Publications by authors named "Zixin Qin"

Background: Genome stability is maintained by the DNA damage repair (DDR) system composed of multiple DNA repair pathways of hundreds of genes. Germline pathogenic variation (PV) in DDR genes damages function of the affected DDR genes, leading to genome instability and high risk of diseases, in particular, cancer. Knowing evolutionary origin of the PVs in human DDR genes is essential to understand the etiology of human diseases.

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Pathogenic variation in DNA mismatch repair (MMR) gene is associated with Lynch syndrome (LS), an autosomal dominant hereditary cancer. Of the 3798 germline variants collected in the ClinVar database, 38.7% (1469) were missense variants, of which 81.

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  • The study focuses on how certain bacteria adapt to their host’s gut environment by changing their gene expression, particularly in fully colonized adult mice.
  • Through the innovative use of coated-magnetic chitin beads (vcMCB), the researchers successfully extracted high-quality RNA, allowing for a detailed analysis of gene expression differences between bacteria from adult mice and those from infant models.
  • The findings highlight a specific bacterial strain's ability to survive low pH and formic acid by altering its gene expression, offering new insights into the relationship between bacteria and gut microbiota, which can inform future research on other pathogenic bacteria.
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  • Epidemiological research shows low resistance to nitrofuran in clinical isolates, making it promising for treating multidrug-resistant bacteria, necessitating an understanding of resistance mechanisms.
  • A study identified the MarR protein VnrR as key in defending against the nitrofuran derivative furazolidone (FZ), which responds to its metabolites and promotes gene activation linked to FZ degradation.
  • VnrR aids in FZ metabolism through a reactive oxygen species scavenging pathway, enhancing our comprehension of antibiotic resistance and informing strategies for managing multidrug-resistant infections.
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  • A significant study integrated transcriptome data from both RNA-seq and microarray platforms for Vibrio cholerae, marking the first effort to combine these two types of data.
  • By analyzing the integrated data, researchers identified key gene expressions and functional modules related to stress responses, gene manipulation, and metabolic pathways.
  • The study also revealed novel protein interactions and highlighted similarities between clinical samples and experimental conditions, providing valuable insights into V. cholerae's pathogenic mechanisms.
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  • V. cholerae develops complex mechanisms to handle host stress, leading to the emergence of nonmotile mutants that enhance its colonization in mice.
  • Mutations primarily occur in flagellar regulator genes like flrA, flrC, and rpoN, rather than in traditional genes related to DNA repair or scavenging systems.
  • The cyclin gene dps plays a crucial role, with its deletion resulting in a significant increase in mutation rates, suggesting it influences the formation of nonmotile mutants as a strategy for better adaptation in the host environment.
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Functional classification of genetic variants is a key for their clinical applications in patient care. However, abundant variant data generated by the next-generation DNA sequencing technologies limit the use of experimental methods for their classification. Here, we developed a protein structure and deep learning (DL)-based system for genetic variant classification, DL-RP-MDS, which comprises two principles: 1) Extracting protein structural and thermodynamics information using the Ramachandran plot-molecular dynamics simulation (RP-MDS) method, 2) combining those data with an unsupervised learning model of auto-encoder and a neural network classifier to identify the statistical significance patterns of the structural changes.

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Mr.Vc is a database of curated transcriptome data and annotated information. The main objective is to facilitate the accessibility and reusability of the rapidly growing omics data and relevant annotation.

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Pathogenic variation in BRCA1 and BRCA2 (BRCA) causes high risk of breast and ovarian cancer, and BRCA variation data are important markers for BRCA-related clinical cancer applications. However, comprehensive BRCA variation data are lacking from the Asian population despite its large population size, heterogenous genetic background and diversified living environment across the Asia continent. We performed a systematic study on BRCA variation in Asian population including extensive data mining, standardization, annotation and characterization.

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The gut microbiome profile of COVID-19 patients was found to correlate with a viral load of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 severity, and dysfunctional immune responses, suggesting that gut microbiota may be involved in anti-infection. In order to investigate the role of gut microbiota in anti-infection against SARS-CoV-2, we established a high-throughput screening system for COVID-19 therapeutics by targeting the endoribonuclease (Nsp15). We also evaluated the activity inhibition of the target by substances of intestinal origin, using a mouse model in an attempt to explore the interactions between gut microbiota and SARS-CoV-2.

