Biology subjects

Yang, X.

Publications and source records attributed to Yang, X..

At least 469 records · Page 26Linked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

Oxytocin, but not vasopressin, decreases willingness to harm others by promoting moral emotions of guilt and shame

Prosocial and moral behaviors have overlapping neural systems but whether they involve similar neurochemical systems is unclear. In the current pre-registered randomized placebo controlled trial on 180 adult male and female subjects we investigated effects of intranasal administration of two prosocial neuropeptides, oxytocin or vasopressin, on moral emotion ratings for situations involving accidental or intentional harm to others and in judgments of moral dilemmas where harm is inflicted for a greater good. Oxytocin, but not vasopressin, enhanced feelings of guilt and shame only for intentional harm and reduced endorsement of choices where direct intentional harm to others could achieve a greater good. Effects of oxytocin on guilt and shame were partially mediated by trait empathy. Overall, findings demonstrate for the first time that oxytocin, but not vasopressin, promotes unwillingness to deliberately harm others irrespective of the consequences. This may reflect stronger associations between oxytocin and empathy and vasopressin with aggression.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

CellPolaris: Decoding Cell Fate through Generalization Transfer Learning of Gene Regulatory Networks

Cell fate changes are determined by gene regulatory network (GRN), a sophisticated system regulating gene expression in precise spatial and temporal patterns. However, existing methods for reconstructing GRNs suffer from inherent limitations, leading to compromised accuracy and application generalizability. In this study, we introduce CellPolaris, a computational system that leverages transfer learning algorithms to generate high-quality, cell-type-specific GRNs. Diverging from conventional GRN inference models, which heavily rely on integrating epigenomic data with transcriptomic information or adopt causal strategies through gene co-expression networks, CellPolaris employs high-confidence GRN sources for model training, relying exclusively on transcriptomic data to generate previously unknown cell-type-specific GRNs. Applications of CellPolaris demonstrate remarkable efficacy in predicting master regulatory factors and simulating in-silico perturbations of transcription factors during cell fate transition, attaining state-of-the-art performance in accurately predicting candidate key factors and outcomes in cell reprogramming and spermatogenesis with validated datasets. It is worth noting that, with a transfer learning framework, CellPolaris can perform GRN based predictions in all cell types even across species. Together, CellPolaris represents a significant advancement in deciphering the mechanisms of cell fate regulation, thereby enhancing the precision and efficiency of cell fate manipulation at high resolution.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2023

Spotted fever group rickettsiae were the dominant pathogens in parasitic Rhipicephalus microplus in Yunnan Province, China*

ObjectiveTicks as ectoparasites might carry many pathogens and transmitted to their hosts through blood feeding. Human might have the opportunity to be bite by ticks, therefore getting various tick-borne pathogens. Distribution of bacterium flora in ticks plays an essential role in mapping and preventing local tick-borne diseases. Our aim is to map the distribution of bacterium flora and identify the main tick-borne pathogens in dominant tick species in grazing areas of Yunnan province. MethodsV3-V4 region of 16S rRNA amplifier sequencing was used to analyze and study the tick-borne pathogens in Rh. Microplus. The prevalence survey on B.burgdorferi s.l., B. miyamotoi, E. chaffeensis, A. phagocytophilum, Coxiella burnetii and Spotted fever group rickettsiae was carried out via PCR. ResultsThe results showed 105 genus and 117 species were detected in 50 (24 in Yunpan, 26 in Menghun) ticks. Pathogen prevalence testing showed the ticks were positive for B.burgdorferi s.l.(9/50, 18%), Spotted fever group rickettsiae (35/50, 70%), and A.phagocytophilum (1/50, 2%). ConclusionIn our analysis, Spotted fever group rickettsiae were the dominant pathogens in these areas. At the same time, we found that v3-v4 high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene is not sensitive to identify species for certain bacteria(such as B. burgdorferi s.l.). More accurate and comprehensive analysis would be necessary for detecting tick bacterium flora.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Cardiac disease diagnosis based on GAN in case of missing data

