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Zuccoli GS, Nascimento JM, Moraes-Vieira PM, Rehen SK, Martins-de-Souza D. Mitochondrial, cell cycle control and neuritogenesis alterations in an iPSC-based neurodevelopmental model for schizophrenia. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2023; 273:1649-1664. [PMID: 37039888 DOI: 10.1007/s00406-023-01605-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 04/12/2023]
Abstract
Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder of neurodevelopmental origin that affects around 1% of the world's population. Proteomic studies and other approaches have provided evidence of compromised cellular processes in the disorder, including mitochondrial function. Most of the studies so far have been conducted on postmortem brain tissue from patients, and therefore, do not allow the evaluation of the neurodevelopmental aspect of the disorder. To circumvent that, we studied the mitochondrial and nuclear proteomes of neural stem cells (NSCs) and neurons derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from schizophrenia patients versus healthy controls to assess possible alterations related to energy metabolism and mitochondrial function during neurodevelopment in the disorder. Our results revealed differentially expressed proteins in pathways related to mitochondrial function, cell cycle control, DNA repair and neuritogenesis and their possible implication in key process of neurodevelopment, such as neuronal differentiation and axonal guidance signaling. Moreover, functional analysis of NSCs revealed alterations in mitochondrial oxygen consumption in schizophrenia-derived cells and a tendency of higher levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). Hence, this study shows evidence that alterations in important cellular processes are present during neurodevelopment and could be involved with the establishment of schizophrenia, as well as the phenotypic traits observed in adult patients. Neural stem cells (NSCs) and neurons were derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from schizophrenia patients and controls. Proteomic analyses were performed on the enriched mitochondrial and nuclear fractions of NSCs and neurons. Whole-cell proteomic analysis was also performed in neurons. Our results revealed alteration in proteins related to mitochondrial function, cell cycle control, among others. We also performed energy pathway analysis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) analysis of NSCs, which revealed alterations in mitochondrial oxygen consumption and a tendency of higher levels of intracellular ROS in schizophrenia-derived cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuliana S Zuccoli
- Laboratory of Neuroproteomics, Department of Biochemistry and Tissue Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
| | - Juliana M Nascimento
- Laboratory of Neuroproteomics, Department of Biochemistry and Tissue Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
- D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Pedro M Moraes-Vieira
- Laboratory of Immunometabolism, Department of Genetics, Evolution, Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
- Experimental Medicine Research Cluster (EMRC), University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, 13083-862, Brazil
- Obesity and Comorbidities Research Center (OCRC), University of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Stevens K Rehen
- D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), São Paulo, Brazil
- Department of Genetics, Institute of Biology, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Daniel Martins-de-Souza
- Laboratory of Neuroproteomics, Department of Biochemistry and Tissue Biology, Institute of Biology, University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil.
- D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), São Paulo, Brazil.
- Experimental Medicine Research Cluster (EMRC), University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, 13083-862, Brazil.
- Instituto Nacional de Biomarcadores em Neuropsiquiatria (INBION), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, São Paulo, Brazil.
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Rao SB, Brundu F, Chen Y, Sun Y, Zhu H, Shprintzen RJ, Tomer R, Rabadan R, Leong KW, Markx S, Xu B, Gogos JA. Aberrant pace of cortical neuron development in brain organoids from patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and schizophrenia. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.10.04.557612. [PMID: 37873382 PMCID: PMC10592956 DOI: 10.1101/2023.10.04.557612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2023]
Abstract
Adults and children afflicted with the 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) exhibit cognitive, social, and emotional impairments, and are at significantly heightened risk for schizophrenia (SCZ). The impact of this deletion on early human brain development, however, has remained unclear. Here we harness organoid models of the developing human cerebral cortex, cultivated from subjects with 22q11.2DS and SCZ, as well as unaffected control samples, to identify cell-type-specific developmental abnormalities arising from this genomic lesion. Leveraging single-cell RNA-sequencing in conjunction with experimental validation, we find that the loss of genes within the 22q11.2 locus leads to a delayed development of cortical neurons. This compromised development was reflected in an elevated proportion of actively proliferating neural progenitor cells, coupled with a decreased fraction of more mature neurons. Furthermore, we identify perturbed molecular imprints linked to neuronal maturation, observe the presence of sparser neurites, and note a blunted amplitude in glutamate-induced Ca2+ transients. The aberrant transcription program underlying impaired development contains molecular signatures significantly enriched in neuropsychiatric genetic liability. MicroRNA profiling and target gene investigation suggest that microRNA dysregulation may drive perturbations of genes governing the pace at which maturation unfolds. Using protein-protein interaction network analysis we define complementary effects stemming from additional genes residing within the deleted locus. Our study uncovers reproducible neurodevelopmental and molecular alterations due to 22q11.2 deletions. These findings have the potential to facilitate disease modeling and promote the pursuit of therapeutic interventions.
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Kathuria A, Lopez-Lengowski K, Watmuff B, Karmacharya R. Morphological and transcriptomic analyses of stem cell-derived cortical neurons reveal mechanisms underlying synaptic dysfunction in schizophrenia. Genome Med 2023; 15:58. [PMID: 37507766 PMCID: PMC10375745 DOI: 10.1186/s13073-023-01203-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Postmortem studies in schizophrenia consistently show reduced dendritic spines in the cerebral cortex but the mechanistic underpinnings of these deficits remain unknown. Recent genome-wide association studies and exome sequencing investigations implicate synaptic genes and processes in the disease biology of schizophrenia. METHODS We generated human cortical pyramidal neurons by differentiating iPSCs of seven schizophrenia patients and seven healthy subjects, quantified dendritic spines and synapses in different cortical neuron subtypes, and carried out transcriptomic studies to identify differentially regulated genes and aberrant cellular processes in schizophrenia. RESULTS Cortical neurons expressing layer III marker CUX1, but not those expressing layer V marker CTIP2, showed significant reduction in dendritic spine density in schizophrenia, mirroring findings in postmortem studies. Transcriptomic experiments in iPSC-derived cortical neurons showed that differentially expressed genes in schizophrenia were enriched for genes implicated in schizophrenia in genome-wide association and exome sequencing studies. Moreover, most of the differentially expressed genes implicated in schizophrenia genetic studies had lower expression levels in schizophrenia cortical neurons. Network analysis of differentially expressed genes led to identification of NRXN3 as a hub gene, and follow-up experiments showed specific reduction of the NRXN3 204 isoform in schizophrenia neurons. Furthermore, overexpression of the NRXN3 204 isoform in schizophrenia neurons rescued the spine and synapse deficits in the cortical neurons while knockdown of NRXN3 204 in healthy neurons phenocopied spine and synapse deficits seen in schizophrenia cortical neurons. The antipsychotic clozapine increased expression of the NRXN3 204 isoform in schizophrenia cortical neurons and rescued the spine and synapse density deficits. CONCLUSIONS Taken together, our findings in iPSC-derived cortical neurons recapitulate cell type-specific findings in postmortem studies in schizophrenia and have led to the identification of a specific isoform of NRXN3 that modulates synaptic deficits in schizophrenia neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annie Kathuria
- Harvard University, MGH Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, CPZN6, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Chemical Biology Program, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kara Lopez-Lengowski
- Harvard University, MGH Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, CPZN6, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Chemical Biology Program, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Bradley Watmuff
- Harvard University, MGH Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, CPZN6, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Chemical Biology Program, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Rakesh Karmacharya
- Harvard University, MGH Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, CPZN6, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
- Chemical Biology Program, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Program in Neuroscience, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Schizophrenia & Bipolar Disorder Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA.
- Program in Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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