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Zhang, B.

Publications and source records attributed to Zhang, B..

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Galectin-1 Modulates Cell Adhesions, Caveolae, and Vascular Permeability in Kidney Endothelial Cells -- Insights from Proteomics, Phosphoproteomics, and Functional Studies

Microvascular inflammation and endothelial injury, triggered by interferon-gamma (IFN{gamma}), are hallmarks of antibody-mediated rejection (ABMR), the leading cause of premature kidney allograft loss. Glomerular extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling and endothelial caveolae formation are important aspects of chronic ABMR. We found galectin-1, an immunomodulatory protein that interacts with the ECM, to be increased in the glomeruli of patients with ABMR, while its gene (LGALS1) expression was decreased by IFN{gamma} stimulation in glomerular endothelial cells. Mechanisms underlying endothelial dysfunction in ABMR, its links to ECM remodeling, and the role of immunomodulatory proteins such as galectin-1 remain incompletely understood. Here we studied the effects of galectin-1 modulation in glomerular microvascular endothelial cells (GMECs) in vitro. We demonstrated that galectin-1 was mainly expressed by glomerular endothelial cells in ABMR kidneys. To model key aspects of endothelial injury in ABMR, we knocked down LGALS1 in GMECs, followed by stimulation with IFN{gamma} and performed label-free quantitative proteomic and phosphoproteomic profiling of GMECs. Proteomic analysis identified 5446 proteins (FDR<0.01), of which 236, 827, and 267 were differentially expressed in response to LGALS1 knockdown, IFN{gamma} treatment, and their interaction, respectively (FDR<0.05). Both LGALS1 knockdown and the interaction between treatments significantly altered expression of adhesion proteins (FDR<0.01), particularly integrin subunit {beta}5, which was validated. Phosphoproteomic profiling identified 2727 phosphopeptides (FDR<0.01), with 28 that were differentially expressed across LGALS1 knockdown, IFN{gamma} treatment, and their interaction (P<0.01). Phosphorylation of CAVN1 and co-localization with its partner CAV1, critical for caveolar formation, were decreased in GMECs upon LGALS1 knockdown, IFN{gamma} stimulation, or both. In a microfluidic model of the glomerular microvasculature, addition of recombinant galectin-1 increased both endothelial permeability and secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, in LGALS1-silenced GMECs. Thus, endothelial signaling pathways regulated by inflammatory cues and galectin-1 contribute to endothelial injury and caveolae formation, highlighting galectin-1 as a potential therapeutic target in ABMR. SynopsisGalectin-1 is expressed by kidney glomerular endothelium. This study reveals that modifying galectin-1 in endothelial cells, in the presence of IFN{gamma} perturbs cytoskeletal, adhesion and caveolar proteins resulting in altered endothelial permeability. O_LILGALS1 knockdown increased ECM proteins and decreased interferon-induced proteins. C_LIO_LILGALS1 knockdown and IFN{gamma} treatment perturbed cell adhesion proteins such as ITGB5. C_LIO_LICAVN1 phosphorylation and colocalization with CAV1 decreased upon LGALS1 knockdown. C_LIO_LIExtracellular galectin-1 increased microvascular permeability in response to IFN{gamma}. C_LI

cell biology↗

The orbitofrontal cortex constructs allocentric schemas by integrating dynamic mobile agents with static environmental anchors

Scene construction involves the automatic synthesis of fragmented visual inputs into coherent mental models. While previous work has focused on static landscapes, real-world scenes require integrating dynamic agents with stable environmental anchors. We investigated the neural hierarchy underlying this transformation using an automatic space-encoding task in a 3D virtual-reality environment and fMRI representational similarity analysis. Results revealed functional segregation across visual cortex: the superior lateral occipital cortex encoded the first-person perspective of mobile character layouts, whereas the lingual gyrus and occipital fusiform cortex represented environments specified by visible landmarks. The orbitofrontal cortex integrated these streams into an allocentric spatial schema, capturing relational geometry beyond the current visual field. Following encoding, these representations were expressed in the anterior hippocampus for self-localization. Together, the findings demonstrate an automatic hierarchical transformation in which the OFC serves as a central scaffold for constructing allocentric spatial frameworks underlying stable scene representation.