In daily life, two common algorithms are used for collecting medical disease data: data integration of medical institutions and questionnaires. However, these statistical methods require collecting data from the entire research area, which consumes a significant amount of manpower and material resources. Additionally, data integration is difficult and poses privacy protection challenges, resulting in a large number of missing data in the dataset. The presence of incomplete data significantly reduces the quality of the published data, hindering the timely analysis of data and the generation of reliable knowledge by epidemiologists, public health authorities, and researchers. Consequently, this affects the downstream tasks that rely on this data. To address the issue of discrete missing data in cardiac disease, this paper proposes the AGAN (Attribute Generative Adversarial Nets) architecture for missing data filling, based on generative adversarial networks. This algorithm takes advantage of the strong learning ability of generative adversarial networks. Given the ambiguous meaning of filling data in other network structures, the attribute matrix is designed to directly convert it into the corresponding data type, making the actual meaning of the filling data more evident. Furthermore, the distribution deviation between the generated data and the real data is integrated into the loss function of the generative adversarial networks, improving their training stability and ensuring consistency between the generated data and the real data distribution. This approach establishes the missing data filling mechanism based on the generative adversarial networks, which ensures the rationality of the data distribution while filling the missing data samples. The experimental results demonstrate that compared to other filling algorithms, the data matrix filled by the proposed algorithm in this paper has more evident practical significance, fewer errors, and higher accuracy in downstream classification prediction.

physiology↗

bioRxiv2023

High-resolution dissection of human cell type-specific enhancers in cis and trans activities

The spatiotemporal specific gene expression is regulated by cell type-specific regulatory elements including enhancers, silencers and insulators etc. The massively parallel reporter assay (MPRA) methods like STARR-seq facilitate the systematic study of DNA sequence intrinsic enhancer activities in a large scale. However, when applied to human cells, it remains challenging to identify and quantify cell type-specific active enhancers in the genome-wide scale with high-resolution, due to the large size of human genome. In this study, we selected the H3K4me1 associated dinucleosome with the linker DNA sequences as candidate enhancer sequences in two different human cell lines and performed ChIP-STARR-seq to quantify the cell type-specific enhancer activities with high-resolution in a genome-wide scale. Furthermore, we investigated how the activity landscape of enhancer repository would change when transferred from native cells (cis activity) to another cell lines (trans activity). Using ChIP-STARR-seq of the candidate enhancers in native cells and another type of cells, we obtained enhancers cis activity maps and trans activity maps in two different cell lines. The cis and trans activity maps enabled us to identify cell type-specific active enhancers, with enrichment of motifs of differentially expressed TFs. Comparisons between the cis and trans activity maps revealed general consistent regulatory property with different levels of activity in the two cell types, suggesting the sequence intrinsic regulatory properties keep similar in different type of cells. This study provides a new perspective of sequence intrinsic enhancer activities in different types of cells.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2023

Kirigami electronics for long-term electrophysiological recording of human neural organoids and assembloids

Organoids and assembloids have emerged as a promising platform to model aspects of nervous system development. Longterm, minimally-invasive recordings in these multi-cellular systems are essential for developing disease models. Current technologies, such as patch-clamp, penetrating microelectrodes, planar electrode arrays and substrate-attached flexible electrodes, do not, however, allow chronic recording of organoids in suspension, which is necessary to preserve their architecture. Inspired by the art of kirigami, we developed flexible electronics that transition from a 2D pattern to a 3D basketlike configuration to accommodate the long-term culture of organoids in suspension. This platform, named kirigami electronics (KiriE), integrates with and enables chronic recording of cortical organoids while preserving morphology, cytoarchitecture, and cell composition. KiriE can be integrated with optogenetic and pharmacological stimulation and model disease. Moreover, KiriE can capture activity in cortico-striatal assembloids. Moving forward, KiriE could reveal disease phenotypes and activity patterns underlying the assembly of the nervous system.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

casmini-tool: a comprehensive database for efficient and specific guide RNA design using dCasMINI

