Zeng Qiurui, a Zhiyuan graduate of the Biomedical Science division (class of 2020), and currently a Ph.D. student at the University of California, San Diego, has published groundbreaking research as first author in the prestigious journal Cell.
The study, "Cell-type-specific transposon demethylation and TAD remodeling in aging mouse brain," led by the Joseph Ecker Lab at the Salk Institute in collaboration with New York University's Bing Ren Lab, constructs the first comprehensive epigenetic atlas of the aging mouse brain across eight brain regions and 36 cell types. By integrating single-cell DNA methylation, chromatin 3D structure, and spatial transcriptomics, the research reveals that glial cells exhibit six times more dramatic epigenetic changes than neurons, with 83.6% of alterations being cell-type specific. Critically, the team discovered that dormant "jumping genes" (transposable elements) are reactivated during aging due to methylation loss, potentially triggering genomic instability and neuroinflammation. Three-dimensional genome architecture also undergoes significant reorganization, disrupting gene regulatory networks linked to Alzheimer's disease pathology. To integrate these findings, the team developed EpiAgingTransformer, a deep learning model that predicts age-related gene expression changes with up to 74.5% accuracy.
Zeng traces her scientific journey to an undergraduate developmental biology course at Zhiyuan College, where learning about embryonic development sparked her passion for epigenetics. The college's interdisciplinary training and small-class discussions cultivated her ability to question assumptions—a skill essential for research innovation. After undergraduate studies, she pursued computational biology at UC San Diego and the Salk Institute, focusing on epigenetic mechanisms in brain development and aging.
This research provides a molecular atlas of brain aging at unprecedented resolution, offering crucial insights into neurodegenerative disease origins and potential intervention strategies.