neuroscience↗

Colitis-induced visceral pain recruits central neurotensin neurons that modulate colonic sensitivity

Inflammatory bowel disease produces debilitating visceral pain that remains a major clinical challenge. Notably, many patients experience persistent pain even after the inflammation resolves, indicating a sustained sensitization of central neural circuits that drives enduring pain. The brainstem parabrachial nucleus integrates interoceptive signals from the gastrointestinal tract to elicit both pain perception and affective responses. Using activity-dependent mapping and an RNAscope assay, we identified a neurotensin (NT)-expressing neuronal population in the lateral PBN (PBNL) that is selectively activated during dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis. In vivo neural activity recordings demonstrate that PBNL NT neurons encode colon-derived nociceptive signals in an intensity-dependent manner. Silencing these neurons attenuates colonic reflexes evoked by luminal distension and normalizes aberrant gastrointestinal transit and nociceptive licking behavior in colitic mice. Pharmacological blockade of NT signaling alleviates colitis-associated hypersensitivity. These findings identify a central neural population that encodes visceral inflammation and regulates peripheral organ function, and pinpoints neurotensin as a promising therapeutic target to treat colitis-induced visceral pain.

neuroscience↗

Transforming Histology into Virtual Multiplex Immunofluorescence to Decode Prognostic Spatial Immunity in Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The spatial organization of the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) drives hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prognosis but remains unquantifiable on routine H&E slides. Here, we present HCCExplorer, a deep learning framework that translates H&E into virtual multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) and uses multi-modal graph learning to decode spatial survival signals. Trained on 30 H&E-mIF slide pairs, HCCExplorer evaluated a 1,813-slide multi-center cohort. It achieved superior overall survival stratification over clinical indices and state-of-the-art pathology and protein foundation models, yielding a concordance index of 0.71 and a Hazard Ratio (HR) of 15.46 (P < 0.001), maintaining stability across three external cohorts. Beyond risk stratification, interpretation of model features identified M1 macrophage infiltration as a protective determinant (HR=0.40, P < 0.05). Furthermore, it uncovered a protective "Containment Niche" at the invasion frontier (HR=0.02, P < 0.01), featuring macrophages co-localizing with Foxp3+ Tregs and CD4+ T cells. Ultimately, HCCExplorer provides actionable, spatially-resolved biomarkers from conventional histology for precision HCC management.

pathology↗

Event2Flow: Scalable imaging of peripheral and cerebral hemodynamics with event-based vision sensors

Accurate blood flow mapping over mesoscale fields of view is essential for understanding physiological and pathological processes, yet conventional optical methods often rely on bulky high-speed cameras that generate massive datasets with excessive computation burden. Here, we introduce Event2Flow, a compact and data-efficient framework leveraging event-based vision sensors, which asynchronously capture brightness changes with sub-millisecond latency and minimal data redundancy. Event2Flow supports multiple contrast mechanisms for flow measurement, including speckle fluctuation and particle tracking. By correlating the event count with flow velocity through simulations and experiments, we first demonstrate its application in laser speckle imaging for noninvasive mapping of mouse ear vasculature and ethanol-induced hemodynamic changes. When integrated with widefield fluorescence localization microscopy and point spread function engineering, Event2Flow further enables kilohertz-rate particle tracking for rapid 3D velocity quantification in transcranial brain imaging and snapshot flow direction estimations using event polarity. Overall, Event2Flow offers a scalable alternative to conventional high-speed imaging systems for vascular and neuroimaging applications.

neuroscience↗

A shared transcriptional network in the nucleus accumbens supports resilience to chronic stress across sex.

