Biology subjects

Xing, T.

Publications and source records attributed to Xing, T..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

A standardized, surgically relevant map of organ-spesific branch emergence in the human vagus nerve

IntroductionVagus nerve stimulation modulates airway, cardiac, pulmonary, and gastrointestinal functions through respective organ-specific branches. Knowledge of where along the nerve vagal branches emerge may support alternative surgical placement of stimulation devices to activate targeted functions while avoiding off-target effects. However, no quantified map of the emergence of vagal branches and their relationship to surgically relevant anatomical landmarks exists in humans. MethodsFifty-eight vagus nerves (29 left, 29 right) from 29 embalmed donor bodies (15 females) were dissected from the jugular foramen through the thoracic cavity. Branches were traced to end organs and allocated to one of seven groups (sympathetic, muscular, vascular, cardiac, pulmonary, esophageal, or multiple targets) and several sub-groups. Distances between branch emergence and jugular foramen (JF) were normalized to three anatomical landmarks: carotid bifurcation, laryngeal prominence, and superior border of clavicle. ResultsEmergence of branches follows a proximal-to-distal order (median [IQR] distance from JF): sympathetic (3.9 cm [3.0-6.6]), muscular (6.2 [3.4-17.0]), vascular (9.6 [5.5-15.1]), cardiac (20.1 [16.9-22.5]), pulmonary (25.0 [22.8-27.6]), and esophageal (26.5 [24.3-29.1]). Branches emerge into two embryological domains separated at the clavicle: pharyngeal arch branches cluster proximally (7.3 cm [3.9-14.0]) and primitive mediastinum branches cluster distally (24.2 cm [20.9-27.1]), with sympathetic, muscular, and vascular sub-groups occupying distinct zones within the proximal domain. The longest branch-free intervals are all left-sided, occurring around the laryngeal prominence (3.0 cm [1.8-5.7]), the superior border of the clavicle (2.7 cm [1.3- 5.2]), and the carotid bifurcation (2.2 cm [0.9-5.7]). Several "target" branches are maximally separated from "off-target" branches at specific distances: sympathetic vs. cervical/ muscular/ vascular at 6/8 cm (L/R), cardiac vs. carotid sinus at 14/10 cm, and recurrent laryngeal vs. other muscular at 18/13 cm. Minimal differences are found between male and female donors. ConclusionThis study describes a quantified, landmark-registered map of cervical and thoracic vagal branch emergence and provides an anatomical reference that may help guide more selective device design and placement.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2020

Intrathecal catheter implantation decreases cerebrospinal fluid dynamics in cynomolgus monkeys

A detailed understanding of the CSF dynamics is essential for testing and evaluation of intrathecal drug delivery. Preclinical work using large-animal models (e.g., monkeys, dogs and sheep) has great utility for defining spinal drug distribution/pharmacokinetics and provide an important tool for defining safety. In this study, we investigated the impact of catheter implantation in the sub-dural space on CSF flow dynamics in Cynomolgus monkeys. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed before and after catheter implantation to quantify the differences based on catheter placement location in the cervical compared to the lumbar spine. Several geometric and hydrodynamic parameters were calculated based on the 3D segmentation and flow analysis. Hagen-Poiseuille equation was used to investigate the impact of catheter implantation on flow reduction and hydraulic resistance. A linear mixed-effects model was used in this study to investigate if there is a statistically significant difference between cervical and lumbar implantation, or between two MRI time points. Results showed that geometric parameters did not change statistically across MRI measurement time points and did not depend on catheter location. However, catheter insertion did have a significant impact on the hydrodynamic parameters and the effect was greater with the cervical implantation. CSF flow rate decreased up to 54.7% when the catheter located in the cervical region. The maximum flow rate reduction in the lumbar implantation group was 21%. Overall, lumbar catheter implantation disrupted CSF dynamics to a lesser degree than cervical catheter implantation and this effect remained up to two weeks post-catheter implantation

pharmacology and toxicology↗

bioRxiv2017

riboviz: analysis and visualization of ribosome profiling datasets

Using high-throughput sequencing to monitor translation in vivo, ribosome profiling can provide critical insights into the dynamics and regulation of protein synthesis in a cell. Since its introduction in 2009, this technique has played a key role in driving biological discovery, and yet it requires a rigorous computational toolkit for widespread adoption. We developed a processing pipeline and browser-based visualization, riboviz, that allows convenient exploration and analysis of riboseq datasets. In implementation, riboviz consists of a comprehensive and flexible backend analysis pipeline that allows the user to analyze their private unpublished dataset, along with a web application for comparison with previously published public datasets.\n\nAvailability and implementationJavaScript and R source code and extra documentation are freely available from https://github.com/shahpr/RiboViz, while the web-application is live at www.riboviz.org.

bioinformatics↗