Publications by authors named "Gay N"

Mitochondria have diverse functions critical to whole-body metabolic homeostasis. Endurance training alters mitochondrial activity, but systematic characterization of these adaptations is lacking. Here, the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium mapped the temporal, multi-omic changes in mitochondrial analytes across 19 tissues in male and female rats trained for 1, 2, 4, or 8 weeks.

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Regular exercise has many physical and brain health benefits, yet the molecular mechanisms mediating exercise effects across tissues remain poorly understood. Here we analyzed 400 high-quality DNA methylation, ATAC-seq, and RNA-seq datasets from eight tissues from control and endurance exercise-trained (EET) rats. Integration of baseline datasets mapped the gene location dependence of epigenetic control features and identified differing regulatory landscapes in each tissue.

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Subcutaneous white adipose tissue (scWAT) is a dynamic storage and secretory organ that regulates systemic homeostasis, yet the impact of endurance exercise training (ExT) and sex on its molecular landscape is not fully established. Utilizing an integrative multi-omics approach, and leveraging data generated by the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium (MoTrPAC), we show profound sexual dimorphism in the scWAT of sedentary rats and in the dynamic response of this tissue to ExT. Specifically, the scWAT of sedentary females displays -omic signatures related to insulin signaling and adipogenesis, whereas the scWAT of sedentary males is enriched in terms related to aerobic metabolism.

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Endurance exercise training is known to reduce risk for a range of complex diseases. However, the molecular basis of this effect has been challenging to study and largely restricted to analyses of either few or easily biopsied tissues. Extensive transcriptome data collected across 15 tissues during exercise training in rats as part of the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium has provided a unique opportunity to clarify how exercise can affect tissue-specific gene expression and further suggest how exercise adaptation may impact complex disease-associated genes.

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Physical activity, including structured exercise, is associated with favorable health-related chronic disease outcomes. Although there is evidence of various molecular pathways that affect these responses, a comprehensive molecular map of these molecular responses to exercise has not been developed. The Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium (MoTrPAC) is a multicenter study designed to isolate the effects of structured exercise training on the molecular mechanisms underlying the health benefits of exercise and physical activity.

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Depression is a prevalent psychological condition with limited treatment options. While its etiology is multifactorial, both chronic stress and changes in microbiome composition are associated with disease pathology. Stress is known to induce microbiome dysbiosis, defined here as a change in microbial composition associated with a pathological condition.

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Toll-Like Receptors (TLRs) play a pivotal role in immunity by recognising conserved structural features of pathogens and initiating the innate immune response. TLR signalling is subject to complex regulation that remains poorly understood. Here we show that two small type I transmembrane receptors, TMED2 and 7, that function as cargo sorting adaptors in the early secretory pathway are required for transport of TLRs from the ER to Golgi.

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Background: ESBL-producing Escherichia coli (ESBL-Ec) is considered a key indicator for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) epidemiological surveillance in animal, human and environment compartments. There is likelihood of ESBL-Ec animal-human transmission but proof of cross-compartment transmission is still unclear.

Objectives: To characterize ESBL-Ec genetic similarity in various compartments (humans, animals and environment) from a rural area of Madagascar.

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Subcutaneous white adipose tissue (scWAT) is a dynamic storage and secretory organ that regulates systemic homeostasis, yet the impact of endurance exercise training and sex on its molecular landscape has not been fully established. Utilizing an integrative multi-omics approach with data generated by the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium (MoTrPAC), we identified profound sexual dimorphism in the dynamic response of rat scWAT to endurance exercise training. Despite similar cardiorespiratory improvements, only male rats reduced whole-body adiposity, scWAT adipocyte size, and total scWAT triglyceride abundance with training.

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Mitochondria are adaptable organelles with diverse cellular functions critical to whole-body metabolic homeostasis. While chronic endurance exercise training is known to alter mitochondrial activity, these adaptations have not yet been systematically characterized. Here, the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium (MoTrPAC) mapped the longitudinal, multi-omic changes in mitochondrial analytes across 19 tissues in male and female rats endurance trained for 1, 2, 4 or 8 weeks.

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Transcription factors (TFs) play a key role in regulating gene expression and responses to stimuli. We conducted an integrated analysis of chromatin accessibility, DNA methylation, and RNA expression across eight rat tissues following endurance exercise training (EET) to map epigenomic changes to transcriptional changes and determine key TFs involved. We uncovered tissue-specific changes and TF motif enrichment across all omic layers, differentially accessible regions (DARs), differentially methylated regions (DMRs), and differentially expressed genes (DEGs).

