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Zhou, W.

Publications and source records attributed to Zhou, W..

At least 271 records · Page 15Linked to original sources

N439K variant in spike protein may alter the infection efficiency and antigenicity of SARS-CoV-2 based on molecular dynamics simulation

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causing an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has been undergoing various mutations. The analysis of the structural and energetic effects of mutations on protein-protein interactions between the receptor binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 and angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) or neutralizing monoclonal antibodies will be beneficial for epidemic surveillance, diagnosis, and optimization of neutralizing agents. According to the molecular dynamics simulation, a key mutation N439K in the SARS-CoV-2 RBD region created a new salt bridge which resulted in greater electrostatic complementarity. Furthermore, the N439K-mutated RBD bound hACE2 with a higher affinity than wild-type, which may lead to more infectious. In addition, the N439K-mutated RBD was markedly resistant to the SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody REGN10987, which may lead to the failure of neutralization. These findings would offer guidance on the development of neutralizing antibodies and the prevention of COVID-19.

bioinformatics↗

Changes in nitrogen pools in the maize-soil system after urea or straw application to a typical intensive agricultural soil: A 15N tracer study

A 15N maize pot experiment was conducted to compare the N value of fertilizer alone and fertilizer combined with straw at an equivalent N rate. The four treatments were control (CK), 15N-urea, 15N-urea plus straw, and 15N-straw plus urea. Soil N pools, maize N and their 15N abundance were determined during maize growth. At maturity 26.0% of straw N was assimilated by maize in the urea plus straw treatment. From the eighth leaf stage to maturity, urea plus straw had a significantly (P < 0.05) higher concentration and percentage of exogenous substrate N present as soil total N (TN), particulate organic N (PON), and mineral associated total N (MTN) in bulk and rhizosphere soils than the urea-only treatment. From silking to maturity in the urea plus straw treatment, rhizosphere soil significantly (P < 0.05) increased the percentage of exogenous substrate N present as inorganic N (Inorg-N) and MTN, and significantly (P < 0.05) decreased that present as PON and microbial biomass N (MBN) compared with the bulk soil. From the eighth leaf stage to maturity, rhizosphere soil significantly (P < 0.05) increased the percentage of straw N present as Inorg-N and MTN except for MTN at the silking stage, and significantly decreased (P < 0.05) that present as PON compared with the bulk soil. Overall, straw was an available N source to the crop, and the increase in straw N availability needs to be considered from the interaction of fertilization practices and the crop rhizosphere.

plant biology↗

An efficient and accurate frailty model approach for genome-wide survival association analysis controlling for population structure and relatedness in large-scale biobanks

With decades of electronic health records linked to genetic data, large biobanks provide unprecedented opportunities for systematically understanding the genetics of the natural history of complex diseases. Genome-wide survival association analysis can identify genetic variants associated with ages of onset, disease progression and lifespan. We developed an efficient and accurate frailty (random effects) model approach for genome-wide survival association analysis of censored time-to-event (TTE) phenotypes in large biobanks by accounting for both population structure and relatedness. Our method utilizes state-of-the-art optimization strategies to reduce the computational cost. The saddlepoint approximation is used to allow for analysis of heavily censored phenotypes (>90%) and low frequency variants (down to minor allele count 20). We demonstrated the performance of our method through extensive simulation studies and analysis of five TTE phenotypes, including lifespan, with heavy censoring rates (90.9% to 99.8%) on ~400,000 UK Biobank participants with white British ancestry and ~180,000 samples in FinnGen, respectively. We further performed genome-wide association analysis for 871 TTE phenotypes in UK Biobank and presented the genome-wide scale phenome-wide association (PheWAS) results with the PheWeb browser.

genomics↗

Large-scale single-cell analysis reveals critical immune characteristics of COVID-19 patients