Although chronic stress increases the risk for depression, only a subset of exposed individuals develop psychiatric illness. The biological mechanisms that protect against depression remain incompletely understood, particularly at the molecular level. Here, we identify a transcriptional network in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a central brain reward region, that supports stress resilience in both sexes and demonstrate the causal contribution of key hub genes. Using chronic social defeat stress, RNA-seq, and co-expression network analysis, we find sex-specific but overlapping gene modules linked to resilience, anchored by shared hub genes embedded within a common network architecture. Overexpression of these hub genes in stress-naive mice confers stress protection and induces a transcriptional state that is discrete from both susceptible and resilient profiles. These findings position resilience as a structured and targetable molecular phenotype and provide a basis for investigating sex-informed mechanisms of stress adaptation.

neuroscience↗

The Strehler-Mildvan mortality correlation arises from changes in the variability of ageing

As global human life expectancy continues to rise, accompanying increases in healthspan that prevent morbidity expansion become increasingly imperative. Population lifespan can increase in distinct ways, for instance through rectangularization (steepening) or triangularization (flattening) of survival curves. These two demographic changes, particularly rectangularization, occur frequently across human and model organism populations, yet their biological determinants and effects on healthspan and morbidity are largely unknown. Notably, these modes of life-extension occur when parameters of the Gompertz mortality model (capturing exponential age-increases in mortality rate) change inversely, a widely-reported phenomenon known as the Strehler-Mildvan correlation - whose biological basis also remains unexplained. We therefore investigated longitudinal health, morbidity and lifespan in 30 Caenorhabditis elegans cohorts using multiple life-extension protocols. We report that survival curve rectangularization results from healthspan expansion in short-lived population members, whereas triangularization (which primarily extends the curve tail) from healthspan and morbidity expansion in long-lived population members. Interestingly, rectangularization and triangularization respectively decrease and increase inter-individual variation in the aging process, and the mode of life-extension that occurs depends on levels of existing variation. Notably, triangularization was more effective at extending lifespan without morbidity expansion. Analysis of fruit fly and mouse data show that these biodemographic dynamics are also largely evolutionarily conserved.

physiology↗

A structurally unique effector shared between Verticillium dahliae and Fusarium oxysporum is involved in cotton defoliation and virulence on other hosts

Defoliating (D) strains of the vascular wilt fungus Verticillium dahliae cause severe yield losses in cotton and olive worldwide, yet the genetic basis underlying this pathotype has remained unknown. Here, we combined comparative genomics, functional genetics, structural analysis, and phylogenomics to uncover the molecular determinant of defoliation. We identified a small, D pathotype-specific genomic region encoding two duplicated secreted effector genes. Simultaneous deletion of both gene copies abolished pathogenicity and defoliation in cotton, olive, Nicotiana benthamiana, and Arabidopsis thaliana, whereas single deletions reduced virulence and genetic complementation restored disease symptoms. Conversely, expression of the D effector in non-defoliating strains was sufficient to induce defoliation. Moreover, or exogenous application of the purified protein, induced wilting and defoliation as well. Structural analyses revealed that D homologs share a conserved but previously uncharacterized protein fold and are distributed across Verticillium and Fusarium species, exhibiting functional diversification and host-specific activity. Phylogenomic and genomic context analyses indicate repeated horizontal transfer events mediated by giant transposable elements known as Starships. Together, our findings identify the D effector as a central pathogenicity factor that drives defoliation and virulence, and demonstrate how Starship-mediated horizontal gene transfer shapes the emergence and dissemination of an agriculturally devastating fungal trait.

plant biology↗

Thermodynamic scaling of canine aging and reversible clock deceleration by a reverse transcriptase inhibitor

Aging was tracked in a cohort of 99 "retired" sled dogs over four years to characterize the latent dynamics of physiological decline. Animals were randomized to receive either placebo or the reverse transcriptase inhibitor lamivudine for [~]30 months. We employed a variational autoregressive model to integrate longitudinal blood parameters and DNA methylation (DNAm) profiles. The model defines Biological Age (BA) as a signature of irreversible damage with Poissonian statistics, a feature conserved across mammalian scales. Lamivudine modulated age-independent latent variables and temporarily decelerated the DNAm clock in females, but these effects were reversible upon treatment discontinuation and did not alter the long-term BA trajectory. Critically, we show that physiological fluctuations are governed by a single systemic factor - an effective or phenotypic temperature representing an emergent (macroscopic) property. We show that while the rate of damage accumulation (the BA slope) is independent of this temperature, actuarial aging parameters (initial mortality and the Gompertz exponent) are strongly temperature dependent. This supports a model where mortality arises from effective activation across a protective free energy barrier that erodes with age. These findings identify phenotypic temperature as an important control variable governing the kinetics of organism-level failure, offering a compelling target for interventions aimed at extending healthspan by "squaring" the survival curve.

