1. |
|
|
2. |
- Namkoong, H, et al.
(författare)
-
DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 609:7928, s. 754-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge1–5. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2,393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3,289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target.
|
|
3. |
- Wang, QBS, et al.
(författare)
-
The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Nature communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 13:1, s. 4830-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection.
|
|
4. |
|
|
5. |
|
|
6. |
- Fustin, JM, et al.
(författare)
-
Methylation deficiency disrupts biological rhythms from bacteria to humans
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Communications biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 3:1, s. 211-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The methyl cycle is a universal metabolic pathway providing methyl groups for the methylation of nuclei acids and proteins, regulating all aspects of cellular physiology. We have previously shown that methyl cycle inhibition in mammals strongly affects circadian rhythms. Since the methyl cycle and circadian clocks have evolved early during evolution and operate in organisms across the tree of life, we sought to determine whether the link between the two is also conserved. Here, we show that methyl cycle inhibition affects biological rhythms in species ranging from unicellular algae to humans, separated by more than 1 billion years of evolution. In contrast, the cyanobacterial clock is resistant to methyl cycle inhibition, although we demonstrate that methylations themselves regulate circadian rhythms in this organism. Mammalian cells with a rewired bacteria-like methyl cycle are protected, like cyanobacteria, from methyl cycle inhibition, providing interesting new possibilities for the treatment of methylation deficiencies.
|
|
7. |
- Zhang, Qing, et al.
(författare)
-
Andersson-Magnéli Phases TinO2n-1 : Recent Progress Inspired by Swedish Scientists
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Zeitschrift für Anorganische und Allgemeines Chemie. - : Wiley. - 0044-2313 .- 1521-3749. ; 647:2-3, s. 126-133
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Among homologous series of metal oxides, Andersson-Magneli phases TinO2n-1 (n=4-10) have attracted renewed scientific attention because of their behaviour in electrical conductivity and chemical/thermal stability. Various applications have also been reported for the phases with different values of n, or slightly reduced rutile (TiO2). The characteristic properties of these materials depend strongly on the compositional deviation from TiO2 and the way in which the structure accommodates the deviation. Thus, an urgent requirement is to overcome difficulties in characterizing such materials at atomic resolution. Here, we trace the discovery of the Andersson-Magneli phases, and report the application of recent developments in electron microscopy to reveal the relation, at the local level, between structural characteristics and electronic states, specifically for the materials TinO2n-1 with n=4-8. The electrical conductivity of Ti4O7 has been reported previously to show three clearly distinct states on decreasing temperature from 300 K. For this reason, we focus on Ti4O7 as a representative example of the TinO2n-1 phases and report structural characteristics at temperatures corresponding to each of the three different phases, focusing on the distribution of Ti3+ and Ti4+ cations from analysis of single-crystal XRD data. Electron diffraction experiments and electrical conductivity measurements are also reported.
|
|