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Infection by the Ebola virus, a member of the Filoviridae family of RNA viruses, leads to acute viral hemorrhagic fever. End-stage Ebola virus disease is characterized by a cytokine storm that causes tissue damage, vascular disintegration, and multi-organ failure. Previous studies showed that a shed form of the viral spike glycoprotein (sGP1,2) drives this hyperinflammatory response by activating Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4).

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Aedes aegypti has evolved to become an efficient vector for arboviruses but the mechanisms of host-pathogen tolerance are unknown. Immunoreceptor Toll and its ligand Spaetzle have undergone duplication which may allow neofunctionalization and adaptation. Here we present cryo-EM structures and biophysical characterisation of low affinity Toll5A complexes that display transient but specific interactions with Spaetzle1C, forming asymmetric complexes, with only one ligand clearly resolved.

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The Life Events Checklist for DSM-5 (LEC-5) is a comprehensive screening instrument used to detect exposure to a range of potentially traumatic events. Despite its widespread use, research assessing the psychometric properties of scores on the LEC-5-and trauma exposure more broadly-is scarce. Using a large sample of undergraduate students (N = 1,013), we sought to evaluate the reliability of trauma exposure reporting on the LEC-5 across 8- (N = 379) and 12-week (N = 343) intervals.

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Article Synopsis
  • In 2015, antimicrobial resistance became a public health priority in the South-Western Indian Ocean (SWIO) region, but by 2020, little was known about the colonization rates of resistant bacteria in human populations.
  • This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of six specific groups of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria (ARB) in hospitalized patients across the SWIO territories using data collected from 2015-2017.
  • The findings revealed significantly higher ARB colonization rates in patients from Comoros, Madagascar, Mayotte, and Seychelles compared to Reunion Island, with extended-spectrum betalactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae being the most common, and the highest rates of MRSA and CRE detected in specific territories.
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Background: Population structure among study subjects may confound genetic association studies, and lack of proper correction can lead to spurious findings. The Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project largely contains individuals of European ancestry, but the v8 release also includes up to 15% of individuals of non-European ancestry. Assessing ancestry-based adjustments in GTEx improves portability of this research across populations and further characterizes the impact of population structure on GWAS colocalization.

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Neuronal cell death is a key feature of neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Plant polyphenols, namely butein, isoliquiritigenin, and scopoletin, have been shown to exhibit various biological activities including anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antioxidant activities. Herein, butein, isoliquiritigenin, and scopoletin were explored for their neuroprotective properties against oxidative stress-induced human dopaminergic SH-SY5Y cell death.

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The B cell adaptor protein (BCAP) is a multimodular regulator of inflammatory signaling in diverse immune system cells. BCAP couples TLR signaling to phosphoinositide metabolism and inhibits MyD88-directed signal transduction. BCAP is recruited to the TLR signalosome forming multitypic interactions with the MAL and MyD88 signaling adaptors.

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Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 () encodes a complex protein that includes kinase and GTPase domains. Genome-wide association studies have identified dominant alleles that predispose their carriers to late-onset idiotypic Parkinson's disease (PD) and also to autoimmune disorders such as Crohn's disease. Considerable evidence indicates that PD initiation and progression involve activation of innate immune functions in microglia, which are brain-resident macrophages.

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This study estimated gender differences in the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom network structure (i.e., the unique associations across symptoms) using network analysis in a Latin American sample.

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Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are pivotal in triggering the innate immune response to pathogen infection. Ligand binding induces receptor dimerization which facilitates the recruitment of other post-receptor signal transducers into a complex signalosome, the Myddosome. Central to this process is Myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MyD88), which is required by almost all TLRs, and signaling is thought to proceed via the stepwise, sequential assembly of individual components.

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B-cell adaptor protein (BCAP) is a multimodular, multifunctional signal transducer that regulates signal transduction pathways in leukocytes, including macrophages, B-cells, and T-cells. In particular, BCAP suppresses inflammatory signaling by Toll-like receptors (TLRs). However, how BCAP itself is regulated and what its interaction partners are is unclear.

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Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are important sentinels of bacterial and viral infection and thus fulfil a critical sensory role in innate immunity. Polo-like kinases (PLKs), a five membered family of Ser/Thr protein kinases, have long been studied for their role in mitosis and thus represent attractive therapeutic targets in cancer therapy. Recently, PLKs were implicated in TLR signaling in mice but the role of PLKs in TLR signaling in untransformed primary immune cells has not been addressed, even though PLK inhibitors are in clinical trials.

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