1
|
Pavlinek A, Adhya D, Tsompanidis A, Warrier V, Vernon AC, Lancaster M, Mill J, Srivastava DP, Baron-Cohen S. Using Organoids to Model Sex Differences in the Human Brain. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY GLOBAL OPEN SCIENCE 2024; 4:100343. [PMID: 39092139 PMCID: PMC11292257 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2024.100343] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Revised: 05/08/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 08/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Sex differences are widespread during neurodevelopment and play a role in neuropsychiatric conditions such as autism, which is more prevalent in males than females. In humans, males have been shown to have larger brain volumes than females with development of the hippocampus and amygdala showing prominent sex differences. Mechanistically, sex steroids and sex chromosomes drive these differences in brain development, which seem to peak during prenatal and pubertal stages. Animal models have played a crucial role in understanding sex differences, but the study of human sex differences requires an experimental model that can recapitulate complex genetic traits. To fill this gap, human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived brain organoids are now being used to study how complex genetic traits influence prenatal brain development. For example, brain organoids from individuals with autism and individuals with X chromosome-linked Rett syndrome and fragile X syndrome have revealed prenatal differences in cell proliferation, a measure of brain volume differences, and excitatory-inhibitory imbalances. Brain organoids have also revealed increased neurogenesis of excitatory neurons due to androgens. However, despite growing interest in using brain organoids, several key challenges remain that affect its validity as a model system. In this review, we discuss how sex steroids and the sex chromosomes each contribute to sex differences in brain development. Then, we examine the role of X chromosome inactivation as a factor that drives sex differences. Finally, we discuss the combined challenges of modeling X chromosome inactivation and limitations of brain organoids that need to be taken into consideration when studying sex differences.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Adam Pavlinek
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Dwaipayan Adhya
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Alex Tsompanidis
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Varun Warrier
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Anthony C. Vernon
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Jonathan Mill
- Department of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
| | - Deepak P. Srivastava
- Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
- MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Simon Baron-Cohen
- Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
McLamb F, Feng Z, Vu JP, Griffin L, Vasquez MF, Bozinovic G. Lagging Brain Gene Expression Patterns of Drosophila melanogaster Young Adult Males Confound Comparisons Between Sexes. Mol Neurobiol 2024:10.1007/s12035-024-04427-7. [PMID: 39196495 DOI: 10.1007/s12035-024-04427-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2024] [Accepted: 08/07/2024] [Indexed: 08/29/2024]
Abstract
Many species, including fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), are sexually dimorphic. Phenotypic variation in morphology, physiology, and behavior can affect development, reproduction, health, and aging. Therefore, designating sex as a variable and sex-blocking should be considered when designing experiments. The brain regulates phenotypes throughout the lifespan by balancing survival and reproduction, and sex-specific development at each life stage is likely. Changes in morphology and physiology are governed by differential gene expression, a quantifiable molecular marker for age- and sex-specific variations. We assessed the fruit fly brain transcriptome at three adult ages for gene expression signatures of sex, age, and sex-by-age: 6698 genes were differentially expressed between sexes, with the most divergence at 3 days. Between ages, 31.1% of 6084 differentially expressed genes (1890 genes) share similar expression patterns from 3 to 7 days in females, and from 7 to 14 days in males. Most of these genes (90.5%, 1712) were upregulated and enriched for chemical stimulus detection and/or cilium regulation. Our data highlight an important delay in male brain gene regulation compared to females. Because significant delays in expression could confound comparisons between sexes, studies of sexual dimorphism at phenotypically comparable life stages rather than chronological age should be more biologically relevant.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Flannery McLamb
- Boz Life Science Research and Teaching Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Division of Extended Studies, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Zuying Feng
- Boz Life Science Research and Teaching Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jeanne P Vu
- Boz Life Science Research and Teaching Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Lindsey Griffin
- Boz Life Science Research and Teaching Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Division of Extended Studies, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Miguel F Vasquez
- Boz Life Science Research and Teaching Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
- National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Goran Bozinovic
- Boz Life Science Research and Teaching Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Graduate School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA.
- Center for Life in Extreme Environments, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA.
