Fundamental Research最新文献

{"title":"Architecture and evolution of the lithosphere beneath the northern South China sea: Implications for plate-edge lithospheric thinning and rifting","authors":"Qiang Ma,&nbsp;Sheng-Ping Qian,&nbsp;Yi-Gang Xu,&nbsp;Fan Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.fmre.2025.03.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fmre.2025.03.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Passive margins formed by continental rifting and oceanic spreading exhibit a wide range of characteristics, many of which remain poorly understood. In this study, we investigate the continent-ocean transition (COT) of the South China Sea (SCS) to elucidate the tectonic-magmatic processes involved in continental thinning and rifting. We present new in situ analyses of water, chemical, and Sr isotopic compositions of volcanic glasses and plagioclases, alongside the ages and Hf isotope compositions of zircons from the SCS. Our isotopic data reveal significant inter- and intra-crystalline disequilibria in plagioclase phenocrysts, suggesting a complex history of mantle-derived magmas interacting with the continental crust. Geochemical variability in the plagioclases and the presence of old inherited zircons indicate that mantle magmas were contaminated by crustal material. The ages (ranging from Cretaceous to Archean) and Hf isotopic signatures of the zircons are similar to those found in the Cathaysian block of Southeast China, supporting the presence of continental lithosphere beneath the northern SCS. The COT is characterized by a sharp juxtaposition of continental crust and igneous oceanic crust, and its structural features differ from the classic magma-poor or magma-rich passive-margin models. The X_H2O conditions inferred for basalt generation during continental rifting and SCS spreading imply that the underlying mantle beneath the SCS was hydrous, which may have triggered the weakening and removal of the lithospheric root, probably due to the multiple subductions of oceanic plates since the Cretaceous. Our findings provide key evidence for the role of hydro-induced lithospheric weakening associated with nearby subduction zones in the processes of continental thinning and breakup in the SCS.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34602,"journal":{"name":"Fundamental Research","volume":"6 5","pages":"Pages 3114-3122"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149056553","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analysis of critical conditions for air bubble detachment from freezing fronts under different gravitational environments","authors":"Keke Shao,&nbsp;Mengjie Song,&nbsp;Jun Shen,&nbsp;Dong Rip Kim,&nbsp;Xuan Zhang,&nbsp;Long Zhang,&nbsp;Zekang Zhen","doi":"10.1016/j.fmre.2025.03.014","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fmre.2025.03.014","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Extraterrestrial water resources like water ice are essential for space activities. Exploration of ice formation processes in different gravitational environments will contribute to developing and utilizing these water ice resources. The formation of air bubbles on freezing fronts during icing is a common phenomenon, and their behavior of detachment or trapping directly affects ice properties. Mathematical modeling of the forces acting on air bubbles on freezing fronts is developed to investigate air bubbles' detachment and trapping conditions under different gravitational accelerations. The main forces affecting the state of bubbles are the lift force composed of buoyant, Marangoni, and thermomolecular forces, and the drag force composed of adhesion force and gravity. The equilibrium of the lift force and drag force is the critical mechanical condition for air bubble detachment and trapping, and the bubble radius at this time is defined as the critical detachment radius. The experimentally validated mathematical model predicts the air bubble detachment radius with an accuracy of &gt; 65%, which is higher than the 30% of the existing model. The analysis reveals that among the forces affecting the bubble state, the Marangoni and adhesion forces are the dominant factors. The tilt angle of the freezing front, temperature gradient, and liquid density affect the bubble detachment radius, with the temperature gradient having the greatest effect. The study of the critical conditions for air bubble detachment and trapping under different gravitational environments can provide references for engineering applications such as space activities, metal casting, anti-icing, and deicing, as well as enrich the liquid-solid phase change mechanism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34602,"journal":{"name":"Fundamental Research","volume":"6 5","pages":"Pages 2856-2868"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149056520","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Targeting C3aR/STAT3 signaling attenuates neuroinflammation and reverses neurological impairment in Neuromyelitis optica","authors":"Li Xu,&nbsp;Xinyi Wang,&nbsp;Huiming Xu,&nbsp;Siqi Chen,&nbsp;Wei Jiang,&nbsp;Haoyang Li,&nbsp;Shabbir Khan Afridi,&nbsp;Yuge Wang,&nbsp;Wenjing Luo,&nbsp;Hui Yang,&nbsp;Changyong Tang,&nbsp;Wei Qiu","doi":"10.1016/j.fmre.2025.11.