Dysfunctional immune response in the COVID-19 patients is a recurrent theme impacting symptoms and mortality, yet the detailed understanding of pertinent immune cells is not complete. We applied single-cell RNA sequencing to 284 samples from 205 COVID-19 patients and controls to create a comprehensive immune landscape. Lymphopenia and active T and B cell responses were found to coexist and associated with age, sex and their interactions with COVID-19. Diverse epithelial and immune cell types were observed to be virus-positive and showed dramatic transcriptomic changes. Elevation of ANXA1 and S100A9 in virus-positive squamous epithelial cells may enable the initiation of neutrophil and macrophage responses via the ANXA1-FPR1 and S100A8/9-TLR4 axes. Systemic upregulation of S100A8/A9, mainly by megakaryocytes and monocytes in the peripheral blood, may contribute to the cytokine storms frequently observed in severe patients. Our data provide a rich resource for understanding the pathogenesis and designing effective therapeutic strategies for COVID-19. HIGHLIGHTSO_LILarge-scale scRNA-seq analysis depicts the immune landscape of COVID-19 C_LIO_LILymphopenia and active T and B cell responses coexist and are shaped by age and sex C_LIO_LISARS-CoV-2 infects diverse epithelial and immune cells, inducing distinct responses C_LIO_LICytokine storms with systemic S100A8/A9 are associated with COVID-19 severity C_LI

genomics↗

A New Paralog Removal Pipeline Resolves Conflict between RAD-seq and Enrichment

Target enrichment and RAD-seq are well-established high throughput sequencing technologies that have been increasingly used for phylogenomic studies, and the choice between methods is a practical issue for plant systematists studying the evolutionary histories of biodiversity of relatively recent origins. However, few studies have compared the congruence and conflict between results from the two methods within the same group of organisms, especially in plants, where extensive genome duplication events may complicate phylogenomic analyses. Unfortunately, currently widely used pipelines for target enrichment data analysis do not have a vigorous procedure for remove paralogs in Hyb-Seq data. In this study, we employed RAD-seq and Hyb-Seq of Angiosperm 353 genes in phylogenomic and biogeographic studies of Hamamelis (the witch-hazels) and Castanea (chestnuts), two classic examples exhibiting the well-known eastern Asian-eastern North American disjunct distribution. We compared these two methods side by side and developed a new pipeline (PPD) with a more vigorous removal of putative paralogs from Hyb-Seq data. The new pipeline considers both sequence similarity and heterozygous sites at each locus in identification of paralogous. We used our pipeline to construct robust datasets for comparison between methods and downstream analyses on the two genera. Our results demonstrated that the PPD identified many more putative paralogs than the popular method HybPiper. Comparisons of tree topologies and divergence times showed significant differences between data from HybPiper and data from our new PPD pipeline, likely due to the error signals from the paralogous genes undetected by HybPiper, but trimmed by PPD. We found that phylogenies and divergence times estimated from our RAD-seq and Hyb-Seq-PPD were largely congruent. We highlight the importance of removal paralogs in enrichment data, and discuss the merits of RAD-seq and Hyb-Seq. Finally, phylogenetic analyses of RAD-seq and Hyb-Seq resulted in well-resolved species relationships, and revealed ancient introgression in both genera. Biogeographic analyses including fossil data revealed a complicated history of each genus involving multiple intercontinental dispersals and local extinctions in areas outside of the taxas modern ranges in both the Paleogene and Neogene. Our study demonstrates the value of additional steps for filtering paralogous gene content from Angiosperm 353 data, such as our new PPD pipeline described in this study. [RAD-seq, Hyb-Seq, paralogs, Castanea, Hamamelis, eastern Asia-eastern North America disjunction, biogeography, ancient introgression]

evolutionary biology↗

Slowing the Body slows down Time (Perception)