- School of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Postic PY, Leprince Y, Brosset S, Drutel L, Peyric E, Ben Abdallah I, Bekha D, Neumane S, Duchesnay E, Dinomais M, Chevignard M, Hertz-Pannier L. Brain growth until adolescence after a neonatal focal injury: sex related differences beyond lesion effect. Front Neurosci 2024; 18:1405381. [PMID: 39247049 PMCID: PMC11378422 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1405381] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2024] [Accepted: 07/26/2024] [Indexed: 09/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Early focal brain injuries lead to long-term disabilities with frequent cognitive impairments, suggesting global dysfunction beyond the lesion. While plasticity of the immature brain promotes better learning, outcome variability across individuals is multifactorial. Males are more vulnerable to early injuries and neurodevelopmental disorders than females, but long-term sex differences in brain growth after an early focal lesion have not been described yet. With this MRI longitudinal morphometry study of brain development after a Neonatal Arterial Ischemic Stroke (NAIS), we searched for differences between males and females in the trajectories of ipsi- and contralesional gray matter growth in childhood and adolescence, while accounting for lesion characteristics. Methods We relied on a longitudinal cohort (AVCnn) of patients with unilateral NAIS who underwent clinical and MRI assessments at ages 7 and 16 were compared to age-matched controls. Non-lesioned volumes of gray matter (hemispheres, lobes, regions, deep structures, cerebellum) were extracted from segmented T1 MRI images at 7 (Patients: 23 M, 16 F; Controls: 17 M, 18 F) and 16 (Patients: 18 M, 11 F; Controls: 16 M, 15 F). These volumes were analyzed using a Linear Mixed Model accounting for age, sex, and lesion characteristics. Results Whole hemisphere volumes were reduced at both ages in patients compared to controls (gray matter volume: -16% in males, -10% in females). In ipsilesional hemisphere, cortical gray matter and thalamic volume losses (average -13%) mostly depended on lesion severity, suggesting diaschisis, with minimal effect of patient sex. In the contralesional hemisphere however, we consistently found sex differences in gray matter volumes, as only male volumes were smaller than in male controls (average -7.5%), mostly in territories mirroring the contralateral lesion. Females did not significantly deviate from the typical trajectories of female controls. Similar sex differences were found in both cerebellar hemispheres. Discussion These results suggest sex-dependent growth trajectories after an early brain lesion with a contralesional growth deficit in males only. The similarity of patterns at ages 7 and 16 suggests that puberty has little effect on these trajectories, and that most of the deviation in males occurs in early childhood, in line with the well-described perinatal vulnerability of the male brain, and with no compensation thereafter.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pierre-Yves Postic
- CEA Paris-Saclay, Frederic Joliot Institute, NeuroSpin, UNIACT, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- INSERM, Université Paris Cité, UMR 1141 NeuroDiderot, InDEV, Paris, France
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, INSERM, Laboratoire d'Imagerie Biomédicale (LIB), Paris, France
| | - Yann Leprince
- CEA Paris-Saclay, Frederic Joliot Institute, NeuroSpin, UNIACT, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Soraya Brosset
- CEA Paris-Saclay, Frederic Joliot Institute, NeuroSpin, UNIACT, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- INSERM, Université Paris Cité, UMR 1141 NeuroDiderot, InDEV, Paris, France
| | - Laure Drutel
- LP3C, Rennes 2 University, Rennes, France
- French National Reference Center for Pediatric Stroke, CHU de Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France
| | - Emeline Peyric
- Pediatric Neurology Department, HFME, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Ines Ben Abdallah
- CEA Paris-Saclay, Frederic Joliot Institute, NeuroSpin, UNIACT, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- INSERM, Université Paris Cité, UMR 1141 NeuroDiderot, InDEV, Paris, France
| | - Dhaif Bekha
- CEA Paris-Saclay, Frederic Joliot Institute, NeuroSpin, UNIACT, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- INSERM, Université Paris Cité, UMR 1141 NeuroDiderot, InDEV, Paris, France
| | - Sara Neumane
- CEA Paris-Saclay, Frederic Joliot Institute, NeuroSpin, UNIACT, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- INSERM, Université Paris Cité, UMR 1141 NeuroDiderot, InDEV, Paris, France
- Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ - APHP, Pediatric Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department, Raymond Poincaré University Hospital, Garches, France
| | - Edouard Duchesnay
- CEA Paris-Saclay, Frederic Joliot Institute, NeuroSpin, BAOBAB/GAIA/SIGNATURE, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Mickael Dinomais
- Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Angers University Hospital Centre, Angers, France
| | - Mathilde Chevignard
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, INSERM, Laboratoire d'Imagerie Biomédicale (LIB), Paris, France
- Rehabilitation Department for Children with Acquired Brain Injury, Saint Maurice Hospitals, Saint Maurice, France
- Sorbonne University, GRC 24 Handicap Moteur Cognitif et Réadaptation (HaMCRe), Paris, France
| | - Lucie Hertz-Pannier
- CEA Paris-Saclay, Frederic Joliot Institute, NeuroSpin, UNIACT, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
- INSERM, Université Paris Cité, UMR 1141 NeuroDiderot, InDEV, Paris, France
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
DeCasien AR, Chiou KL, Testard C, Mercer A, Negrón-Del Valle JE, Bauman Surratt SE, González O, Stock MK, Ruiz-Lambides AV, Martínez MI, Antón SC, Walker CS, Sallet J, Wilson MA, Brent LJN, Montague MJ, Sherwood CC, Platt ML, Higham JP, Snyder-Mackler N. Evolutionary and biomedical implications of sex differences in the primate brain transcriptome. CELL GENOMICS 2024; 4:100589. [PMID: 38942023 PMCID: PMC11293591 DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2024.100589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2023] [Revised: 12/28/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2024] [Indexed: 06/30/2024]
Abstract