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fmre.2025.11.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Abundant evidence indicates that the interaction between astrocytes and microglia through the C3–C3a receptor (C3aR) pathway is a crucial contributor to the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative and autoimmune disorders, such as neuromyelitis optica (NMO). However, the role of C3aR in microglia in modulating inflammation related to local lesions and neurological dysfunctions in NMO remains unclear. In this study, we reveal for the first time that the expression of C3aR on microglia is positively correlated with microglial activation, proinflammatory cytokine secretion, and complement deposition, which results in the typical NMO-like lesion characterized by astrocyte injury with aquaporin 4 (AQP4) loss, demyelination, and motor neuron loss, as well as cognitive impairments, visual defects, and locomotor deficits in different models of NMO. The knockdown of C3aR or the use of a C3aR antagonist, both <em>ex vivo</em> and in vivo, effectively attenuates neuroinflammation, alleviates pathological lesions, and rescues neurological functions. Mechanistically, we identify STAT3 as a downstream target of microglial C3aR signaling that functionally mediates NMO pathogenesis. Blocking the C3aR/STAT3 cascade restores motor and visual functions by reducing the release of proinflammatory factors. Taken together, our study demonstrates a key role of the C3aR-STAT3 pathway in regulating neuroinflammation in NMO pathology and provides potential targets for therapeutic intervention.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34602,"journal":{"name":"Fundamental Research","volume":"6 5","pages":"Pages 3491-3506"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147896574","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparison of the biological effects of various radiation therapies for keloids by single-cell RNA sequencing reveals IRF1 as a novel target in keloid therapy","authors":"Xiaoqian Li,&nbsp;Wei Li,&nbsp;Tao Yan,&nbsp;Linfen Guo,&nbsp;Yahui Feng,&nbsp;Yulan Liu,&nbsp;Lu Ye,&nbsp;Yuehua Zhang,&nbsp;Hao Bai,&nbsp;Nianyong Chen,&nbsp;Daojiang Yu,&nbsp;Shuyu Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.fmre.2025.09.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fmre.2025.09.009","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Keloids are benign dermal tumors that arise from abnormal wound healing processes following skin lesions. Keloids are present in all human populations but occur most frequently in Africans. A significantly higher incidence is observed in female populations. Consequently, keloid patients not only endure physical burdens caused by symptoms such as pain, pruritus, and burning, but also suffer from psychological distress due to altered appearance, significantly compromising their quality of life. Surgical excision, as one of the various treatment options, demonstrates rapid efficacy but carries an unacceptably high recurrence rate of 40%–100% when used as a standalone therapy. Postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) is a clinically effective measure to reduce recurrence rates of keloid. Nevertheless, studies comparing the effectiveness and underlying mechanisms of distinct radiotherapy modalities for keloid remain absent in the literature. In our study, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq) of primary keloid fibroblasts treated with three kinds of radiotherapy modalities, and unbiased clustering revealed the identification of seven distinct clusters. Among them, the cell proportions of Fib2-<em>CCND1</em>^high, Fib3-<em>IGFBP7</em>^high and Fib 4-<em>APCDD1</em>^high increased significantly in the X-ray group, electron beam group and both ⁹⁰Sr groups, which are involved in microtubule-associated complex, extracellular matrix organization and oxidative phosphorylation, respectively. In addition, the bioinformatics analysis highlighted the alteration of immune-associated interactions, such as PVR-TNFSF9 and TNFSF9-IL13RA2, and provided a basis for the activation of interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF1) in all radiotherapy modalities. Then, functional analysis revealed that Ad-IRF1 and pharmacological activation of IRF1 (ATRA and 9-cis-RA) significantly induced apoptosis and suppressed cell viability. Mechanistically, reciprocal regulation between the single-stranded DNA sensors SSBP1 and IRF1 was revealed. Thus, this study illustrates the molecular alterations and driving transcription factors following various radiotherapy modalities at the single-cell resolution. Notably, IRF1 is regulated by SSBP1 and identified as a novel therapeutic target for keloid.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34602,"journal":{"name":"Fundamental Research","volume":"6 5","pages":"Pages 3445-3456"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147906366","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Pure oxygen terminated MXenes prepared by NaOH/NaI eutectic molten salt","authors":"Tianze Zhang,&nbsp;Pei-Yu Cao,&nbsp;Qiuxiang Wang,&nbsp;Bin Yang,&nbsp;Hujie Wan,&nbsp;Libo Chang,&nbsp;Guozheng Zhang,&nbsp;Qi Jin,&nbsp;Yi Deng,&nbsp;Chao Yang,&nbsp;Yang Wang,&nbsp;Ye-Chuang Han,&nbsp;Tianpeng Ding,&nbsp;Xu Xiao","doi":"10.1016/j.fmre.2025.10.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fmre.2025.10.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>MXenes, a promising class of two-dimensional materials derived from transition metal carbides and nitrides, are attracting considerable attention for their remarkable properties and potential uses in energy storage, EMI shielding, electronics, etc. Modifying surface terminations is essential for tuning the electron structure of MXenes, significantly affecting their properties. However, existing methods for altering the surface chemistry, particularly regarding oxygen termination, encounter significant challenges, such as low substitution efficiency and self-oxidation during treatment, resulting in the absence of pure O-terminated MXenes in the literature. Here, we present a general NaOH/NaI molten salt modification strategy that successfully prepares pure O-terminated MXenes. The effectiveness of this reaction stems from the naked OH ions in the molten salt, along with elevated temperatures that facilitate substitution, all while remaining below the temperatures that cause structural degradation and self-oxidation of MXenes. Consequently, the intrinsic properties of pure O-terminated MXenes undergo significant changes, including continuous tunability of the work function (3.67 to 4.17 eV) and distinct temperature-dependent resistance behavior. In addition, pure O-terminated Ti₃C₂ demonstrates impressive performance for Li⁺ storage, achieving a high specific capacity of 258 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 A g⁻¹, which is more than two times that of pristine Ti₃C₂T<em>_x</em>. In addition, after 5000 cycles at a current density of 2 A g⁻¹, the capacity retention of pure O-terminated Ti₃C₂ is 97%. Our results not only demonstrate the possibility of obtaining pure O-terminated MXenes but also validate the importance of pure O terminations on tuning the properties and boosting the performance of MXenes in various fields.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34602,"journal":{"name":"Fundamental Research","volume":"6 5","pages":"Pages 3311-3318"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147331877","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The multifaceted roles of tumor-infiltrating plasma cells in cancer immunology","authors":"Yuting Jiang,&nbsp;Qian Zhang,&nbsp;Zhengnan Yang,&nbsp;Kailin Yang,&nbsp;Shengtao Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.fmre.2025.12.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fmre.2025.12.009","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Activated B cells differentiate into plasma cells that can produce a vast repertoire of antibodies. The discovery of tumor-infiltrating plasma cells (TIPCs) has highlighted the importance of their interactions with the host immune system in cancer hallmarks. Notably, tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs) serve as crucial sites for TIPC generation, supporting activation, maturation, and class-switch recombination (CSR). These structures strongly influence the functional orientation of TIPCs and are often associated with favorable clinical outcomes in various cancers. CSR further diversifies antibody isotypes, enabling distinct effector functions. Nevertheless, there are still large controversies over the exact roles of TIPCs, with evidence pointing to both pro- and antitumor activities depending on the tumor context. In this review, we revisit the basics of plasma cell biology, the impact of TLSs and CSR on TIPC function, and the contrasting effects of TIPCs on tumor progression and immune responses. We aim to provide further insights into the potential utility of targeting plasma cell biology as therapeutic approaches for cancer patients in clinical settings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34602,"journal":{"name":"Fundamental Research","volume":"6 5","pages":"Pages 3381-3394"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149056056","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Global effects of progress towards SDGs on steeply sloped land use and land cover","authors":"Hongwei Zhang,&nbsp;Ji Chai,&nbsp;Zhihui Li,&nbsp;Haiyang Li,&nbsp;John Gibson,&nbsp;Pankaj Kumar,&nbsp;Gui Jin","doi":"10.1016/j.fmre.2025.11.013","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fmre.2025.11.013","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Flat, highly suitable land for construction and cultivation is limited, and socio-economic development and population growth will surely lead to the exploitation of steeply sloped land, which is very difficult to use and extremely ecologically sensitive. Understanding how the trade-offs and synergies between economic development, social progress and ecological protection within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) affect the exploitation and protection of steeply sloped land in an integrated manner should be an important part of land resources management, but is rarely addressed in existing research. Therefore, we produced global map of steeply sloped land use and land cover in 2020 with the spatial resolution of <span><math><mrow><mn>10</mn><mspace></mspace><mi>m</mi><mo>×</mo><mn>10</mn><mspace></mspace></mrow></math></span>m, and its distribution and structural characteristics were analyzed, the levels of achievement of the 17 sub-SDGs and these effects on steeply sloped land use and land cover structure were quantified. Results showed that: The distribution of steeply sloped land use and land cover around the world is extremely uneven. Area of steeply sloped land use and land cover in 54 countries exceeds 50%, and these countries or regions are mainly located in Asia and Europe. Global steeply sloped land use and land cover includes all types of commonly used land use and land cover classifications, which is mainly composed by tree cover, grassland, and bare/sparse vegetation, accounting for 48.663%, 21.418%, and 14.876% respectively, and cropland is the main land use type. the level of achieving the SDGs of essential needs and objectives shows the most significant negative direct effects on the amount of ecological space in the global steeply sloped land use and land cover system (−0.526, −0.318), the level of achieving the SDGs of governance has clear positive direct effects on the amount of construction space and ecological space (0.403, 0.324). The 17 sub-SDGs and the global steeply sloped land use and land cover structure also exert indirect effects through their interactions. Our conclusion is that it is necessary to strengthen the systematic monitoring of global steeply sloped land use and land cover, as well as the need for effective control of global steeply sloped land exploitation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34602,"journal":{"name":"Fundamental Research","volume":"6 5","pages":"Pages 3352-3360"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149056019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploration of extraterrestrial biosignatures and planetary habitability: A prospect","authors":"Zengqian Hou,&nbsp;Jizhong Liu,&nbsp;Yuming Wang,&nbsp;Lei Geng,&nbsp;Hui Huang,&nbsp;Hailiang Dong,&nbsp;Yazhou Dong,&nbsp;Siteng Fan,&nbsp;Jihua Hao,&nbsp;Jiansen He,&nbsp;Dali Kong,&nbsp;Hui Li,&nbsp;Yan Li,&nbsp;Yiliang Li,&nbsp;Mang Lin,&nbsp;Zongcheng Ling,&nbsp;Yuangao Qu,&nbsp;Zhenfeng Sheng,&nbsp;Tong Wang,&nbsp;Yuxian Wang,&nbsp;Xiao Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.fmre.2026.07.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fmre.2026.07.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>China’s deep space exploration has achieved remarkable accomplishments and is now undergoing a significant strategic transition from an engineering-driven program to one that integrates engineering and science. This shift provides a timely opportunity for China to systematically define the development directions and overall framework of planetary science by targeting scientific frontiers, focusing on key research areas, and addressing major scientific questions. In this context, we provide an in-depth analysis of the crucial role of searching for potential biosignatures and investigating planetary habitability for understanding the origin of life. We systematically review the current research state and emerging trends in this field at both the domestic and international levels. Furthermore, we identify three key scientific themes that require urgent attention: planetary habitability, the search for extraterrestrial biosignatures, and the co-evolution of life and habitable environments. For each theme, the major underlying scientific questions are further clarified. Based on these scientific priorities, we also propose key target celestial bodies and critical detection scenarios for future missions. The results are expected to provide important theoretical support for defining scientific objectives and informing the top-level design in China’s future planetary exploration endeavors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34602,"journal":{"name":"Fundamental Research","volume":"6 5","pages":"Pages 2781-2791"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149056438","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"UniVector: Unified vector extraction via instance-geometry interaction","authors":"Yinglong Yan,&nbsp;Jun Yue,&nbsp;Shaobo Xia,&nbsp;Hanmeng Sun,&nbsp;Tianxu Ying,&nbsp;Chengcheng Wu,&nbsp;Sifan Lan,&nbsp;Min He,&nbsp;Pedram Ghamisi,&nbsp;Leyuan Fang","doi":"10.1016/j.fmre.2026.03.025","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fmre.2026.03.025","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Vector extraction (VE) retrieves structured vector geometry from raster images, offering high-fidelity representation and broad applicability. Existing methods, however, are usually tailored to a single vector type (e.g., polygons, polylines, line segments), requiring separate models for different structures. This stems from treating instance attributes (category, structure) and geometric attributes (point coordinates, connections) independently, limiting the ability to capture complex structures. Inspired by the human brain’s simultaneous use of semantic and spatial interactions in visual perception, we propose UniVector, a unified VE framework that leverages instance—geometry interaction to extract multiple vector types within a single model. UniVector encodes vectors as structured queries containing both instance- and geometry-level information, and iteratively updates them through an interaction module for cross-level context exchange. A dynamic shape constraint further refines global structures and key points. To benchmark multi-structure scenarios, we introduce the Multi-Vector dataset with diverse polygons, polylines, and line segments. Experiments show UniVector sets a new state of the art on both single- and multi-structure VE tasks. Code and dataset will be released at <span><span>https://github.com/yyyyll0ss/UniVector</span><svg><path></path></svg></span>.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34602,"journal":{"name":"Fundamental Research","volume":"6 5","pages":"Pages 3319-3329"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149056450","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Brain-wide atlas of outputs and inputs of mouse auditory cortex revealed by modified viral labeling strategies","authors":"Junxia Pan,&nbsp;Chaoyue Yang,&nbsp;Ruijie Li,&nbsp;Jialin Li,&nbsp;Pei Sun,&nbsp;Yuanyang Liu,&nbsp;Ke Liu,&nbsp;Xiang Liao,&nbsp;Hongbo Jia,&nbsp;Zhengping Yu,&nbsp;Xiaowei Chen,&nbsp;Meng Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.fmre.2025.08.014","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.fmre.2025.08.014","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding brain-wide connectivity is necessary to understand the principles of neural functions. While traditional neuron labeling methods have contributed to structural mapping, they often fall short in accurately identifying neuronal outputs because of limitations in solely using axon tracing. In this study, we improved labeling specificity by incorporating nuclear-localized fluorescent markers into retrograde and monosynaptic anterograde viral tracing strategies. Combined with high-resolution whole-brain imaging, this method enabled precise mapping of input-output relationships in the mouse auditory cortex (ACx). Soma-based labeling allowed for the clear identification of upstream and downstream neurons across the entire brain. Our analysis revealed that ACx projections to the primary somatosensory (SSp) and primary visual (VISp) cortices were largely restricted to layer 5, contrasting with previous reports suggesting stronger innervation in layers 1–3. We also identified downstream neurons within the corpus callosum (CC), a region not previously known to receive direct input from the ACx. These findings highlight the advantages of soma-targeted approaches in connectivity research and offer new insights into the organization of auditory networks. This approach lays the groundwork for future studies of circuit morphology and function across the brain.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34602,"journal":{"name":"Fundamental Research","volume":"6 5","pages":"Pages 3047-3055"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149056454","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"综合性期刊","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}