Interval timing is a fundamental component action, and is susceptible to motor-related temporal distortions. Previous studies have shown that movement biases temporal estimates, but have primarily considered self-modulated movement only. However, real-world encounters often include situations in which movement is restricted or perturbed by environmental factors. In the following experiments, we introduced viscous movement environments to externally modulate movement and investigated the resulting effects on temporal perception. In two separate tasks, participants timed auditory intervals while moving a robotic arm that randomly applied four levels of viscosity. Results demonstrated that higher viscosity led to shorter perceived durations. Using a drift-diffusion model and a Bayesian observer model, we confirmed these biasing effects arose from perceptual mechanisms, instead of biases in decision making. These findings suggest that environmental perturbations are an important factor in movement-related temporal distortions, and enhance the current understanding of the interactions of motor activity and cognitive processes.

neuroscience↗

Efficient mixed model approach for large-scale genome-wide association studies of ordinal categorical phenotypes

In genome-wide association studies (GWAS), ordinal categorical phenotypes are widely used to measure human behaviors, satisfaction, and preferences. However, due to the lack of analysis tools, methods designed for binary and quantitative traits have often been used inappropriately to analyze categorical phenotypes, which produces inflated type I error rates or is less powerful. To accurately model the dependence of an ordinal categorical phenotype on covariates, we propose an efficient mixed model association test, Proportional Odds Logistic Mixed Model (POLMM). POLMM is demonstrated to be computationally efficient to analyze large datasets with hundreds of thousands of genetic related samples, can control type I error rates at a stringent significance level regardless of the phenotypic distribution, and is more powerful than other alternative methods. We applied POLMM to 258 ordinal categorical phenotypes on array-genotypes and imputed samples from 408,961 individuals in UK Biobank. In total, we identified 5,885 genome-wide significant variants, of which 424 variants (7.2%) are rare variants with MAF < 0.01.

genetics↗

Comprehensive identification of somatic nucleotide variants in human brain tissue

Post-zygotic mutations incurred during DNA replication, DNA repair, and other cellular processes lead to somatic mosaicism. Somatic mosaicism is an established cause of various diseases, including cancers. However, detecting mosaic variants in DNA from non-cancerous somatic tissues poses significant challenges, particularly if the variants only are present in a small fraction of cells. Here, the Brain Somatic Mosaicism Network conducted a coordinated, multi-institutional study to: (i) examine the ability of existing methods to detect simulated somatic single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in DNA mixing experiments; (ii) generate multiple replicates of whole genome sequencing data from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, other brain regions, dura mater, and dural fibroblasts of a single neurotypical individual; (iii) devise strategies to discover somatic SNVs; and (iv) apply various approaches to validate somatic SNVs. These efforts led to the identification of 43 bona fide somatic SNVs that ranged in variant allele fractions from ~0.005 to ~0.28. Guided by these results, we devised best practices for calling mosaic SNVs from 250X whole genome sequencing data in the accessible portion of the human genome that achieve 90% specificity and sensitivity. Finally, we demonstrated that analysis of multiple bulk DNA samples from a single individual allows the reconstruction of early developmental cell lineage trees. Thus, this study provides a unified set of best practices to detect somatic SNVs in non-cancerous tissues. The data and methods are freely available to the scientific community and should serve as a guide to assess the contributions of somatic SNVs to neuropsychiatric diseases.

genomics↗

A comparative transcriptional landscape of two castor cultivars obtained by single-molecule sequencing comparative analysis

