Browsing by Author "Chen, Hao"

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    Dissection of transcriptome dysregulation and immune characterization in women with germline BRCA1 mutation at single-cell resolution
    (Springer, 2022-09-09) Yu, Xuexin; Lin, Wanrun; Spirtos, Alexandra; Wang, Yan; Chen, Hao; Ye, Jianfeng; Parker, Jessica; Liu, Ci Ci; Wang, Yiying; Quinn, Gabriella; Zhou, Feng; Chambers, Setsuko K.; Lewis, Cheryl; Lea, Jayanthi; Li, Bo; Zheng, Wenxin; Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine
    Background: High-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) is the most frequent and lethal type of ovarian cancer. It has been proposed that tubal secretory cells are the origin of ovarian HGSC in women with familial BRCA1/2 mutations. However, the molecular changes underlying malignant transformation remain unknown. Method: We performed single-cell RNA and T cell receptor sequencing of tubal fimbriated ends from 3 BRCA1 germline mutation carriers (BRCA1 carriers) and 3 normal controls with no high-risk history (non-BRCA1 carriers). Results: Exploring the transcriptomes of 19,008 cells, predominantly from BRCA1+ samples, we identified 5 major cell populations in the fallopian tubal mucosae. The secretory cells of BRCA1+ samples had differentially expressed genes involved in tumor growth and regulation, chemokine signaling, and antigen presentation compared to the wild-type BRCA1 controls. There are several novel findings in this study. First, a subset of the fallopian tubal secretory cells from one BRCA1 carrier exhibited an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype, which was also present in the mucosal fibroblasts. Second, we identified a previously unreported phenotypic split of the EMT secretory cells with distinct evolutionary endpoints. Third, we observed increased clonal expansion among the CD8+ T cell population from BRCA1+ carriers. Among those clonally expanded CD8+ T cells, PD-1 was significantly increased in tubal mucosae of BRCA1+ patients compared with that of normal controls, indicating that T cell exhaustion may occur before the development of any premalignant or malignant lesions. Conclusion: These results indicate that EMT and immune evasion in normal-looking tubal mucosae may represent early events leading to the development of HGSC in women with BRCA1 germline mutation. Our findings provide a probable molecular mechanism explaining why some, but not all, women with BRCA1 germline mutation present with early development and rapid dissemination of HGSC.
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    Genetic modulation of protein expression in rat brain
    (Elsevier, 2025-02-21) Li, Ling; Wu, Zhiping; Guarracino, Andrea; Villani, Flavia; Kong, Dehui; Mancieri, Ariana; Zhang, Aijun; Saba, Laura; Chen, Hao; Brozka, Hana; Vales, Karel; Senko, Anna N.; Kempermann, Gerd; Stuchlik, Ales; Pravenec, Michal; Lechner, Joseph; Prins, Pjotr; Mathur, Ramkumar; Lu, Lu; Yang, Kai; Peng, Junmin; Williams, Robert W.; Wang, Xusheng; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Genetic variations in protein expression are implicated in a broad spectrum of common diseases and complex traits but remain less explored compared to mRNA and classical phenotypes. This study systematically analyzed brain proteomes in a rat family using tandem mass tag (TMT)-based quantitative mass spectrometry. We quantified 8,119 proteins across two parental strains (SHR/Olalpcv and BN-Lx/Cub) and 29 HXB/BXH recombinant inbred (RI) strains, identifying 597 proteins with differential expression and 464 proteins linked to cis-acting quantitative trait loci (pQTLs). Proteogenomics identified 95 variant peptides, and sex-specific analyses revealed both shared and distinct cis-pQTLs. We improved the ability to pinpoint candidate genes underlying pQTLs by utilizing the rat pangenome and explored the connections between pQTLs in rats and human disorders. Collectively, this study highlights the value of large proteo-genetic datasets in elucidating protein modulation in the brain and its links to complex central nervous system (CNS) traits.