The dCasMINI protein is a hypercompact, nuclease-inactivated CRISPR-Cas system engineered for transcriptional modulation and epigenetic editing [Xu et al., 2021]. The small size of dCas-MINI (529 amino acids), less than half the size of comparable Cas9 molecules, makes it ideal for AAV-based therapies which are frequently limited by AAVs small cargo capacity. Unlike Cas9 or Cas12a, there are no available computational tools for designing dCasMINI guides. To facilitate and accelerate the development of dCasMINI-based applications, we synthesized knowledge regarding dCasMINI guide design and built a website to assist researchers in designing optimal guides for dCasMINI-based experiments for transcriptional inhibition (CRISPRi) and activation (CRISPRa); to ensure that our tool would be useful for therapeutic guide design, in which a guides off-target safety profile is of paramount importance, we specifically optimized alignment parameters for high-sensitivity to comprehensively report genome-wide off-targets. To investigate dCasMINIs full protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) profile, we engineered libraries of PAMs and exhaustively characterized dCasMINIs ability to activate a locus with different PAMs. We also experimentally investigated the importance of each nucleotide position on the guide RNAs ability to activate its target, and characterized a 6bp high-fidelity seed region at the 5 end of the protospacer sequence which we identified to be intolerant to mismatches and deletions, and thus critical for true binding events. Taken together, our tool offers CRISPRi/a guide design for every protein-coding gene in the human genome along with comprehensive off-target prediction, incorporating the most up-to-date information about dCasMINIs full PAM and protospacer design rules. The tool is freely available to use at www.casmini-tool.com.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2023

Simultaneous multimodal optical coherence and three-photon microscopy of the mouse brain in the 1700 nm optical window in vivo

Multimodal microscopy combining various imaging approaches can provide complementary information about tissue in a single imaging session. Here, we demonstrate a multimodal approach combining three-photon microscopy (3PM) and spectral-domain optical coherence microscopy (SD-OCM). We show that an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) laser source, which is the standard source for three-photon fluorescence excitation and third harmonic generation (THG), can be used for simultaneous OCM, 3-photon (3P) fluorescence and THG imaging. We validated the system performance in deep mouse brains in vivo with an OPCPA source operating at 1620 nm center wavelength. We visualized small structures such as myelinated axons, neurons, and large fiber tracts in white matter with high spatial resolution non-invasively using linear and nonlinear contrast at >1 mm depth in intact adult mouse brain. Our results showed that simultaneous OCM and 3PM at the long wavelength window can be conveniently combined for deep tissue imaging in vivo.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2023

Genomic locus of lncRNA-Gm26793 forms an inter-chromosomal molecular lock with Cubn to ensure proper stem cell differentiation and mouse embryogenesis

Inter-chromosomal interactions play a crucial role in 3D genome organization, yet the organizational principles and functional significances remain elusive. In general, long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) loci and transcripts are frequently associated with transcriptional programs modulated by long-range chromatin interactions. Here, we identified a novel lncRNA named Gm26793, which is abundantly distributed in the primitive streak and mesodermal cells of E7.5 mouse gastrula. Through genetic ablation of Gm26793, we observed a preferential responsiveness to primitive endoderm lineage during stem cell differentiation, as well as enhanced occurrence of transient and degenerative state cells in early mouse embryos when the cell fate segregates between epiblast and primitive endoderm. Mechanistically, we revealed the genomic locus of Gm26793, rather than the lncRNA transcript or adjacent gene governs the cell fate preference towards primitive endoderm. Concretely, Gm26793 locus (Chr 7) forms an inter-chromosomal molecular lock with Cubn (Chr 2), restraining the expression of Cubn and maintaining a natural epigenetic landscape, thus ensuring the proper lineage specification in vitro and in vivo. In order to reinforce this lock, CTCF and cohesin complex serves as a ring to fasten the inter-chromosomal contact. Overall, our study provides a clear paradigm that inter-chromosomal interaction collaborates with architectural factors to stabilize nuclear conformation and guarantee faithful gene expression during stem cell differentiation and mammalian embryogenesis.

developmental biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Engineering synthetic phosphorylation signaling networks in human cells

Protein phosphorylation signaling networks play a central role in how cells sense and respond to their environment. Here, we describe the engineering of artificial phosphorylation networks in which "push-pull" motifs--reversible enzymatic phosphorylation cycles consisting of opposing kinase and phosphatase activities--are assembled from modular protein domain parts and then wired together to create synthetic phosphorylation circuits in human cells. We demonstrate that the composability of our design scheme enables model-guided tuning of circuit function and the ability to make diverse network connections; synthetic phosphorylation circuits can be coupled to upstream cell surface receptors to enable fast-timescale sensing of extracellular ligands, while downstream connections can regulate gene expression. We leverage these capabilities to engineer cell-based cytokine controllers that dynamically sense and suppress activated T cells. Our work introduces a generalizable approach for designing and building phosphorylation signaling circuits that enable user-defined sense-and- respond function for diverse biosensing and therapeutic applications.