Background and ObjectivesCastor (Ricinus communis L.) is an important non-edible oilseed crop. Lm type female strains and normal amphiprotic strains are important castor cultivars, and are mainly different in inflorescence structures and leaf shapes. To better understand the mechanisums underling these differences at the molecular level, we performed comparative transcriptional analysis. Materials and MethodsFull-length transcriptome sequencing and short-read RNA sequencing were employed. ResultsA total of 76,068 and 44,223 non-redundant transcripts were obtained from high-quality transcripts of Lm type female strains and normal amphiprotic strains, respectively. In Lm female strain and normal amphiprotic strains 51,613 and 20,152 alternative splicing events were found, respectively. There were 13,239 transcription factors identified from the full-length transcriptomes. Comparative analysis showed great different gene expression of common and unique transcription factors between the two cultivars. Meanwhile, functional analysis of isoform was conducted. Full-length sequences were used as a reference genome, and short-read RNA sequencing analysis was performed to conduct differential gene analysis. Furthermore, the function of DEGs were performed to annotation analysis. ConclusionsThe results revealed considerable difference and expression diversity between two cultivars, well beyond what was reported in previous studies, likely reflecting the differences in architecture between these two cultivars. HighlightUsing the full-length transcriptome sequencing technology, we performed comparative analysis of transcription factors of two castor cultivars, analyzed alternative splicing events, and identified their lncRNAs.

genomics↗

Oncogenic Activation of AKT by MAPK6

Mitogen-activated protein kinase 6 (MAPK6) is an atypical MAPK closely related to MAPK4. We recently reported that MAPK4 can promote cancer by activating the Protein Kinase B (PKB/AKT) pathway of cell growth and survival. Here we report that MAPK6 overexpression also activates AKT to induce oncogenic outcomes, including transforming "normal" human epithelial cells into anchorage-independent growth and enhancing cancer cell growth. Knockdown of MAPK6 inhibited cancer cell growth and xenograft growth, supporting the tumor-promoting activities of endogenous MAPK6. Unlike MAPK4, which binds AKT through its kinase domain and phosphorylates AKT at T308, MAPK6 interacts with AKT through its C34 region and the unique C-terminal tail and phosphorylates AKT at S473 independent of mTORC2, the major AKT S473 kinase. MAPK6 overexpression is associated with decreased overall survival and the survival of lung adenocarcinoma, mesothelioma, uveal melanoma, and breast cancer patients. We conclude that MAPK6 can promote cancer by activating AKT and that targeting MAPK6 may be effective in human cancers.

cancer biology↗

DNA-Origami-Based Fluorescence Brightness Standards for Convenient and Fast Protein Counting in Live Cells

Fluorescence microscopy has been one of the most discovery-rich methods in biology. In the digital age, the discipline is becoming increasingly quantitative. Virtually all biological laboratories have access to fluorescence microscopes, but abilities to quantify biomolecule copy numbers are limited by the complexity and sophistication associated with current quantification methods. Here, we present DNA-origami-based fluorescence brightness standards for counting 5-300 copies of proteins in mammalian and bacterial cells, tagged with fluorescent proteins or organic dyes. Compared to conventional quantification techniques, our brightness standards are robust, straightforward to use, and compatible with nearly all fluorescence imaging applications, thereby providing a practical and versatile tool to quantify biomolecules via fluorescence microscopy.

biophysics↗

Dynein/Sunday driver mediate disorders of dynamic profiles of Golgi outposts induced by amyloid precursor protein

Golgi defects including Golgi fragmentation are pathological features of Alzheimer disease (AD). As a pathogenic factor of AD, amyloid precursor protein (APP) induces Golgi fragmentation in soma. However, how APP regulates Golgi outposts (GOs) in dendrites remains unclear. Given that APP resided and affected GOs movements, especially reversed the distribution of multi-compartment GOs (mcGOs), we investigated the regulatory mechanism of mcGOs movements in Drosophila larvae. Knockdown experiments showed the bidirectional mcGOs movements were cooperatively controlled by dynein heavy chain (Dhc) and kinesin heavy chain subunits. Notably, only Dhc mediated APPs regulation on mcGOs movements. Further, by loss-of-function screening, the adaptor protein Sunday driver (Syd) was identified to mediate APP-induced alteration of the direction of mcGOs movements, and dendritic defects. Collectively, by elucidating a model of bidirectional mcGOs movements, we revealed the mechanism of APPs regulation on the direction of mcGOs movements. It provides new insights into AD pathogenesis.

