Elaine Hsiao
@pipethero.bsky.social
microbes, guts & brains at UCLA
www.hsiao.science
www.hsiao.science
Reposted by Elaine Hsiao
5/5 Awardee @chuchuzhang.bsky.social explores how different body states (eg, pregnancy) may change what neurons sense & how they respond. Her work may lead to new ways to address nausea associated w/ pregnancy🤰 & chemo.
🍾Congrats Dr. Zhang! @dgsomucla.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout @pipethero.bsky.social
🍾Congrats Dr. Zhang! @dgsomucla.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout @pipethero.bsky.social
July 17, 2025 at 6:01 PM
5/5 Awardee @chuchuzhang.bsky.social explores how different body states (eg, pregnancy) may change what neurons sense & how they respond. Her work may lead to new ways to address nausea associated w/ pregnancy🤰 & chemo.
🍾Congrats Dr. Zhang! @dgsomucla.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout @pipethero.bsky.social
🍾Congrats Dr. Zhang! @dgsomucla.bsky.social
🙏 #HFScout @pipethero.bsky.social
Overall, this was an exciting proof of concept showing that i) a gut bacterium can be used to offset environmental risk for neurotoxicity and ii) bacterial treatment of pregnant mice has the capacity to protect the brains of their fetuses.
a green cartoon character is giving a thumbs up sign
ALT: a green cartoon character is giving a thumbs up sign
media.tenor.com
May 2, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Overall, this was an exciting proof of concept showing that i) a gut bacterium can be used to offset environmental risk for neurotoxicity and ii) bacterial treatment of pregnant mice has the capacity to protect the brains of their fetuses.
To see if it reduces methylmercury to levels that are biologically meaningful, we tested it in pregnant mice. The bacterium reduced methylmercury bioaccumulation in maternal & fetal tissues, including brain, & reduced signs of toxicity in fetal brains from dams fed tuna or salmon
a robot says " if you go near this child , i will have no choice but to kill you "
ALT: a robot says " if you go near this child , i will have no choice but to kill you "
media.tenor.com
May 2, 2025 at 2:08 AM
To see if it reduces methylmercury to levels that are biologically meaningful, we tested it in pregnant mice. The bacterium reduced methylmercury bioaccumulation in maternal & fetal tissues, including brain, & reduced signs of toxicity in fetal brains from dams fed tuna or salmon
To put it to the real test, Amina got a bluefin tuna from a fish market & processed it into a fine powder. The bacterium reduced fish methylmercury when in culture & when monocolonized in mice that were fed fish-based chow. It even worked by oral gavage to conventional mice!
a man is talking to a woman and the words eliminate it are on the screen behind him
ALT: a man is talking to a woman and the words eliminate it are on the screen behind him
media.tenor.com
May 2, 2025 at 2:08 AM
To put it to the real test, Amina got a bluefin tuna from a fish market & processed it into a fine powder. The bacterium reduced fish methylmercury when in culture & when monocolonized in mice that were fed fish-based chow. It even worked by oral gavage to conventional mice!
Kristie engineered the gut bacterium B. thetaiotaomicron to express enzymes that reduce methylmercury into forms that are less toxic & easily excreted, and showed the bacterium quickly reduces methylmercury in culture & in the guts of mice orally gavaged with methylmercury
a cartoon drawing of bacteria with the words party time written below them
ALT: a cartoon drawing of bacteria with the words party time written below them
media.tenor.com
May 2, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Kristie engineered the gut bacterium B. thetaiotaomicron to express enzymes that reduce methylmercury into forms that are less toxic & easily excreted, and showed the bacterium quickly reduces methylmercury in culture & in the guts of mice orally gavaged with methylmercury
This made us wonder, if certain soil microbes survive by detoxifying methylmercury from their environment, could we use a microbe to detoxify methylmercury that enters the gut environment from eating mercury-containing fish?
a cartoon of spongebob with a question mark in a thought bubble
ALT: a cartoon of spongebob with a question mark in a thought bubble
media.tenor.com
May 2, 2025 at 2:08 AM
This made us wonder, if certain soil microbes survive by detoxifying methylmercury from their environment, could we use a microbe to detoxify methylmercury that enters the gut environment from eating mercury-containing fish?
