M. Cao

Mitotic polarity oscillation promotes epithelial tumor progression

This study shows that mitotic polarity oscillation drives epithelial tumor progression by linking cell division and loss of polarity through a feedforward mechanism.

Stress contingent changes in Hog1 pathway architecture and regulation in Candida albicans

This study identifies stress-dependent changes in Hog1 pathway regulation in C. albicans, revealing Ssk1's role as a scaffold and its impact on Hog1 phosphorylation under different stress conditions.

Analyses of Xenorhabdus griffiniae genomes reveal two distinct sub-species that display intra-species variation due to prophages.

This study identifies two subspecies of Xenorhabdus griffiniae and shows that prophages drive intraspecies genomic variation.

Strong cascading impacts of micropollutants on planktonic food web in urban river

This study examines how micropollutants affect planktonic food webs in urban rivers, finding stronger impacts in more urbanized areas with algal-mediated cascading effects.

Proguanil and chlorhexidine augment the antibacterial activities of clarithromycin and rifampicin against Acinetobacter baumannii

This study shows that combining proguanil and chlorhexidine with clarithromycin or rifampicin enhances antibacterial activity against Acinetobacter baumannii in vitro and improves treatment outcomes in mice.

Latitudinal scaling of aggregation with abundance and its consequences for coexistence in species rich forests

The paper examines latitudinal patterns in species aggregation and abundance, showing how these patterns affect coexistence in forests and introduces a framework to model their impact on extinction risk.

Comparative transcriptomics reveals divergence in pathogen response gene families amongst 20 forest tree species

This study uses RNA-seq data from 20 forest tree species to analyze gene family divergence, identifying shared whole genome duplication events and rapid evolution in pathogen response genes.

Decomposing intraspecific phenotypic variation: implications for species and functional diversity

The paper investigates intraspecific phenotypic variation in a tropical seedling community, finding alternative phenotypes and their environmental interactions influence growth and species co-occurrence.

Latitude influences stability via stabilizing mechanisms in naturally-assembled forest ecosystems at different spatial grains

The paper examines how latitude affects ecosystem stability in forests across different spatial scales, finding that species asynchrony and stability play key roles, with latitude influencing these mechanisms to counteract species richness effects.

A Peroxiredoxin-P38 MAPK scaffold increases MAPK activity by MAP3K-independent mechanisms

This paper shows that a Peroxiredoxin-P38 MAPK fusion protein hyperactivates P38 MAPK in yeast and human cells without requiring H2O2-sensing cysteines, suggesting a novel scaffold-based signaling mechanism.

Ubiquitination steers SRF3 plasma membrane nano-organization to specify signaling outputs

The paper shows that ubiquitination of SRF3 organizes its plasma membrane nano-organization, directing signaling outputs based on environmental cues like low iron or bacterial signals.

Factors determining success of the chronically instrumented unanesthetized fetal sheep model of human development: a retrospective cohort study

This study identifies team experience as the key factor determining the success of the CINAFS fetal sheep model for human development research.

Identification of Mebendazole as an ethylene signaling activator reveals a role of ethylene signaling in the regulation of lateral root angles

The paper identifies Mebendazole as a small molecule that increases lateral root angle in Arabidopsis by inhibiting CTR1 kinase and activating ethylene signaling.

Conserved Untranslated Regions of Multipartite Viruses: Natural Markers of Novel Viral Genomic Components and Tags of Viral Evolution

This study identifies novel viral genomic components and evolutionary patterns using conserved untranslated regions (UTRs) and UTR-backed iterative BLASTn in multipartite viruses.

SARS-CoV-2 diverges from other betacoronaviruses in only partially activating the IRE1α/XBP1 ER stress pathway in human lung-derived cells

This study compares how SARS-CoV-2 and other betacoronaviruses activate the IRE1α/XBP1 ER stress pathway in human lung cells, finding that SARS-CoV-2 only partially activates it, potentially evading host immune detection.

The receptor kinase SRF3 coordinates iron-level and flagellin dependent defense and growth responses in plants

This study identifies SRF3 as a receptor kinase that coordinates iron homeostasis and immune responses in plants by regulating callose synthase activity.

Chemical ecology of an apex predator life cycle

The paper examines how microbial symbiosis influences chemical ecology during an insect's life cycle by analyzing trophic interactions, metabolomics, and gene regulation in nematodes and bacteria.

Temporal trait plasticity and neighborhood crowding predict the growth of tropical trees

The paper investigates how temporal changes in functional traits and neighborhood crowding affect tree growth in a tropical forest, finding that dynamic factors better predict growth rates than static ones.

Species packing and the latitudinal gradient in beta-diversity

The paper tests whether beta-diversity contributes to the latitudinal gradient in species richness by analyzing tree species data across East Asia.

Luteolin transforms the BMDM polarity to regulate the expression of inflammatory factors

This study shows luteolin alters BMDM polarization by modulating STAT1/6 pathways, reducing pro-inflammatory factors and increasing anti-inflammatory ones.

Nonspecific Cleavages Arising from Reconstitution of Trypsin under Mildly Acidic Conditions

This study shows that reconstitution and storage conditions of trypsins can significantly affect nonspecific cleavages in tryptic digestion, with mildly acidic conditions promoting up to 20% nonspecific activity.

Renewable Fatty Acid Ester Production in Clostridium

This paper develops microbial strains for producing renewable fatty acid esters, achieving high yields and economic competitiveness in bioproduction.

Foundation species across a latitudinal gradient in China

The paper identifies candidate foundation species in Chinese forests across a latitudinal gradient and finds they are more common in temperate zones than in tropical or boreal regions.

Genomic predictive ability for foliar nutritive traits in perennial ryegrass

This study assesses genomic selection for nutritive traits in perennial ryegrass, finding moderate to high predictive abilities for most traits and suggesting multi-trait approaches for lower predictive traits.

Isolation and characterization of rare circulating autoantibody-producing cells from patients with muscle-specific kinase myasthenia gravis

The paper isolates and characterizes MuSK-specific autoantibody-producing B cells from MuSK myasthenia gravis patients, generating monoclonal antibodies that reveal distinct binding specificities and functional effects on AChR clustering.

Inducible formation of leading cells driven by CD44 switching gives rise to collective invasion

The paper shows CD44hi leading cells drive collective invasion in luminal breast cancer through reversible CD44 switching, highlighting plasticity in cancer cell states.