systems biology↗

Base-resolution DNA methylome of human MDS hematopoietic stem cell reveals TET2-GFI1 epigenetic axis repressing MDS

Dysfunctional hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) drive the initiation of myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), yet the genome-wide DNA methylation landscape in MDS primitive HSCs and its mechanistic contribution to disease pathogenesis remain poorly defined. Here, we establish single-base resolution DNA methylomes of bone marrow HSCs from MDS patients and healthy donors. We uncover widespread hypermethylation within CpG islands, alongside hypomethylation in repetitive elements such as Alu. Differentially methylated regions (DMRs) are enriched for genes involved in cancer-related pathways, as well as extrinsic signaling pathways and intrinsic transcriptional networks essential for HSC function. Among these, we identify GFI1 and BMI1 as key targets of DNA methylation dysregulation in MDS. Notably, using either MDS or Tet2-deficient mouse model, we demonstrate that loss of Tet2, a frequently mutated epigenetic regulator in MDS, induces promoter hypermethylation and transcriptional repression of Gfi1, contributing to expansion of the MDS or aged hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell pool. Our study not only charts the base-resolution DNA methylome of human MDS HSCs but also reveals a TET2-GFI1 axis that safeguards HSC homeostasis. These findings provide mechanistic insight into how aberrant DNA methylation drives HSC dysfunction in MDS and offer an epigenomic resource for discovering novel regulators and therapeutic targets at the stem cell level.

immunology↗

A Dual-Pathway Wnt-IL-13 Fusion Protein Enhances Human Intestinal Regeneration Through Tuft Cell Activation

Compromised intestinal regenerative responses drive severe inflammatory conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease and graft-versus-host disease, affecting millions of people worldwide each year. Despite extensive research, effective therapies remain limited, and no curative treatments are currently available. We recently discovered that human intestinal tuft cells promote tissue repair following injury through Wnt and IL-4/IL-13 signaling pathways. Building on this discovery, here we report the engineering and functional validation of a synthetic Wnt-IL-13 fusion protein that simultaneously activates both the Wnt and IL-4/IL-13 signaling pathways to enhance human intestinal tuft cell activity. Employing human organoids technology, we demonstrate that this therapeutic approach promotes mucosal healing.

biochemistry↗

Calcium directs actin assembly via allosteric activation of formin INF2

Calcium signals spatiotemporally orchestrate cytoskeletal dynamics, typically through Rho GTPase-mediated signaling cascades, yet the direct molecular transducers that convert local calcium transients into spatially controlled actin assembly have remained elusive. Here, we uncover a structure-based mechanism by which calcium-bound calmodulin (Ca2+-CaM) directly activates formin INF2 to drive actin assembly. We demonstrate that Ca2+-CaM binds to the diaphanous inhibitory domain (DID) of INF2 with nanomolar affinity, inducing allosteric conformational changes that sterically disrupt INF2 autoinhibition. The unexpected bipartite Ca2+-CaM binding interface on INF2 enables ultrasensitive decoding of local calcium microdomains, such as ER-mitochondrial contacts, where activated INF2 promotes actin polymerization to facilitate mitochondrial fission. We further show that the Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease-associated INF2 R91G mutation enhances Ca2+-CaM binding via optimized interfacial dynamics, suggesting a gain-of-function disease mechanism. Our work establishes the Ca2+-CaM-INF2 axis as a direct molecular transducer linking spatial calcium signals to actin-dependent organelle dynamics, defining a Rho-GTPase-independent paradigm for calcium-cytoskeleton communication, with broad implications for INF2-linked pathologies.

biochemistry↗

Distinct allosteric remodeling of HIV-1 Env dynamics on virions by gp41-directed antibodies reveals two modes of neutralization

HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env), a gp120-gp41 trimer, undergoes coordinated conformational changes that drive membrane fusion and allow immune evasion by transiently concealing neutralization-sensitive epitopes. Most broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) target gp120, whereas a distinct subset recognizes conserved gp41 regions, such as the fusion peptide and the membrane-proximal external region; however, their impact on Env dynamics and associated neutralization mechanisms remains unclear. Using bioorthogonal tagging for single-molecule FRET, we monitored real-time bNAb-induced conformational sampling of Env on intact virions. Most gp41-directed bNAbs allosterically stabilized the prefusion-closed (PC) state, whereas the bivalent 10E8.4/iMab favored both PC and CD4-bound open (predominant) states. Antibodies redistributed the conformational populations of Env with modest kinetic effects, preserving the sequential transition pathway. These findings reveal two modes of neutralization for gp41-directed antibodies: fixing the prefusion-closed conformation and opening it, in both cases via long-range allosteric control of Env dynamics.

microbiology↗

Mapping lineage and functional diversity in the high-risk human mammary epithelium

BackgroundBreast cancer risk is shaped by the vast heterogeneity of mammary epithelial cells, comprising basal, luminal progenitor, and mature luminal populations. While transcriptional variation among these lineages has been extensively studied, protein-level features - particularly in high-risk women - remain underexplored, limiting insight into early cellular and molecular determinants of susceptibility. Moreover, little is known about how clinical covariates influence clonogenic capacity, proteomic states, and epithelial proportions, complicating the design of properly controlled human studies of early breast cancer risk. ResultsWe combined low-input proteomics with functional clonogenic assays to profile mammary epithelial cell subpopulations from a cohort of 21 breast tissues encompassing different germline mutation backgrounds, parity status and age. We quantified over 5,555 proteins and observed marked inter-donor variation in epithelial composition, proteomic programs, and colony-forming capacity. Multivariable modeling revealed that clinical covariates - including age, parity, and germline mutation status - modulate both global proteomic architecture and lineage-specific pathway activity. Parity was associated with reduced basal cell abundance, altered luminal progenitor and mature luminal proteomes, and changes in clonogenicity. Pathway analyses identified both conserved and lineage-restricted responses to shared risk factors. Projection of clonogenic signatures onto METABRIC and TCGA tumors further linked functional programs to tumor subtypes and clinical outcomes. ConclusionsThis study provides the most comprehensive proteomic atlas of cell-type resolved diversity in the high-risk breast to date. By defining how clinical covariates remodel epithelial composition and molecular state, it clarifies key sources of biological variability that challenge controlled study design and offers a resource for improving mechanistic insight, risk assessment, and prevention strategies.

cancer biology↗

Glucose is a ligand-like trigger for secretion of postprandial GLP-1

Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is secreted from the intestinal L cells in a glucose-dependent manner. However, the mechanism underlying how glucose stimulates the secretion remains unclear. Here, we found that glucose at postprandial concentrations near the Km of GK for glucose ([~]10 mM), as well as nonmetabolizable glucose analogs, triggers GLP-1 secretion by intestinal L cells through directly binding to glucokinase (GK), without increasing intracellular ATP levels. We also show that in postprandially high glucose, glucose-bound GK interacts and inhibits KATP, as assessed by immunoprecipitation and FRET-FLIM analyses, as well as patch clamping. In addition, we have utilized GK mutants identified in diabetics, demonstrating that those mutants defective in binding to glucose impair GLP-1 secretion in however high glucose, whereas mutants constitutively bound to glucose with defects in catalysis, promote GLP-1 secretion even in low glucose. Furthermore, the KATP mutant unable to bind to GK blocks GLP-1 secretion in high glucose. We have also provided evidence showing that sodium-glucose cotransporter 1 (SGLT1) plays an important role in the basal secretion of GLP-1, but not in high glucose. We have thus revealed that glucose the molecule itself and GK act as a ligand and the receptor, respectively, to induce GLP-1 secretion in response to high glucose, providing new therapeutic avenues targeting metabolic diseases.