synthetic biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Structural Basis of Streptomyces Antibiotic Regulatory Proteins Activating Transcription

Streptomycetes are renowned antibiotic producers, with Streptomyces antibiotic regulatory proteins (SARPs) acting as activators for antibiotic biosynthesis. However, the precise mechanism underlying SARPs transcriptional activation remains elusive. Here, we used cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to unravel the interplay between SARP, DNA, and RNA polymerase (RNAP) during transcriptional activation. The SARP domain of Streptomyces coelicolor AfsR (SAS) forms a side-by-side dimer contacting the afs box centered at -29.5 relative to the transcription start site. The upstream protomer binds to the direct repeat encompassing the -35 element while the {sigma}HrdB region 4 (R4) is positioned on top of both protomers, causing the removal of R4 from the major groove of the -35 element. Both SAS protomers establish interactions with C-terminal domain of one RNAP subunits, while specific regions of the RNAP {beta} flap tip helix and {beta} zinc-binding domain also engage with SAS. Key interfacial residues accounting for transcriptional activation were confirmed by mutational studies and in vitro transcriptional assays. Overall, our results present a detailed molecular view of how SARPs serve to activate transcription.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Functional characterization of gene regulatory elements and neuropsychiatric disease-associated risk loci in iPSCs and iPSC-derived neurons

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified thousands of non-coding variants that contribute to psychiatric disease risks, likely by perturbing cis-regulatory elements (CREs). However, our ability to interpret and explore their mechanisms of action is hampered by a lack of annotation of functional CREs (fCREs) in neural cell types. Here, through genome-scale CRISPR screens of 22,000 candidate CREs (cCREs) in human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) undergoing differentiation to excitatory neurons, we identify 2,847 and 5,540 fCREs essential for iPSC fitness and neuronal differentiation, respectively. These fCREs display dynamic epigenomic features and exhibit increased numbers and genomic spans of chromatin interactions following terminal neuronal differentiation. Furthermore, fCREs essential for neuronal differentiation show significantly greater enrichment of genetic heritability for neurodevelopmental diseases including schizophrenia (SCZ), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) than cCREs. Using high-throughput prime editing screens we experimentally confirm 45 SCZ risk variants that act by affecting the function of fCREs. The extensive and in-depth functional annotation of cCREs in neuronal types therefore provides a crucial resource for interpreting non-coding risk variants of neuropsychiatric disorders.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2023

High-efficiency gene editing in Anopheles sinensis using ReMOT control

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing provides an effective method for deciphering the molecular mechanisms underlying mosquito development and mosquito-borne disease transmission, as well as for exploring genetic control strategies. However, delivering the Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complex by embryo injection to produce genetic modifications is challenging, is mostly confined to model mosquitoes and specialized laboratories, and has low editing efficiency. Here, we established an effective Receptor-Mediated Ovary Transduction of Cargo (ReMOT) control method, enabling the introduction of heritable mutations into Anopheles sinensis, the major malaria vector in China and Southeast Asia, via the injection of female adult mosquitoes. Injection of a mixture of P2C-DsRed and saponin resulted in red fluorescence in the ovaries, with a 100% success rate. Using this system, we knocked-out the pigment synthesis genes, Aswhite and Asyellow, using injected wild-type (WT) females mated with WT males, resulting in the highest efficiency of gene editing among mosquitoes under the same mating conditions. Furthermore, the gene-editing efficiency was increased by at least 2.1-fold using injected WT females mated with mutant males. This improved ReMOT control method exhibits high editing efficiency, with important benefits in terms of functional genomics research and genetic control strategies in An. sinensis. Moreover, this represents a convenient method for gene manipulation in laboratories that are unable to perform embryo injection or that lack embryo-injection equipment.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2023

In Vivo Antiviral Efficacy of LCTG-002, a Pooled, Purified Human Milk Secretory IgA product, Against SARS-CoV-2 in a Murine Model of COVID-19

