Affinity-matured human antibodies have demonstrated efficacy as countermeasures for exposure to botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT), which is the cause of the disease botulism category A select bioterror agent. Little is known, however, about the potential role of natural (un-mutated) antibodies in the protective immune response to BoNT. Here we describe the cloning of two human IgM antibodies that bind serotype A BoNT. Both are un-mutated IgM antibodies, consistent with an origin in naive B cells. One of the antibodies is able to fully neutralize a lethal dose of serotype A BoNT in vivo. These results suggest that the natural human antibody repertoire may play a role in protection from exposure to biological toxins.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/hyb.2007.0549 | DOI Listing |
G3 (Bethesda)
January 2025
School of Life Sciences, Center for Evolution & Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA.
The demographic history of a population, and the distribution of fitness effects (DFE) of newly arising mutations in functional genomic regions, are fundamental factors dictating both genetic variation and evolutionary trajectories. Although both demographic and DFE inference has been performed extensively in humans, these approaches have generally either been limited to simple demographic models involving a single population, or, where a complex population history has been inferred, without accounting for the potentially confounding effects of selection at linked sites. Taking advantage of the coding-sparse nature of the genome, we propose a 2-step approach in which coalescent simulations are first used to infer a complex multi-population demographic model, utilizing large non-functional regions that are likely free from the effects of background selection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrief Bioinform
November 2024
School of Artificial Intelligence, Jilin University, Qianjin Street 2699, 130010 Changchun, China.
Imaging-based spatial transcriptomics (iST), such as MERFISH, CosMx SMI, and Xenium, quantify gene expression level across cells in space, but more importantly, they directly reveal the subcellular distribution of RNA transcripts at the single-molecule resolution. The subcellular localization of RNA molecules plays a crucial role in the compartmentalization-dependent regulation of genes within individual cells. Understanding the intracellular spatial distribution of RNA for a particular cell type thus not only improves the characterization of cell identity but also is of paramount importance in elucidating unique subcellular regulatory mechanisms specific to the cell type.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Biotechnol (Singap)
June 2024
MOE Key Laboratory of Gene Function and Regulation, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510275, China.
Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a dominant genetic disorder caused primarily by mutations in the PKD1 gene, resulting in the formation of numerous cysts and eventually kidney failure. However, there are currently no gene therapy studies aimed at correcting PKD1 gene mutations. In this study, we identified two mutation sites associated with ADPKD, c.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Biotechnol (Singap)
October 2023
Institute of Medical Plant Physiology and Ecology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
Optimizing central carbon metabolism (CCM) represents an attractive and challenging strategy to improve the biosynthesis of valuable chemicals due to the complex regulation of the CCM in yeast. In this study, we triggered the similar Warburg effect of cancer cells in yeast strains by introducing the human hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) complex, which regulated the expression of numerous enzymes involved in CCM and redirected the metabolic flux from glycolysis to tricarboxylic acid cycle. This redirection promoted the production of squalene to a 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Biotechnol (Singap)
October 2023
MOE Key Laboratory of Gene Function and Regulation, State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, Guangdong, China.
Retrotransposons are highly prevalent in most animals and account for more than 35% of the human genome. However, the prevalence, biogenesis mechanism and function of retrotransposons remain largely unknown. Here, we developed retroSeeker, a novel computational software that identifies novel retrotransposons from pairwise alignments of genomes and decodes their biogenesis, expression, evolution and potential functions.
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