We were inspired by work by Fatimawali, Kepel, and Tallei at Sam Ratulangi University that found mercury-resistant soil bacteria from a polluted gold mine
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30796768/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30796768/
Potential of Organic Mercury-resistant Bacteria Isolated from Mercury Contaminated Sites for Organic Mercury Remediation - PubMed
The study suggested that there are four bacteria that have potentials to remediate organic mercury contamination sites.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
May 2, 2025 at 2:08 AM
We were inspired by work by Fatimawali, Kepel, and Tallei at Sam Ratulangi University that found mercury-resistant soil bacteria from a polluted gold mine
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30796768/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30796768/
We learned from Amina’s foundational research that levels of the neurotoxicant methylmercury are rising in fish, which poses a major issue for the billions of people iwho rely on fish as a major source of nutrition. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Climate change and overfishing increase neurotoxicant in marine predators - Nature
Overfishing and warming ocean temperature have caused an increase in methylmercury concentrations in some Atlantic predatory fish, and this trend is predicted to continue unless stronger mercury and c...
www.nature.com
May 2, 2025 at 2:08 AM
We learned from Amina’s foundational research that levels of the neurotoxicant methylmercury are rising in fish, which poses a major issue for the billions of people iwho rely on fish as a major source of nutrition. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This all began with a chance meeting at Scialog meeting by @RCSA1—think science speed-dating with rapid seed funding- a fun and impactful way to advance new ideas. Thanks to @RCSA1 for supporting collaborative, interdisciplinary research & making this work possible! newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/red...
Designer microbe shows promise for reducing mercury absorption from seafood
UCLA and UCSD research suggests a probiotic could one day increase the benefits of eating fish.
newsroom.ucla.edu
May 2, 2025 at 2:08 AM
This all began with a chance meeting at Scialog meeting by @RCSA1—think science speed-dating with rapid seed funding- a fun and impactful way to advance new ideas. Thanks to @RCSA1 for supporting collaborative, interdisciplinary research & making this work possible! newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/red...
Lots more to do and improve, but overall, this was an exciting proof of concept showing that i) a gut bacterium can be used to offset environmental risk for neurotoxicity and ii) bacterial treatment of pregnant mice has the capacity to protect the brains of their fetuses.
a green cartoon character is giving a thumbs up sign
ALT: a green cartoon character is giving a thumbs up sign
media.tenor.com
May 2, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Lots more to do and improve, but overall, this was an exciting proof of concept showing that i) a gut bacterium can be used to offset environmental risk for neurotoxicity and ii) bacterial treatment of pregnant mice has the capacity to protect the brains of their fetuses.
To see if it reduces methylmercury to levels that are biologically meaningful, we tested it in pregnant mice. The bacterium reduced methylmercury bioaccumulation in maternal & fetal tissues, including brain, & reduced signs of toxicity in fetal brains from dams fed tuna or salmon
a robot says " if you go near this child , i will have no choice but to kill you "
ALT: a robot says " if you go near this child , i will have no choice but to kill you "
media.tenor.com
May 2, 2025 at 2:03 AM
To see if it reduces methylmercury to levels that are biologically meaningful, we tested it in pregnant mice. The bacterium reduced methylmercury bioaccumulation in maternal & fetal tissues, including brain, & reduced signs of toxicity in fetal brains from dams fed tuna or salmon
To put it to the real test, Amina got a bluefin tuna from a fish market & processed it into a fine powder. The bacterium reduced fish methylmercury when in culture & when monocolonized in mice that were fed fish-based chow. It even worked by oral gavage to conventional mice!
a man is talking to a woman and the words eliminate it are on the screen behind him
ALT: a man is talking to a woman and the words eliminate it are on the screen behind him
media.tenor.com
May 2, 2025 at 2:03 AM
To put it to the real test, Amina got a bluefin tuna from a fish market & processed it into a fine powder. The bacterium reduced fish methylmercury when in culture & when monocolonized in mice that were fed fish-based chow. It even worked by oral gavage to conventional mice!