Immunoglobulin A (IgA) is the most abundant antibody (Ab) in human mucosal compartments including the respiratory tract, with the secretory form of IgA (sIgA) being dominant and uniquely stable in these environments. sIgA is naturally found in human milk, which could be considered a global resource for this biologic, justifying the development of human milk sIgA as a dedicated airway therapeutic for respiratory infections such as SARS-CoV-2. In the present study, methods were therefore developed to efficiently extract human milk sIgA from donors who were either immunologically naive to SARS-CoV-2 (pooled as a control IgA) or had recovered from a PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection that elicited high-titer anti-SARS-CoV-2 Spike sIgA Abs in their milk (pooled together to make LCTG-002). Mass spectrometry determined that proteins with a relative abundance of 1.0% or greater were all associated with sIgA. None of the proteins exhibited statistically significant differences between batches. Western blot demonstrated all batches consisted predominantly of sIgA. Compared to control IgA, LCTG-002 demonstrated significantly higher binding to Spike, and was also capable of blocking the Spike - ACE2 interaction in vitro with 6.3x greater potency compared to control IgA (58% inhibition at [~]240ug/mL). LCTG-002 was then tested in vivo for its capacity to reduce viral burden in the lungs of K18+hACE2 transgenic mice inoculated with SARS-CoV-2. LCTG-002 was demonstrated to significantly reduce SARS-CoV-2 titers in the lungs compared to control IgA when administered at either 250ug/day or 1 mg/day, as measured by TCID50, plaque forming units (PFU), and qRT-PCR, with a maximum reduction of 4.9 logs. This innovative study demonstrates that LCTG-002 is highly pure, efficacious, and well tolerated in vivo, supporting further development of milk-derived, polyclonal sIgA therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 and other mucosal infections.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2023

Genomic insights into post-domestication expansion and selection of body size in ponies

Horses domestication revolutionized human civilization by changing transportation, farming, and warfare patterns. Despite extensive studies on modern domestic horse origins, the intricate demographic history and genetic signatures of pony size demand further exploration. Here, we present a high-quality genome of the Chinese Debao pony and extensively analyzed 385 individuals from 49 horse breeds. We reveal the conservation of ancient components in East Asian horses and close relationships between Asian horses and specific European pony lineages. Genetic analysis uncovers Asian paternal origin for European pony breeds, and these pony-sized horses share a close genetic affinity due to the presence of a potential ancestral ghost pony population. Additionally, we identify promising cis-regulatory elements influencing horse withers height by regulating genes like RFLNA and FOXO1. Overall, our study provides insightful perspectives into the development history and genetic determinants underlying body size in ponies and offers broader implications for horse population management and improvement. TeaserDecoding pony genetics: exploring origins and size determinants sheds light on their historical and biological impacts.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2023

Genome analyses reveal the secondary metabolites potentially influence the geographical distribution of Fusarium pseudograminearum populations

Fusarium crown rot (FCR), caused by Fusarium pseudograminearum, significantly impacts wheat yield and quality in Chinas Huanghuai region. The rapid F. pseudograminearum epidemic and FCR outbreak within a decade remain unexplained. In this study, two high-quality, chromosome-level genomes of F. pseudograminearum strains producing 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (3AcDON) and 15-acetyl-deoxynivalenol (15AcDON) toxins were assembled. Additionally, 38 related strains were resequenced. Genomic differences such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), insertions/deletions (indels), and structural variations (SVs) among F. pseudograminearum strains were analyzed. The whole-genome SNP locus based population classification mirrored the toxin chenotype (3AcDON and 15AcDON)-based classification, indicating the presence of genes associated with the trichothecene toxin gene cluster. Further analysis of differential SNP, indel, and SV loci between the 3AcDON and 15AcDON populations revealed a predominant connection to secondary metabolite synthesis genes. Notably, the majority of the secondary metabolite biosynthesis gene cluster (SMGC) loci were located in SNP-dense genomic regions, suggesting high mutability and a possible contribution to F. pseudograminearum population structure and environmental adaptability. This study provides insightful perspectives on the distribution and evolution of F. pseudograminearum, and for forecasting the spread of wheat FCR, thereby aiding in the development of preventive measures and control strategies.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2023