neuroscience↗

Human Olfactory Perception is Sensitive to Temporal Information within a Single Sniff

A sniff in humans typically lasts 1-2 seconds and is considered to produce a "snapshot" of the chemical environment that also sets the temporal resolution of olfactory perception. To examine whether the temporal order of events within a sniff influences the perceptual "snapshot", we devised an apparatus that enabled us to phase-lock odor delivery to sniff onset and precisely manipulate onset asynchronies of odorants in humans. Psychophysical testing showed that participants were able to tell apart two odorants presented in the same or different order when the onset asynchrony was as low as 40 milliseconds. The performance improved with longer onset asynchronies and was not based on the molar ratio difference of the two odorants. Meanwhile, they were consistently at chance in reporting which odorant arrived first. These results provide behavioral evidence that human olfaction is sensitive to temporal patterns within a single sniff and indicate that timing of odor-evoked responses in relation to the sniff contributes to the perceived odor quality.

neuroscience↗

Recombinant SARS-CoV-2 RBD molecule with a T helper epitope as a built in adjuvant induces strong neutralization antibody response

Without approved vaccines and specific treatment, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is spreading around the world with above 20 million COVID-19 cases and approximately 700 thousand deaths until now. An efficacious and affordable vaccine is urgently needed. The Val308 - Gly548 of Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 linked with Gln830 - Glu843 of Tetanus toxoid (TT peptide) (designated as S1-4) and without TT peptide (designated as S1-5), and prokaryotic expression, chromatography purification and the rational renaturation of the protein were performed. The antigenicity and immunogenicity of S1-4 protein was evaluated by Western Blotting (WB) in vitro and immune responses in mice, respectively. The protective efficiency of it was measured by virus neutralization test in Vero E6 cells with SARS-CoV-2. S1-4 protein was prepared to high homogeneity and purity by prokaryotic expression and chromatography purification. Adjuvanted with Alum, S1-4 protein stimulated a strong antibody response in immunized mice and caused a major Th2-type cellular immunity compared with S1-5 protein. Furthermore, the immunized sera could protect the Vero E6 cells from SARS-CoV-2 infection with neutralization antibody GMT 256. The candidate subunit vaccine molecule could stimulate strong humoral and Th1 and Th2-type cellular immune response in mice, giving us solid evidence that S1-4 protein could be a promising subunit vaccine candidate.

bioengineering↗

A dynamic regulatory interface on SARS-CoV-2 RNA polymerase

The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) of SARS-CoV-2 is the core machinery responsible for the viral genome replication and transcription and also a major antiviral target. Here we report the cryo-electron microscopy structure of a post-translocated SARS-CoV-2 RdRp core complex, comprising one nsp12, one separate nsp8(I) monomer, one nsp7-nsp8(II) subcomplex and a replicating RNA substrate. Compared with the recently reported SARS-CoV-2 RdRp complexes, the nsp8(I)/nsp7 interface in this RdRp complex shifts away from the nsp12 polymerase. Further functional characterizations suggest that specific interactions between the nsp8(I) and nsp7, together with the rearrangement of nsp8(I)/nsp7 interface, ensure the efficient and processive RNA synthesis by the RdRp complex. Our findings provide a mechanistic insight into how nsp7 and nsp8 cofactors regulate the polymerase activity of nsp12 and suggest a potential new intervention interface, in addition to the canonical polymerase active center, in RdRp for antiviral design. Author summarySince it was first discovered and reported in late 2019, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by highly contagious SARS-CoV-2 virus is wreaking havoc around the world. Currently, no highly effective and specific antiviral drug is available for clinical treatment. Therefore, the threat of COVID-19 transmission necessitates the discovery of more effective antiviral strategies. Viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) is an important antiviral drug target. Here, our cryo-EM structure of a SARS-CoV-2 RdRp/RNA replicating complex reveals a previously uncharacterized overall shift of the cofactor nsp8(I)/nsp7 interface, leading to its rearrangement. Through in vitro functional test, we found that the specific interactions on the interface are important to the efficient RNA polymerase activity of SARS-CoV-2 RdRp. These observations let us to suggest this interface as a potential new drug intervention site, outside of the canonical polymerase active center, in RdRp for antiviral design. Our findings would provide new insights into regulatory mechanism of this novel SARS-CoV-2 RdRp, contribute to the design of antiviral drugs against SARS-CoV-2, and benefit the global public health.

