Search bioRxiv⌕ Search

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2025.04.13.648647

Mammary gland metabolism and its relevance to the fetoplacental expression of cytokine signaling in Caveolin-1 null mice

Abstract

Mice lacking Caveolin-1 (Cav1), a major protein of the lipid raft of plasma membrane, show dysregulated cellular proliferation of mammary gland and an abnormal fetoplacental communication during pregnancy. The aim of this study is to better understand the functional links of mammary gland metabolism with gene expression of the placenta and fetus. Untargeted metabolomics analysis was performed to examine changes in mammary gland metabolism due to the absence of Cav1. Integrative metabolomics and transcriptomics analyses were applied to untangle functional links of metabolic pathways of the mammary gland with the gene expression changes of the placenta and fetus. The findings of this study show that metabolism and gene expression of the mammary gland are significantly impacted due to the loss of Cav1. Genes associated with specific metabolic and signaling pathways show coordinated expression changed in the placenta, mammary gland and fetal brain in Cav1-null mice. The cytokine signaling pathway emerges as a key player of the molecular crosstalk among the mammary gland, placenta and fetal brain. By interrogating the single-nuclei gene expression data of placenta and fetal brain previously generated from Cav1-null mice, the study further reveals that these metabolic and signaling genes are differentially regulated in specific cell types of the placenta and fetal brain. The findings of this study expand our understanding about the role of mammary gland metabolism in the regulation of fetoplacental communication in mammalian pregnancy.

Source connections

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Poudel, S. P., Islam, M., McFadden, T. B., Behura, S. K.. 2025-04-18. Mammary gland metabolism and its relevance to the fetoplacental expression of cytokine signaling in Caveolin-1 null mice. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.04.13.648647

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related preprints

PfPHAST: Plasmodium falciparum Public Health Amplicon Sequencing Tool, a Streamlined Panel for Malaria Genomic Surveillance

Genomic tools can support malaria control policy through surveillance of Plasmodium falciparum populations, tracking antimalarial drug resistance, pfhrp2/3 deletions that compromise rapid diagnostic tests, and selection at the circumsporozoite protein (PfCSP) vaccine target, as well as through molecular correction of therapeutic efficacy studies (TES). Multiplex Amplicons for Drug, Diagnostic, Diversity, and Differentiation Haplotypes using Targeted Resequencing (MAD4HatTeR), a comprehensive amplicon sequencing panel covering up to 276 targets, supports these applications but is tailored to research rather than routine programmatic use. We developed P. falciparum Public Health Amplicon Sequencing Tool (PfPHAST), a 56-target derivative of MAD4HatTeR spanning drug resistance loci, pfhrp2/3 deletion, PfCSP genotyping, non-falciparum species identification, and 20 high-heterozygosity microhaplotype loci for TES classification. We compared PfPHAST and MAD4HatTeR using laboratory strain controls, including two-strain dilution series and a five-strain mixture, across parasite densities of 100 to 10,000 parasites/L. At matched per-target depth, PfPHAST achieved a higher quality-control pass rate than MAD4HatTeR (94.4% versus 90.0%) and distributed reads more evenly across targets. The panels showed comparable recall and precision for drug resistance codons and microhaplotypes, reaching near-complete recall above 40% within-sample allele frequency (WSAF) at all densities, with reduced sensitivity for minor alleles below 10% WSAF at low parasite density in both panels. Observed and expected WSAF correlated strongly for both panels, and both resolved a five-strain polyclonal mixture, including a 5% minor strain. By concentrating sequencing capacity on targets of greatest programmatic relevance, PfPHAST offers a scalable, lower-cost alternative to comprehensive research panels without sacrificing performance on shared targets, complementing MAD4HatTeR for routine molecular malaria surveillance.

genomics↗

Structural variation in repeat elements is widespread in normal human tissues and in tumorigenesis

Somatic mosaicism contributes to genomic variation, yet postzygotic structural variants remain under-characterized. We performed long- and short-read WGS from multiple individuals (n=47 normal tissues; n=168 samples) and identified mosaic structural variants in all individuals and germ layers, impacting a median 285.2 kb/genome. Nearly half of breakpoints were independently validated, with tissue distributions reflecting both early and late developmental origins. Most mosaic variants were repeat-mediated and 8.3% overlapped functional elements, an enrichment compared to germline variants. To extend these analyses in samples where long-read sequencing is infeasible, we measured repeat alterations from short-read sequencing, recapitulating mosaic tissue-specific differences. We characterized tumor- and tissue- specific variation in repeats across 15 cancer types and found tumor-related repeat variation to be similar in scale to that of normal mosaic variation. Tracking repeat changes in cell-free DNA provided a noninvasive approach for tumor monitoring. Our analyses revealed widespread repeat-driven structural variation in health and disease.

genomics↗

RNA isoform-resolved multiplexed sequencing with bioorthogonal barcoding

RNA isoform dysregulation drives disease pathogenesis and is the target of FDA-approved splice-switching therapeutics. However, multiplexed sequencing methods discard splice junction information because only 3' termini are barcoded and counted. Here, we repurpose acylation and click chemistries to conjugate bioorthogonal barcodes (bobcodes) directly onto multiple internal positions along cellular RNAs. Bobcoded RNAs from multiple samples are pooled for multiplexed cDNA synthesis, during which reverse transcriptase switches from each RNA template onto its tethered bobcode with greater than 99% accuracy in species mixing experiments. Bobcode attachment intervals set cDNA insert sizes without a library fragmentation step, and priming with poly(dT) or random hexamers selects between 3'-end counting and full-length isoform capture. A bioorthogonal barcode-sequencing (BOB-seq v0.1) drug screen identifies transcriptome-wide on- and off-target RNA splicing effects and outperforms existing multiplexing RNA sequencing methods in workflow simplicity, sample-to-sample variability, and barcoding accuracy. Bobcodes add isoform resolution to scalable multiplexed RNA sequencing.

genomics↗