Humans exhibit sex differences in the prevalence of many neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. Here, we generated one of the largest multi-brain-region bulk transcriptional datasets for the rhesus macaque and characterized sex-biased gene expression patterns to investigate the translatability of this species for sex-biased neurological conditions. We identify patterns similar to those in humans, which are associated with overlapping regulatory mechanisms, biological processes, and genes implicated in sex-biased human disorders, including autism. We also show that sex-biased genes exhibit greater genetic variance for expression and more tissue-specific expression patterns, which may facilitate rapid evolution of sex-biased genes. Our findings provide insights into the biological mechanisms underlying sex-biased disease and support the rhesus macaque model for the translational study of these conditions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alex R DeCasien
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA; Section on Developmental Neurogenomics, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - Kenneth L Chiou
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA; School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
| | - Camille Testard
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Arianne Mercer
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | - Olga González
- Southwest National Primate Research Center, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Michala K Stock
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA
| | | | - Melween I Martínez
- Caribbean Primate Research Center, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, USA
| | - Susan C Antón
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA
| | - Christopher S Walker
- Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA
| | - Jérôme Sallet
- Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, Université Lyon, Lyon, France
| | - Melissa A Wilson
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA; School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA; Biodesign Center for Mechanisms of Evolution, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Lauren J N Brent
- Centre for Research in Animal Behavior, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Michael J Montague
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Chet C Sherwood
- Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Michael L Platt
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Marketing, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - James P Higham
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA; New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Noah Snyder-Mackler
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA; School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Neale N, Lona-Durazo F, Ryten M, Gagliano Taliun SA. Leveraging sex-genetic interactions to understand brain disorders: recent advances and current gaps. Brain Commun 2024; 6:fcae192. [PMID: 38894947 PMCID: PMC11184352 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcae192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2024] [Revised: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 05/30/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024] Open
Abstract
It is established that there are sex differences in terms of prevalence, age of onset, clinical manifestations, and response to treatment for a variety of brain disorders, including neurodevelopmental, psychiatric, and neurodegenerative disorders. Cohorts of increasing sample sizes with diverse data types collected, including genetic, transcriptomic and/or phenotypic data, are providing the building blocks to permit analytical designs to test for sex-biased genetic variant-trait associations, and for sex-biased transcriptional regulation. Such molecular assessments can contribute to our understanding of the manifested phenotypic differences between the sexes for brain disorders, offering the future possibility of delivering personalized therapy for females and males. With the intention of raising the profile of this field as a research priority, this review aims to shed light on the importance of investigating sex-genetic interactions for brain disorders, focusing on two areas: (i) variant-trait associations and (ii) transcriptomics (i.e. gene expression, transcript usage and regulation). We specifically discuss recent advances in the field, current gaps and provide considerations for future studies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nikita Neale
- Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Québec, H3C 3J7 Canada
| | - Frida Lona-Durazo
- Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Québec, H3C 3J7 Canada
- Research Centre, Montreal Heart Institute, Québec, H1T 1C8 Canada
| | - Mina Ryten
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Medicine, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, WC1N 1EH London, UK
- Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) Collaborative Research Network, Chevy Chase, 20815 MD, USA
- NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, Bloomsbury, WC1N 1EH London, UK
| | - Sarah A Gagliano Taliun
- Research Centre, Montreal Heart Institute, Québec, H1T 1C8 Canada
- Department of Medicine & Department of Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Québec, H3C 3J7 Canada
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Pottmeier P, Nikolantonaki D, Lanner F, Peuckert C, Jazin E. Sex-biased gene expression during neural differentiation of human embryonic stem cells. Front Cell Dev Biol 2024; 12:1341373. [PMID: 38764741 PMCID: PMC11101176 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1341373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Sex differences in the developing human brain are primarily attributed to hormonal influence. Recently however, genetic differences and their impact on the developing nervous system have attracted increased attention. To understand genetically driven sexual dimorphisms in neurodevelopment, we investigated genome-wide gene expression in an in vitro differentiation model of male and female human embryonic stem cell lines (hESC), independent of the effects of human sex hormones. Four male and four female-derived hESC lines were differentiated into a population of mixed neurons over 37 days. Differential gene expression and gene set enrichment analyses were conducted on bulk RNA sequencing data. While similar differentiation tendencies in all cell lines demonstrated the robustness and reproducibility of our differentiation protocol, we found sex-biased gene expression already in undifferentiated ESCs at day 0, but most profoundly after 37 days of differentiation. Male and female cell lines exhibited sex-biased expression of genes involved in neurodevelopment, suggesting that sex influences the differentiation trajectory. Interestingly, the highest contribution to sex differences was found to arise from the male transcriptome, involving both Y chromosome and autosomal genes. We propose 13 sex-biased candidate genes (10 upregulated in male cell lines and 3 in female lines) that are likely to affect neuronal development. Additionally, we confirmed gene dosage compensation of X/Y homologs escaping X chromosome inactivation through their Y homologs and identified a significant overexpression of the Y-linked demethylase UTY and KDM5D in male hESC during neuron development, confirming previous results in neural stem cells. Our results suggest that genetic sex differences affect neuronal differentiation trajectories, which could ultimately contribute to sex biases during human brain development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Philipp Pottmeier