molecular biology↗

A CRISPR/Cas9 vector system for neutrophil-specific gene disruption in zebrafish

Tissue-specific knockout techniques are widely applied in biological studies to probe the tissue-specific roles of specific genes in physiology, development, and disease. CRISPR/Cas9 is a widely used technology to perform fast and efficient genome editing in vitro and in vivo. Here, we report a robust CRISPR-based gateway system for tissue-specific gene inactivation in zebrafish. A transgenic fish line expressing Cas9 under the control of a neutrophil-restricted promoter was constructed. As proof of principle, we transiently disrupted rac2 or cdk2 in neutrophils using plasmids driving the expression of sgRNAs from U6 promoters. Loss of the rac2 or cdk2 gene in neutrophils resulted in significantly decreased cell motility, which could be restored by re-expressing Rac2 or Cdk2 in neutrophils in the corresponding knockout background. The subcellular location of Rac activation and actin structure and stress in the context of neutrophil migration was determined in both the wild-type and rac2 knockout neutrophils in vivo. In addition, we evaluated an alternative approach where the Cas9 protein is ubiquitously expressed while the sgRNA is processed by ribozymes and expressed in a neutrophil-restricted manner. Cell motility was also reduced upon rac2 sgRNA expression. Together, our work provides a potent tool that can be used to advance the utility of zebrafish in identification and characterization of gene functions in neutrophils.

genetics↗

Akt is required for artery formation during embryonic vascular development

One of the first events in the development of the cardiovascular system is morphogenesis of the main embryonic artery, the dorsal aorta (DA). The DA forms via a conserved genetic process mediated by the migration, specification, and organization of endothelial progenitor cells into a distinct arterial lineage and vessel type. Several angiogenic factors activate different signaling pathways to control DA formation, however the physiological relevance of distinct kinases in this complex process remains unclear. Here, we identify the role of Akt during early vascular development by generating mutant zebrafish lines that lack expression of akt isoforms. Live cell imaging coupled with single cell RNA sequencing of akt mutants reveal that Akt is required for proper development of the DA by sustaining arterial cell progenitor specification and segregation. Mechanistically, inhibition of active FOXO in akt mutants rescues impaired arterial development but not the expression of arterial markers, whereas Notch activation rescues arterial marker expression. Our work suggests that Akt activity is critical for early artery development, in part via FOXO and Notch-mediated regulation.

developmental biology↗

Transcriptional re-wiring by mutation of the yeast Hsf1 oligomerization domain

Response to heat stress is mediated by heat shock transcription factors (HSFs), which possess conserved DNA-binding and oligomerization domains. The oligomerization domain is required for HSF1 to transition under heat stress from a monomer to a homotrimer, which alters DNA-binding specificity and affinity. Sequence variation in the oligomerization domain affects HSF1 activity, although this link is poorly understood. We performed a deep mutational scan of >400,000 variants of the oligomerization domain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Hsf1 and measured fitness under stress and non-stress conditions. We identify mutations that confer temperature-specific phenotypes; some exceptional Hsf1variants lead to enhanced growth under heat stress and changes to in vivo DNA-binding and transcriptional programs. The link between Hsf1 oligomerization and DNA-binding domain is evolutionarily conserved, with co-evolving residues between these domains found among fungi. Mutation of transcription factor oligomerization domains may represent a path toward re-wiring transcriptional programs without mutation of DNA-binding domains.

genomics↗