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    High-throughput functional dissection of noncoding SNPs with biased allelic enhancer activity for insulin resistance-relevant phenotypes
    (Elsevier, 2023) Duan, Yuan-Yuan; Chen, Xiao-Feng; Zhu, Ren-Jie; Jia, Ying-Ying; Huang, Xiao-Ting; Zhang, Meng; Yang, Ning; Dong, Shan-Shan; Zeng, Mengqi; Feng, Zhihui; Zhu, Dong-Li; Wu, Hao; Jiang, Feng; Shi, Wei; Hu, Wei-Xin; Ke, Xin; Chen, Hao; Liu, Yunlong; Jing, Rui-Hua; Guo, Yan; Li, Meng; Yang, Tie-Lin; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Most of the single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with insulin resistance (IR)-relevant phenotypes by genome-wide association studies (GWASs) are located in noncoding regions, complicating their functional interpretation. Here, we utilized an adapted STARR-seq to evaluate the regulatory activities of 5,987 noncoding SNPs associated with IR-relevant phenotypes. We identified 876 SNPs with biased allelic enhancer activity effects (baaSNPs) across 133 loci in three IR-relevant cell lines (HepG2, preadipocyte, and A673), which showed pervasive cell specificity and significant enrichment for cell-specific open chromatin regions or enhancer-indicative markers (H3K4me1, H3K27ac). Further functional characterization suggested several transcription factors (TFs) with preferential allelic binding to baaSNPs. We also incorporated multi-omics data to prioritize 102 candidate regulatory target genes for baaSNPs and revealed prevalent long-range regulatory effects and cell-specific IR-relevant biological functional enrichment on them. Specifically, we experimentally verified the distal regulatory mechanism at IRS1 locus, in which rs952227-A reinforces IRS1 expression by long-range chromatin interaction and preferential binding to the transcription factor HOXC6 to augment the enhancer activity. Finally, based on our STARR-seq screening data, we predicted the enhancer activity of 227,343 noncoding SNPs associated with IR-relevant phenotypes (fasting insulin adjusted for BMI, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides) from the largest available GWAS summary statistics. We further provided an open resource (http://www.bigc.online/fnSNP-IR) for better understanding genetic regulatory mechanisms of IR-relevant phenotypes.
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    Integration of evidence across human and model organism studies: A meeting report
    (Wiley, 2021-04-23) Palmer, Rohan H.C.; Johnson, Emma C.; Won, Hyejung; Polimanti, Renato; Kapoor, Manav; Chitre, Apurva; Bogue, Molly A.; Benca-Bachman, Chelsie E.; Parker, Clarissa C.; Verm, Anurag; Reynolds, Timothy; Ernst, Jason; Bray, Michael; Kwon, Soo Bin; Lai, Dongbing; Quach, Bryan C.; Gaddis, Nathan C.; Saba, Laura; Chen, Hao; Hawrylycz, Michael; Zhang, Shan; Zhou, Yuan; Mahaffey, Spencer; Fischer, Christian; Sanchez-Roige, Sandra; Bandrowski, Anita; Lu, Qing; Shen, Li; Philip, Vivek; Gelernter, Joel; Bierut, Laura J.; Hancock, Dana B.; Edenberg, Howard J.; Johnson, Eric O.; Nestler, Eric J.; Barr, Peter B.; Prins, Pjotr; Smith, Desmond J.; Akbarian, Schahram; Thorgeirsson, Thorgeir; Walton, Dave; Baker, Erich; Jacobson, Daniel; Palmer, Abraham A.; Miles, Michael; Chesler, Elissa J.; Emerson, Jake; Agrawal, Arpana; Martone, Maryann; Williams, Robert W.; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    The National Institute on Drug Abuse and Joint Institute for Biological Sciences at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory hosted a meeting attended by a diverse group of scientists with expertise in substance use disorders (SUDs), computational biology, and FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability) data sharing. The meeting's objective was to discuss and evaluate better strategies to integrate genetic, epigenetic, and 'omics data across human and model organisms to achieve deeper mechanistic insight into SUDs. Specific topics were to (a) evaluate the current state of substance use genetics and genomics research and fundamental gaps, (b) identify opportunities and challenges of integration and sharing across species and data types, (c) identify current tools and resources for integration of genetic, epigenetic, and phenotypic data, (d) discuss steps and impediment related to data integration, and (e) outline future steps to support more effective collaboration-particularly between animal model research communities and human genetics and clinical research teams. This review summarizes key facets of this catalytic discussion with a focus on new opportunities and gaps in resources and knowledge on SUDs.