Project description:Hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) are globally beneficial insects that provide key ecological services, such as pollination and biological pest control. Importantly, extensive research has revealed that numerous species within this group engage in long-distance migrations, thereby enabling these services to operate across broad spatial scales. Hence, the conservation and sustainable use of this functionally important group is crucial for maintaining ecosystem balance and stability, especially in the face of ongoing losses of ecosystem functioning. However, limited genomic and transcriptomic resources hinder the advancement of research on this significant group. To address this gap, we generated a comprehensive developmental- and tissue-resolved transcriptome for Episyrphus balteatus, the dominant and most extensively researched migratory hoverfly species. We sequenced 30 RNA-seq libraries across three life stages (egg, larva, and pupa) and seven adult tissues (antenna, proboscis, head, thorax, body, leg, and wing), yielding 133.87 Gb of clean reads. The subsequent de novo assembly yielded 85,676 unigenes (N50 = 1,028 bp) exhibiting high completeness (97.9% BUSCO), and 45,479 unigenes (53.08%) were functionally annotated. Notably, differential expression analysis identified key gene sets and enriched pathways linked to development, sensory perception, and environmental responsiveness, which are molecular characteristics that may facilitate long-distance migration and ecosystem service delivery. Together, this dataset serves as a valuable community resource for ecological, evolutionary, and comparative research on hoverflies and other beneficial insects.
Project description:RNA-Seq analysis of prostate cancer cell line LNCaP treated with vehicle (C), androgen (R), androgen and IMTPPE (R + IMTPPE), androgen and JJ-(+)-450 (androgen + (-)450), androgen and JJ-(-)450 (androgen + (-)450), androgen and enzalutamide (androgen +Enz). To evaluate if our compounds can inhibit AR function specifically and completely, LNCaP mRNA profiles of cells treated with IMTPPE, (+)-JJ-450 and (-)-JJ-450, comparing to enzalutamide. RNA isolation was performed using RNeasy Mini kit (Qiagen), RNA Sequencing was carried out by Genomics Research Core of University of Pittsburgh using Illumina NextSeq 500 system. The sequence reads that passed FASTQC were analyzed at the transcript level. Each sample was mapped to the Human Ensembl reference genome GRCh38. We definied different expression genes with a fold change ≥2.0 and FDR <0.05. Both (-)-JJ-450 and enzalutamide are very specific to AR, with 56 and 186 DE genes comparing to control samples respectively. IMTPPE and (+)-JJ-450 can inhibit most of the androgen responsive genes, but also some other genes were affected. (-)-JJ-450 is a novel compound inhibts AR function specifically and completely, and it is a potential lead compound for the treatment of CRPC, including those resistant to enzalutamide.