Christabel Xin Tan

Omega-seq: ultra-low-background RNA sequencing with faithful molecular counting and precise transcript-end capture

USER-excisable uracil TSOs, a uracil-intolerant polymerase and excess primer confine UMI incorporation to reverse transcription, minimizing background and UMI inflation; a separate Omega-shaped dT primer captures stranded transcript ends.

δ-catenin controls layer-specific transcriptional maturation of astrocytes via Zbtb20

This study shows that δ-catenin regulates astrocyte transcriptional maturation and circuit stabilization via Zbtb20, with loss of δ-catenin disrupting layer-specific astrocyte identities and prolonging ocular dominance plasticity.

PD-linked LRRK2 G2019S mutation impairs astrocyte morphology and synapse maintenance via ERM hyperphosphorylation

This study shows that the LRRK2 G2019S mutation impairs astrocyte morphology and synapse maintenance by hyperphosphorylating ERM proteins, which disrupts the Ezrin/Atg7 interaction and autophagy.

GEARBOCS: An Adeno Associated Virus Tool for In Vivo Gene Editing in Astrocytes

The paper introduces GEARBOCS, an AAV-based CRISPR/Cas9 tool for in vivo astrocyte gene editing, demonstrating its utility for knockout, tagging, and reporter knock-in strategies in mice.