Kristie engineered the gut bacterium B. thetaiotaomicron to express enzymes that reduce methylmercury into forms that are less toxic & easily excreted, and showed the bacterium quickly reduces methylmercury in culture & in the guts of mice orally gavaged with methylmercury
a cartoon drawing of bacteria with the words party time written below them
ALT: a cartoon drawing of bacteria with the words party time written below them
media.tenor.com
May 2, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Kristie engineered the gut bacterium B. thetaiotaomicron to express enzymes that reduce methylmercury into forms that are less toxic & easily excreted, and showed the bacterium quickly reduces methylmercury in culture & in the guts of mice orally gavaged with methylmercury
This made us wonder, if certain soil microbes survive by detoxifying methylmercury from their environment, could we use a microbe to detoxify methylmercury that enters the gut environment from eating mercury-containing fish?
a cartoon of spongebob with a question mark in a thought bubble
ALT: a cartoon of spongebob with a question mark in a thought bubble
media.tenor.com
May 2, 2025 at 2:03 AM
This made us wonder, if certain soil microbes survive by detoxifying methylmercury from their environment, could we use a microbe to detoxify methylmercury that enters the gut environment from eating mercury-containing fish?
We were inspired by work by Fatimawali, Kepel, and Tallei at Sam Ratulangi University that found mercury-resistant soil bacteria from a polluted gold mine
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30796768/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30796768/
Potential of Organic Mercury-resistant Bacteria Isolated from Mercury Contaminated Sites for Organic Mercury Remediation - PubMed
The study suggested that there are four bacteria that have potentials to remediate organic mercury contamination sites.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
May 2, 2025 at 2:03 AM
We were inspired by work by Fatimawali, Kepel, and Tallei at Sam Ratulangi University that found mercury-resistant soil bacteria from a polluted gold mine
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30796768/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30796768/
We learned from Amina’s foundational research that levels of the neurotoxicant methylmercury are rising in fish, which poses a major issue for the billions of people iwho rely on fish as a major source of nutrition. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Climate change and overfishing increase neurotoxicant in marine predators - Nature
Overfishing and warming ocean temperature have caused an increase in methylmercury concentrations in some Atlantic predatory fish, and this trend is predicted to continue unless stronger mercury and c...
www.nature.com
May 2, 2025 at 2:03 AM
We learned from Amina’s foundational research that levels of the neurotoxicant methylmercury are rising in fish, which poses a major issue for the billions of people iwho rely on fish as a major source of nutrition. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
This all began with a chance meeting at Scialog meeting by RCSA — think science speed-dating with rapid seed funding- a fun and impactful way to advance new ideas. Thanks to RCSA for supporting collaborative, interdisciplinary research & making this work possible!
May 2, 2025 at 2:03 AM
This all began with a chance meeting at Scialog meeting by RCSA — think science speed-dating with rapid seed funding- a fun and impactful way to advance new ideas. Thanks to RCSA for supporting collaborative, interdisciplinary research & making this work possible!
Huge thanks to Kelly Jameson who fearlessly led this study (& overcame the many technical hurdles of doing so!) together with invaluable guidance from Felix Schweizer! Also to Sabeen Kazmi, Taka Ohara,
Celine Son, Kristie Yu & colleagues for helping to make it possible.
Celine Son, Kristie Yu & colleagues for helping to make it possible.
a group of people are standing next to each other in a hallway and one of them is wearing a tank top .
ALT: a group of people are standing next to each other in a hallway and one of them is wearing a tank top .
media.tenor.com
January 29, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Huge thanks to Kelly Jameson who fearlessly led this study (& overcame the many technical hurdles of doing so!) together with invaluable guidance from Felix Schweizer! Also to Sabeen Kazmi, Taka Ohara,
Celine Son, Kristie Yu & colleagues for helping to make it possible.
Celine Son, Kristie Yu & colleagues for helping to make it possible.
Overall, this work adds key details to existing work on how microbes & their metabolites interact with vagal neurons. It shows that they can do so when applied to the lumen of the small intestine & when considering the specific subsets of metabolites that come from the microbiome
a man is driving a car with the words vegas baby written above him
ALT: a man is driving a car with the words vegas baby written above him
media.tenor.com
January 29, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Overall, this work adds key details to existing work on how microbes & their metabolites interact with vagal neurons. It shows that they can do so when applied to the lumen of the small intestine & when considering the specific subsets of metabolites that come from the microbiome
By stacking stimuli for in vivo calcium imaging, the SCFAs, BAs, and 3-IS seemed to activate some distinct subsets of vagal neurons, with some acting faster vs. slower than others.
a man singing into a microphone with the words we are on a different flow behind him
ALT: a man singing into a microphone with the words we are on a different flow behind him
media.tenor.com
January 29, 2025 at 9:28 PM
By stacking stimuli for in vivo calcium imaging, the SCFAs, BAs, and 3-IS seemed to activate some distinct subsets of vagal neurons, with some acting faster vs. slower than others.