z-bio 2025-11-15 3011

　　Professor Hu Zhibin, President of Nanjing Medical University, studied under Shen Hongbing, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and has long been deeply involved in the field of molecular epidemiology of complex diseases. He is a valid candidate for the 2025 academician election. Recently, his team has published major research in two authoritative international journals, Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy and Cell Death & Differentiation, respectively focusing on the prevention and control of congenital heart disease during pregnancy and the pathogenesis of male infertility, providing new ideas for the precise prevention and treatment of related diseases.

　　1. Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy (IF=38.1): Revealing the causes of congenital heart disease during pregnancy, dietary intervention provides new prevention and control strategies

　　Thesis title: Maternal cholesterol deficiency predisposes congenital heart defect risk

　　Core Highlights: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect in newborns in the world and one of the leading causes of infant and child death. However, the cause of more than half of the cases is unknown. Cholesterol is an important component of cell membranes and a key signaling molecule in embryonic development, but there has been a lack of conclusive evidence for its direct relationship with CHD. By integrating large-scale birth cohort data and animal experiments, Hu Zhibin's team has determined for the first time that low maternal cholesterol levels during pregnancy will significantly increase the risk of CHD in offspring. Mechanistically, maternal cholesterol deficiency will interfere with key signaling pathways in embryonic heart development (such as the sonic hedgehog pathway), leading to abnormal heart structure formation. What is more clinically valuable is that the team confirmed through mouse models that supplementing a high-cholesterol diet during pregnancy can effectively reverse this risk, providing a simple and feasible intervention plan for precise prevention and control of CHD during pregnancy, and filling the dual gaps in etiology research and prevention and control strategies in this field.

　　Author information: Professor Hu Zhibin is the corresponding author, and the School of Public Health and the State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine of Nanjing Medical University are the core completing units.

　　2. Cell Death & Differentiation (IF=15.8): Unlocking the “double-sided” regulatory mechanism of male infertility, lncRNA becomes a new diagnostic and therapeutic target

　　Thesis title: Male specific conserved LncRNA TSCL1 regulated target mRNA translation by interaction with PIWIL1

　　Core Highlights: Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) plays a key role in mammalian physiological processes, but its function in spermatogenesis has not been fully explored. The Hu Zhibin/Gu Yayun team discovered for the first time that the male-specific conserved lncRNA TSCL1 plays a "double-sided" regulatory role in male infertility: on the one hand, TSCL1 can accurately regulate the translation process of spermatogenesis-related target mRNAs by forming a complex with PIWIL1 and HuR proteins; on the other hand, it can also encode a small peptide of 53 amino acids, which can maintain the stability of the sperm mitochondrial sheath structure and ensure sperm motility. Animal experiments have confirmed that TSCL1 knockout mice will suffer from male infertility, which is manifested by a significant decrease in sperm motility and disordered mitochondrial sheath structure. More importantly, the team found that rare variants in the binding region of human TSCL1 and PIWIL1 significantly increase the risk of non-obstructive azoospermia. This study is the first to incorporate lncRNA-protein interaction defects into the core cause of male infertility. It not only expands the understanding of the versatility of lncRNA, but also provides new molecular targets for precise diagnosis and targeted treatment of non-obstructive azoospermia.

　　Author information: Professor Hu Zhibin and Professor Gu Yayun are the co-corresponding authors, and the team from the School of Public Health of Nanjing Medical University and the State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine are the core completion units

　　Hu Zhibin's team has always focused on clinical pain points in the field of complex diseases and reproductive health, and continues to produce original results with clinical translation value through the multi-dimensional research model of "population cohort + animal model + molecular mechanism". The publication of the series of top-level research not only demonstrates my country's scientific research strength in the fields of molecular epidemiology and reproductive health, but also provides solid scientific support for the improvement of the prevention and control system of related diseases, helping to further advance the Healthy China strategy in the fields of maternal and child health and reproductive health.

Introduction to Professor Hu Zhibin: