Albert Lab · Sensory Physiology & Behaviour · Chonglin Guan publications

2026

2026 · Frontiers in Neurology

The awakening effect of hyperbaric oxygen therapy combined with systematic auditory stimulation in comatose patients with craniocerebral injury and its influence on serum biomarkers.

Jie Li Rong, Yi Xiang Guan, Chun Yan Ge, Xiao Jiang Liu, Gui Lan Lu, Su Ya Cao, Cheng Guan, Rong Jin

Background Severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) often results in prolonged coma and significant long-term disability. Evidence-based, widely accessible approaches to accelerate recovery of consciousness remain limited. This study evaluated whether adding a combined regimen of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) and systematic auditory stimulation (SAS) to standard neurosurgical care improves recovery of consciousness and short-term outcomes in comatose patients with sTBI. Methods In this prospective randomized controlled trial, 89 comatose patients with sTBI [Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) &lt; 8] were randomized to standard neurosurgical care (control, n  = 44) or standard care in addition to HBOT and SAS (HBOT+SAS, n  = 45). HBOT was delivered at a pressure of 2.0 atmospheres absolute (ATA) for 60 min/session, five sessions per week for 4 weeks. SAS consisted of structured family-delivered storytelling and music sessions three times daily following a predefined schedule. The primary outcome was the change in the Full Outline of UnResponsiveness (FOUR) score from baseline to Day 28. Secondary outcomes included the GCS and Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) scores, the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) score at 3 months, and serum biomarkers [such as S100B, neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)]; care-related satisfaction was analyzed as an exploratory outcome. Secondary endpoints were interpreted using a prespecified Bonferroni-adjusted threshold ( p  &lt; 0.01). Results Compared to the control group, the HBOT+SAS group demonstrated greater improvement in measures of consciousness at Day 28 (FOUR: 12.1 ± 2.4 vs. 9.3 ± 2.1; GCS: 11.3 ± 2.2 vs. 9.1 ± 1.9; CRS-R: 11.8 ± 2.3 vs. 8.1 ± 2.0; all p  &lt; 0.001). At 3 months, the functional outcome was higher in the HBOT+SAS group (GOS: 4.3 ± 0.5 vs. 3.6 ± 0.6, p  &lt; 0.001). Biomarker patterns indicated a reduction in neuronal injury and an enhancement in neurotrophic activity. Specifically, levels of S100B and NSE were lower in the HBOT+SAS group (both p  &lt; 0.001), and BDNF was higher ( p  = 0.003) in this group. No serious adverse events related to the intervention were reported. Satisfaction outcomes favored HBOT+SAS (88.89% vs. 59.09%, p  = 0.005) and were interpreted as exploratory due to the unblinded design of the study. Conclusion The addition of HBOT+SAS to standard care was associated with improved recovery of consciousness and better 3-month functional outcomes in comatose patients with sTBI, supported by consistent findings from clinical scales and serum biomarkers. However, since the trial did not include HBOT-only or SAS-only comparator arms, the findings support the effectiveness of the combined regimen compared to standard care but do not determine whether HBOT and SAS have a synergistic effect.

2026 · Current Biology

Myosin II-driven contractions of supporting cap cells promote sensory adaptation of Drosophila proprioceptors.

Chonglin Guan, Kengo Nishi, Christian T. Kreis, Oliver Bäumchen, Martin C. Göpfert, Christoph F. Schmidt

This publication investigates Myosin II-driven contractions of supporting cap cells promote sensory adaptation of Drosophila proprioceptors.

2026 · Developmental Psychobiology

Infants Recognized Other-Race Faces When Learning Them With Incidental Emotional Sounds.

Carie Guan, Naomi Geller, Maya Mammon, Naiqi G. Xiao

ABSTRACT Infant face recognition shows plasticity, with recent evidence indicating enhancement by the presence of emotional facial expressions. The mechanisms and domain‐generality of this effect remain largely unknown. This study tested whether auditory emotional cues (vocalizations) facilitated infants' recognition of other‐race faces, a perceptual challenge during the first year of life. Infants ( N = 89) were presented with emotionally neutral faces paired with happy, sad, or neutral vocal sounds in a within‐subjects design. Experiment 1 assessed recognition using identical face images between the familiarization and test phases, while Experiment 2 examined face recognition across viewpoint changes. Across both experiments, infants exhibited successful face recognition only when they were learned with emotional sounds (happy and sad). This facilitative effect remained stable across the tested age range and did not differ between happy and sad vocalizations. Infants' eye movement data revealed comparable face‐looking patterns across conditions, suggesting that the facilitation was not driven by changes in visual attention. Thus, incidental, cross‐modal emotional signals significantly enhance infant face recognition. This underscores the early integrative nature of emotion processing and its catalytic role in cognitive development.