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Deleterious variants in DNA damage repair (DDR) system can cause genome instability and increase cancer risk. In this study, we analyzed the deleterious variants in DDR system in 16 ethnic human populations. From the genetic variants in 169 DDR genes involved in nine DDR pathways collected from 158,612 individuals of different ethnic background, we identified 1,781 deleterious variants in 81 DDR genes in eight DDR pathways (https://genemutation.

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Large quantity of variants of uncertain significance (VUS) has been identified in cancer predisposition genes, but classification of VUS remains a big challenge. We proposed that the impact of VUS on protein structure stability can be used to identify these with deleterious effects by using molecular dynamics simulation (MDS)-based approach and developed a MDS-based method for missense VUS classification. In the current study, we applied the system to classify the missense VUS in BRCA2.

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and () play essential roles in maintaining genome stability. germline pathogenic variants increase cancer risk. However, the evolutionary origin of human pathogenic variants remains largely elusive.

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TP53 plays critical roles in maintaining genome stability. Deleterious genetic variants damage the function of TP53, causing genome instability and increased cancer risk. Of the large quantity of genetic variants identified in TP53, however, many remain functionally unclassified as variants of unknown significance (VUS) due to the lack of evidence.

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Sensing and resisting oxidative stress is critical for Vibrio cholerae to survive in either the aquatic environment or the gastrointestinal tract. Previous studies mainly focused on the mechanisms of oxidative stress response regulation that rely on enzymatic antioxidant systems, while functions of non-enzymatic antioxidants are rarely discussed in V. cholerae.

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and () play essential roles in maintaining genome stability. Rapidly evolving human generates oncogenic variants causing high cancer risk. variation is ethnic-specific in reflecting adaptation and/or effects of genetic drift.

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Background: Identifying genetic disease-susceptible individuals through population screening is considered as a promising approach for disease prevention. DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes including , , and play essential roles in maintaining microsatellite stability through DNA mismatch repair, and pathogenic variation in MMR genes causes microsatellite instability and is the genetic predisposition for cancer as represented by the Lynch syndrome. While the prevalence and spectrum of MMR variation has been extensively studied in cancer, it remains largely elusive in the general population.

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, the causative agent of cholera, could proliferate in aquatic environment and infect humans through contaminated food and water. Enormous microorganisms residing in human gastrointestinal tract establish a special microecological system, which immediately responds to the invasion of , through "colonization resistance" mechanisms, such as antimicrobial peptide production, nutrients competition, and intestinal barrier maintenances. Meanwhile, could quickly sense those signals and modulate the expression of relevant genes to circumvent those stresses during infection, leading to successful colonization on the surface of small intestinal epithelial cells.

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Background: Germline mutation in 1 and () is genetic predisposition for breast and ovarian cancer. Identification of mutation carriers is a critical step to prevent and treat the cancer in the mutation carriers. Human variation has been well determined as ethnic-specific by studies in Ashkenazi Jewish, Polish and Icelandic populations in the 1990s.

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Background: Pathogenic mutation in genes causes high cancer risk. Identifying the mutation carriers plays key roles in preventing mutation-related cancer. Population screening has demonstrated its power for comprehensive identification of the mutation carriers.

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Purpose: DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes play important roles in maintaining genome stability. Mutations in MMR genes disrupt their mismatch repair function, cause genome instability and lead to increased risk of cancer in the mutation carriers as represented by Lynch Syndrome. Studies have identified a large number of MMR variants, mostly in the Caucasian population, whereas data from non-Caucasian populations remain poorly illustrated.

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BRCA1 and BRCA2 play essential roles in maintaining the genome stability. Pathogenic germline mutations in these two genes disrupt their function, lead to genome instability and increase the risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers. BRCA mutations have been extensively screened in Caucasian populations, and the resulting information are used globally as the standard reference in clinical diagnosis, treatment and prevention of BRCA-related cancers.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of Kuntai Capsule (KC) in conjunction with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRH-a) therapy for treating moderate to severe endometriosis in women.
  • Results indicated that while both treatment groups experienced reduced serum levels of estradiol and FSH, the group receiving KC alongside GnRH-a showed a notable increase in these hormone levels compared to the GnRH-a only group, along with better improvement in menopausal symptoms.
  • The findings suggest that combining KC with GnRH-a may enhance treatment outcomes for endometriosis, particularly regarding symptom relief, although both groups had similar outcomes for bone mineral density and body mass index changes.
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