Gaofeng Jiang

Understanding epigenetic regulation in the differentiation and maturation of dopaminergic neurons is critical to improve and develop new medications for Parkinson’s disease (PD). To explore the role of ten-eleven translocation (TETs) family of dioxygenases and chromatin remodeling genes in the development of human midbrain dopaminergic (mDA) neurons, we globally analyze the epigenetic regulation of gene expression in human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and iPSCs-derived mDA neurons. During the conversion of iPSCs into neuronal lineages of dopaminergic progenitors and mDA neurons, the expression patterns of epigenetic genes in multiple sets alter significantly. Vitamin C, an activator of TET enzymes, increases hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) level along with a higher yield of mDA neurons. Additionally, vitamin C treatment elevates gene expressions of TET2/3 and vitamin C transporters. Importantly, functional arrays indicate that vitamin C can promote neuronal maturation, synaptic activity, and dopamine release. Collectively, our study demonstrates that chromatin remodeling genes and the TET-5hmC pathway, which is regulated by vitamin C, are critical for the vital developmental stages of human mDA neurons.

Typhoid and paratyphoid fevers (TPF), systemic emerging infectious diseases, is a serious health problem for society. If the incidence trend of TPF can be predicted, prevention and control measures can be taken in advance to reduce the harm to the people's health. Grey Model First Order One Variable [GM (1, 1)] was applied to predict the incidence trend of TPF with the incidence data of TPF in Wuhan City of China from 2004 to 2015. The original data were acquired from the national surveillance system. The GM (1, 1) model was established as ŷ (t + 1) = 0.88 e−0.21t + 0.15. The goodness-of-fit test indicated that the precision (degree 2) was qualified (C = 0.40, P = .91). We further compared actual values with predicted values in 2016 and found that GM (1, 1) model we built has excellent performance in incidence trend prediction. Our prediction shows that the TPF incidences in Wuhan City will be slowly decreasing in the next 3 years. It is, however, still necessary to strengthen the comprehensive prevention and control to reduce the incidence level of TPF.