2025

2025 · Aging Cell

Genetic and Pharmacological Inhibition of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Signalling Extends Lifespan in Drosophila.

Cui Guan, Abigail Otchere, Mihails Laskovs, Irene Papatheodorou, Cathy Slack

ABSTRACT Invertebrate models have been instrumental in advancing our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of ageing. The isolation of single gene mutations that both extend lifespan and improve age‐related health have identified potential targets for therapeutic intervention to alleviate age‐related morbidity. Here, we find that genetic loss of function of the G protein‐coupled metabotropic glutamate receptor (DmGluRA) in Drosophila extends the lifespan of female flies. This longevity phenotype was accompanied by lower basal levels of oxidative stress and improved stress tolerance, and differences in early‐life behavioural markers. Gene expression changes in DmGluRA mutants identified reduced ribosome biogenesis, a hallmark of longevity, as a key process altered in these animals. We further show that the pro‐longevity effects of reduced DmGluRA signalling are dependent on the fly homologue of Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP), an important regulator of ribosomal protein translation. Importantly, we can recapitulate lifespan extension using a specific pharmacological inhibitor of mGluR activity. Hence, our study identifies metabotropic glutamate receptors as potential targets for age‐related therapeutics.

2024

2024 · Hearing Research

A burden shared: The evolutionary case for studying human deafness in Drosophila.

Chonglin Guan, Muhammad Shaikh, Athanasia Warnecke, Barbara Vona, Joerg T Albert

This publication investigates A burden shared: The evolutionary case for studying human deafness in Drosophila.

2022

2022 · Protein & Peptide Letters

Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase Receptor-type Q: Structure, Activity, and Implications in Human Disease.

Wansi Zhang, Zhimin Tang, Shipan Fan, Dingjin Yao, Zhen Zhang, Chenxi Guan, Wenxin Deng, Ying Ying

Abstract: Protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor-type Q (PTPRQ), a member of the type III tyrosine phosphatase receptor (R3 PTPR) family, is composed of three domains, including 18 extracellular fibronectin type III (FN3) repeats, a transmembrane helix, and a cytoplasmic phosphotyrosine phosphatase (PTP) domain. PTPRQ was initially identified as a transcript upregulated in glomerular mesangial cells in a rat model of glomerulonephritis. Subsequently, studies found that PTPRQ has phosphotyrosine phosphatase and phosphatidylinositol phosphatase activities and can regulate cell proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, and survival. Further in vivo studies showed that PTPRQ is necessary for the maturation of cochlear hair bundles and is considered a potential gene for deafness. In the recent two decades, 21 mutations in PTPRQ have been linked to autosomal recessive hearing loss (DFNB84) and autosomal dominant hearing loss (DFNA73). Recent mutations, deletions, and amplifications of PTPRQ have been observed in many types of cancers, which indicate that PTPRQ might play an essential role in the development of many cancers. In this review, we briefly describe PTPRQ structure and enzyme activity and focus on the correlation between PTPRQ and human disease. A profound understanding of PTPRQ could be helpful in the identification of new therapeutic targets to treat associated diseases.

2020

2020 · mBio

A Chemical Counterpunch: Chromobacterium violaceum ATCC 31532 Produces Violacein in Response to Translation-Inhibiting Antibiotics.

Gabriel L. Lozano, Changhui Guan, Yanzhuan Cao, Bradley R. Borlee, Nichole A. Broderick, Eric V. Stabb, Jo Handelsman

Secondary metabolites play important roles in microbial communities, but their natural functions are often unknown and may be more complex than appreciated. While compounds with antibiotic activity are often assumed to underlie microbial competition, they may alternatively act as signal molecules. In either scenario, microorganisms might evolve responses to sublethal concentrations of these metabolites, either to protect themselves from inhibition or to change certain behaviors in response to the local abundance of another species. Here, we report that violacein production by C. violaceum ATCC 31532 is induced in response to hygromycin A from Streptomyces sp. 2AW, and we show that this response is dependent on inhibition of translational polypeptide elongation and a previously uncharacterized two-component regulatory system. The breadth of the transcriptional response beyond violacein induction suggests a surprisingly complex metabolite-mediated microbe-microbe interaction and supports the hypothesis that antibiotics evolved as signal molecules. These novel insights will inform predictive models of soil community dynamics and the unintended effects of clinical antibiotic administration.

