTLs provide finer resolution to tissue specificity than bulk tissue cis-eQTLs. Analyses of genetic associations to 87 complex traits show a contribution from cell type interaction QTLs and enables the discovery of hundreds of previously unidentified colocalized loci that are masked in bulk tissue.\n\nOne Sentence SummaryEstimated cell type abundances from bulk RNA-seq across tissues reveal the cellular specificity of quantitative trait loci.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2019

Comprehensive molecular characterization of PRKCG for glioma diagnosis, prognosis and treatment prediction

Glioma is one of the most common malignant brain tumors and exhibits low resection rate and high recurrence risk. Although a large number of glioma studies powered by high-throughput sequencing technologies have led to massive multi-omics datasets, there lacks of comprehensive integration of glioma datasets for uncovering candidate biomarker genes. In this study, we collected a large-scale assemble of multi-omics multi-cohort datasets from worldwide public resources, involving a total of 16,939 samples across 19 independent studies. Through comprehensive multi-omics molecular profiling across different datasets, we revealed that PRKCG (Protein Kinase C Gamma), a brain-specific gene detectable in cerebrospinal fluid, is closely associated with glioma. Specifically, it presents lower expression and higher methylation in glioma samples compared with normal samples. PRKCG expression/methylation change from high to low is indicative of glioma progression from low-grade to high-grade and high RNA expression is suggestive of good survival. Importantly, PRKCG in combination with MGMT is effective to predict survival outcomes after TMZ chemotherapy in a more precise manner. Collectively, PRKCG bears the great potential for glioma diagnosis, prognosis and therapy, and PRKCG-like genes may represent a set of important genes associated with different molecular mechanisms in glioma tumorigenesis. Accordingly, our study indicates the importance of computational integrative multi-omics data analysis and represents a data-driven scheme toward precision tumor subtyping and accurate personalized healthcare. Author SummaryGlioma is a type of brain tumors that represents one of the most lethal human malignancies with little chance for recovery. Nowadays, more and more studies have adopted high-throughput sequencing technologies to decode the molecular profiles of glioma from different omics levels, accordingly resulting in massive glioma datasets generated from different projects and laboratories throughout the world. Therefore, it has become crucially important on how to make full use of these valuable datasets for computational identification of glioma candidate biomarker genes in aid of precision tumor subtyping and accurate personalized treatment. In this study, we comprehensively integrated glioma datasets from all over the world and performed multi-omics molecular data mining. We revealed that PRKCG, a brain-specific gene abundantly expressed in cerebrospinal fluid, bears the great potential for glioma diagnosis, prognosis and treatment prediction, which has been consistently observed on multiple independent datasets. In the era of big data, our study highlights the significance of computational integrative data mining toward precision medicine in cancer research.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2019

The GTEx Consortium atlas of genetic regulatory effects across human tissues

The Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project was established to characterize genetic effects on the transcriptome across human tissues, and to link these regulatory mechanisms to trait and disease associations. Here, we present analyses of the v8 data, based on 17,382 RNA-sequencing samples from 54 tissues of 948 post-mortem donors. We comprehensively characterize genetic associations for gene expression and splicing in cis and trans, showing that regulatory associations are found for almost all genes, and describe the underlying molecular mechanisms and their contribution to allelic heterogeneity and pleiotropy of complex traits. Leveraging the large diversity of tissues, we provide insights into the tissue-specificity of genetic effects, and show that cell type composition is a key factor in understanding gene regulatory mechanisms in human tissues.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2019

Revaluation of magnetic properties of Magneto, MagR and αGFP-TRPV1/GFP-ferritin

ABSTRACT AND INTRODUCTIONMagnetic control of neuronal activity offers many obvious advantages over electric, optogenetic and chemogenetic manipulations. A recent series of highly visible papers reported the development of magnetic actuators (i.e., Magneto, MagR and GFP-TRPV1/GFP-ferritin) that appeared to be effective in controlling neuronal firing1-3, yet their action mechanisms seem to conflict with the principles of physics4. We found that neurons expressing Magneto, MagR and GFP-TRPV1/GFP-ferritin did not respond to magnetic stimuli with any membrane depolarization (let alone action potential firing), although these neurons frequently generated spontaneous action potentials. Because the previous study did not establish the precise temporal correlation between magnetic stimuli and action potentials in recorded neurons1-3, the reported magnetically-evoked action potentials are likely to represent mismatched spontaneous firings.

neuroscience↗