HSPA8-mediated stability of the CLPP protein regulates mitochondrial autophagy in cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells

BackgroundCurrently, platinum agents remain the mainstay of chemotherapy for ovarian cancer (OC). However, cisplatin (DDP) resistance is a major reason for chemotherapy failure. Thus, it is extremely important to elucidate the mechanism of resistance to DDP. MethodsWe establish 2 DDP-resistant ovarian cancer cell lines and find that caseinolytic protease P (CLPP) is significantly downregulated in the DDP-resistant cell lines when compared to wild-type ovarian cancer cell lines (SK-OV-3 and OVcar3). Next, we investigate the functions of CLPP in the DDP-resistant and wild-type ovarian cancer cells using various assays including cell counting kit-8 assays, western blotting, immunofluorescent staining, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) and apoptosis detection. ResultsOur experiments show that CLPP knockdown significantly increase the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) and mitophagy of wild-type SK-OV-3 and OVcar3 cells, while CLPP overexpression reduces the IC50 values and mitophagy of DDP-resistant SK-OV-3 and OVcar3 cells. Next, we perform database predictions and experiments to show that heat shock protein family A member 8 (HSPA8) regulates CLPP protein stability. The dynamic effects of the HSPA8/CLPP axis in the ovarian cancer cells were also examined. HSPA8 increases mitophagy and the IC50 values of SK-OV-3 and OVcar3 cells, but inhibits their ROS production and apoptosis. In addition, CLPP partly reverses the effects induced by HSPA8 in the SK-OV-3 and OVcar3 cells. ConclusionsCLPP increases the DDP resistance of ovarian cancer by inhibiting mitophagy and promoting cellular stress. Meanwhile, HSPA8 promotes the degradation of CLPP protein by inducing its stability.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2023

Differential neural mechanisms underlie cortical gating of visual spatial attention mediated by alpha-band oscillations

Selective attention relies on neural mechanisms that facilitate processing of behaviorally relevant sensory information while suppressing irrelevant information, consistently linked to alpha-band oscillations in human M/EEG studies. We analyzed cortical alpha responses from intracranial electrodes implanted in eight epilepsy patients, who performed a visual spatial attention task. Electrocorticographic data revealed a spatiotemporal dissociation between attention-modulated alpha desynchronization, associated with the enhancement of sensory processing, and alpha synchronization, associated with the suppression of sensory processing, during the cue-target interval. Dorsal intraparietal areas contralateral to the attended hemifield primarily exhibited a delayed and sustained alpha desynchronization, while ventrolateral extrastriatal areas ipsilateral to the attended hemifield primarily exhibited an earlier and sustained alpha synchronization. Analyses of cross-frequency coupling between alpha phase and broadband high-frequency activity (HFA) further revealed cross-frequency interactions along the visual hierarchy contralateral to the attended locations. Directionality analyses indicate that alpha phase in early and extrastriatal visual areas modulated HFA power in downstream visual areas, thus potentially facilitating the feedforward processing of an upcoming, spatially predictable target. In contrast, in areas ipsilateral to the attended locations, HFA power modulated local alpha phase in early and extrastriatal visual areas, with suppressed interareal interactions, potentially attenuating the processing of distractors. Our findings reveal divergent alpha-mediated neural mechanisms underlying target enhancement and distractor suppression during the deployment of spatial attention, reflecting enhanced functional connectivity at attended locations, while suppressed functional connectivity at unattended locations. The collective dynamics of these alpha-mediated neural mechanisms play complementary roles in the efficient gating of sensory information. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTSelective attention relies on neural mechanisms involved in target enhancement and distractor suppression to guide behavior. Using electrocorticographic data in humans, we show a spatiotemporal dissociation between cortical activities engaged in target facilitation and distractor inhibition during attentional deployment. We also found that, at attended locations, interareal interactions are enhanced through cross-frequency coupling along the visual hierarchy to potentially facilitate the processing of a spatially predictable target. In contrast, at unattended locations, intraareal interactions are enhanced through cross-frequency coupling, and interareal interactions are suppressed, together to potentially attenuate the processing of distractors. Our findings reveal that such a distributed cortical organization and complementary neural mechanisms enable efficient gating and filtering of sensory information in the anticipatory processing of spatial attention.

neuroscience↗