biochemistry↗

Rejuvenation of white adipose tissue in a longitudinal heterochronic transplantation model

Exposure to a younger system can induce organismal rejuvenation, yet whether all tissues can be rejuvenated and by what mechanisms remains understudied. We performed heterochronic and isochronic transplantation of subcutaneous white adipose tissue (WAT) between young and old mice and longitudinally tracked changes in biological age. Transplantation accelerated tissue aging, and the molecular age of grafts shifted toward that of the host. Most importantly, old WAT was rejuvenated in a young body. Epigenetic and transcriptomic clocks revealed a reduction of predicted age, accompanied by coordinated activation of canonical and previously unrecognized thermogenic pathways. Molecular rejuvenation was further supported by architectural changes toward a youthful state, including reduced lipid droplet size and decreased cellular heterogeneity. Mitochondrial abundance and morphology remained unchanged, while collagen deposition increased. These results demonstrate that WAT biological age is partially reversible and identify molecular and cellular features underlying its rejuvenation

systems biology↗

A gastric microbial chromatin remodeler drives gastric cancer progression and immune evasion by reprogramming the host epigenome

Emerging evidence highlights the crucial role of microbial communities in modulating cancer development and progression. In gastric cancer (GC), we identify Streptococcus anginosus (SA) as a tumor-resident oncobacterium that drives both tumor progression and immune evasion. We define a novel mechanism in which SA secretes extracellular vesicles (saEVs) that translocate the bacterial chromatin remodeler saSNF2 into host cell. There, saSNF2 partners with host transcription factor TEAD1--through its ATPase activity and participation in BAF complex assembly--to coordinately activate oncogenic transcription. This transkingdom interaction upregulates the palmitoyltransferase ZDHHC11, which in turn stabilizes PD-L1 via palmitoylation to establish an immunosuppressive niche, while also amplifying other TEAD1 target genes to fuel tumor progression. Functionally, saEVs promote tumor growth and limit CD8+ T-cell infiltration in vivo. Strikingly, pharmacological inhibition of ZDHHC11 reverses immune evasion and synergizes with anti-PD-1 checkpoint blockade. Our results establish SA as a multifaceted driver of GC and reveal the saSNF2-ZDHHC11 axis as a promising target to potentiate immunotherapy.

cancer biology↗

CyTOF-based profiling of circulating tumor cells predicts aggressiveness and therapy response in SCLC liquid biopsies at a personalized level

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive neuroendocrine carcinoma characterized by high numbers of circulating tumor cells (CTCs). We applied CyTOF and a 20-marker antibody panel to detect and phenotype CTCs directly in liquid biopsies of 51 SCLC patients (treatment-naive, chemotherapy and immunotherapy-treated, and tarlatamab-treated), of which a subset were longitudinally tracked. Unsupervised clustering revealed distinct cell populations enriched in patient liquid biopsies compared to those from healthy donors. Further analysis identified CTC populations of the three established SCLC subtypes driven by the high expression of ASCL1, NeuroD1, and POU2F3 transcription factors respectively. Significant differences in CTC EMT markers, established therapeutic targets (e.g. DLL3), and subtype heterogeneity were observed between naive versus treated samples. Changes in subtype proportions were observed in longitudinally tracked samples in both treatment modalities. Our study demonstrates the utility of CyTOF for high-resolution CTC profiling, offering dynamic insights into CTC heterogeneity, treatment response, and resistance mechanisms. HighlightsO_LICTCs can be detected, subtyped and phenotyped in SCLC liquid biopsies using CyTOF C_LIO_LICTC subtypes and EMT states are differentially associated with treatment modality C_LIO_LICTC DLL3 levels and epithelial features increase following anti-DLL3 BiTE therapy C_LIO_LICyTOF CTC subtyping can predict disease aggressiveness C_LIO_LILongitudinal tracking reveals CTC plasticity and therapy response correlations C_LI Graphical Abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=132 SRC="FIGDIR/small/694669v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (46K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@384cbcorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@35dd37org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@4e7d61org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1098e4f_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

cancer biology↗