2019

2019 · NeuroImage: Clinical

Large-scale brain functional network topology disruptions underlie symptom heterogeneity in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Xing Qian, Francisco Xavier Castellanos, Lucina Q. Uddin, Beatrice Rui Yi Loo, Siwei Liu, Hui Li Koh, Xue Wei Wendy Poh, Daniel Fung, Cuntai Guan, Tih-Shih Lee, Choon Guan Lim, Juan Zhou

This publication investigates Large-scale brain functional network topology disruptions underlie symptom heterogeneity in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

2019 · Current Biology

Chromophore-Independent Roles of Opsin Apoproteins in Drosophila Mechanoreceptors.

Radoslaw Katana, Chonglin Guan, Damiano Zanini, Matthew E. Larsen, Diego Giraldo, Bart R.H. Geurten, Christoph F. Schmidt, Steven G. Britt, Martin C. Göpfert

This publication investigates Chromophore-Independent Roles of Opsin Apoproteins in Drosophila Mechanoreceptors.

2017

2017 · eLife

Mechano-dependent signaling by Latrophilin/CIRL quenches cAMP in proprioceptive neurons.

Nicole Scholz, Chonglin Guan, Matthias Nieberler, Alexander Grotemeyer, Isabella Maiellaro, Shiqiang Gao, Sebastian Beck, Matthias Pawlak, Markus Sauer, Esther Asan, Sven Rothemund, Jana Winkler, Simone Prömel, Georg Nagel, Tobias Langenhan, Robert J Kittel

Adhesion-type G protein-coupled receptors (aGPCRs), a large molecule family with over 30 members in humans, operate in organ development, brain function and govern immunological responses. Correspondingly, this receptor family is linked to a multitude of diverse human diseases. aGPCRs have been suggested to possess mechanosensory properties, though their mechanism of action is fully unknown. Here we show that the Drosophila aGPCR Latrophilin/dCIRL acts in mechanosensory neurons by modulating ionotropic receptor currents, the initiating step of cellular mechanosensation. This process depends on the length of the extended ectodomain and the tethered agonist of the receptor, but not on its autoproteolysis, a characteristic biochemical feature of the aGPCR family. Intracellularly, dCIRL quenches cAMP levels upon mechanical activation thereby specifically increasing the mechanosensitivity of neurons. These results provide direct evidence that the aGPCR dCIRL acts as a molecular sensor and signal transducer that detects and converts mechanical stimuli into a metabotropic response.

2015

2015 · Cell Reports

The adhesion GPCR latrophilin/CIRL shapes mechanosensation.

Nicole Scholz, Jennifer Gehring, Chonglin Guan, Dmitrij Ljaschenko, Robin Fischer, Vetrivel Lakshmanan, Robert J. Kittel, Tobias Langenhan

This publication investigates The adhesion GPCR latrophilin/CIRL shapes mechanosensation.

2015 · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience

Electrocorticographic representations of segmental features in continuous speech.

Fabien Lotte, Jonathan S. Brumberg, Peter Brunner, Aysegul Gunduz, Anthony L. Ritaccio, Cuntai Guan, Gerwin Schalk

This publication investigates Electrocorticographic representations of segmental features in continuous speech.

2014

2014 · Frontiers in Neuroscience

Hybrid fNIRS-EEG based classification of auditory and visual perception processes.

Felix Putze, Sebastian Hesslinger, Chun-Yu Tse, YunYing Huang, Christian Herff, Cuntai Guan, Tanja Schultz

This publication investigates Hybrid fNIRS-EEG based classification of auditory and visual perception processes.

2011

2011 · Journal of Experimental Biology

Associative learning between odorants and mechanosensory punishment in larval Drosophila.

Claire Eschbach, Carmen Cano, Hannah Haberkern, Karla Schraut, Chonglin Guan, Tilman Triphan, Bertram Gerber

SUMMARY We tested whether Drosophila larvae can associate odours with a mechanosensory disturbance as a punishment, using substrate vibration conveyed by a loudspeaker (buzz: ). One odour (A) was presented with the buzz, while another odour (B) was presented without the buzz (A/B training). Then, animals were offered the choice between A and B. After reciprocal training (A/B), a second experimental group was tested in the same way. We found that larvae show conditioned escape from the previously punished odour. We further report an increase of associative performance scores with the number of punishments, and an increase according to the number of training cycles. Within the range tested (between 50 and 200 Hz), however, the pitch of the buzz does not apparently impact associative success. Last, but not least, we characterized odour–buzz memories with regard to the conditions under which they are behaviourally expressed – or not. In accordance with what has previously been found for associative learning between odours and bad taste (such as high concentration salt or quinine), we report that conditioned escape after odour–buzz learning is disabled if escape is not warranted, i.e. if no punishment to escape from is present during testing. Together with the already established paradigms for the association of odour and bad taste, the present assay offers the prospect of analysing how a relatively simple brain orchestrates memory and behaviour with regard to different kinds of ‘bad’ events.

Chonglin Guan iD

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