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Danai Nikolantonaki
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Fredrik Lanner
- Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Christiane Peuckert
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- The Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Elena Jazin
- Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Karagyaur M, Primak A, Bozov K, Sheleg D, Arbatsky M, Dzhauari S, Illarionova M, Semina E, Samokhodskaya L, Klimovich P, Velichko A, Drach M, Sotskaya E, Popov V, Rubina K, Parfenenko M, Makus J, Tsygankov B, Tkachuk V, Neyfeld E. Novel missense variants in brain morphogenic genes associated with depression and schizophrenia. Front Psychiatry 2024; 15:1338168. [PMID: 38699454 PMCID: PMC11063365 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1338168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2023] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 05/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Impaired function of brain morphogenic genes is considered one of the predisposing factors for the manifestation of psychiatric and cognitive disorders, such as paranoid schizophrenia (SCZ) and major depressive disorder (MDD). Identification of such genes (genes of neurotrophic factors and guidance molecules among them) and their deleterious genetic variants serves as a key to diagnosis, prevention, and possibly treatment of such disorders. In this study, we have examined the prevalence of genomic variants in brain morphogenic genes in individuals with SCZ and MDD within a Russian population. Methods We have performed whole-exome sequencing of 21 DNA samples: 11 from individuals with SCZ and 10 with MDD, followed by ARMS (Amplification-Refractory Mutation System) based screening of detected single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in larger groups: 102 for individuals with SCZ, 79 for those with MDD and 103 for healthy donors. Results Whole-exome sequencing has revealed 226 missense mutations in 79 genes (out of 140 studied), some of which occur in patients with psychiatric disorders significantly more frequently than in healthy donors. We have identified previously undescribed genomic variants in brain morphogenic genes: CDH2 (rs1944294-T and rs17445840-T), DCHS2 (rs11935573-G and rs12500437-G/T) and CDH23 (rs1227051-G/A), significantly associated with the incidence of SCZ and MDD in the Russian population. For some SNVs (rs6265-T, rs1944294-T, rs11935573-G, rs4760-G) sex-biased differences in their prevalence between SCZ/MDD patients and healthy donors was detected. Discussion However, the functional significance of the SNVs identified has still to be confirmed in cellular and animal models. Once it is fulfilled, these SNVs have the potential to complement the diagnostic toolbox for assessing susceptibility to mental disorders. The data obtained indirectly confirm the importance of adequate brain structure formation for its correct functioning and preservation of mental health.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maxim Karagyaur
- Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
- Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Medical Research and Education Center, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexandra Primak
- Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Kirill Bozov
- Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Dmitriy Sheleg
- Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
- Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of the Higher Education “A.I. Yevdokimov Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry” of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
| | - Mikhail Arbatsky
- Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Stalik Dzhauari
- Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Maria Illarionova
- Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Ekaterina Semina
- Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Larisa Samokhodskaya
- Medical Research and Education Center, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Polina Klimovich
- Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Arkadiy Velichko
- Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Mikhail Drach
- Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | | | - Vladimir Popov
- Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Kseniya Rubina
- Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Mariia Parfenenko
- Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Julia Makus
- Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Boris Tsygankov
- Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
- Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of the Higher Education “A.I. Yevdokimov Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry” of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
| | - Vsevolod Tkachuk
- Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
- Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Medical Research and Education Center, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Elena Neyfeld
- Faculty of Medicine, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
- Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of the Higher Education “A.I. Yevdokimov Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry” of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Roussos P, Ma Y, Girdhar K, Hoffman G, Fullard J, Bendl J. Sex differences in brain cell-type specific chromatin accessibility in schizophrenia. RESEARCH SQUARE 2024:rs.3.rs-4158509. [PMID: 38645177 PMCID: PMC11030506 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4158509/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/23/2024]
Abstract
Our understanding of the sex-specific role of the non-coding genome in serious mental illness remains largely incomplete. To address this gap, we explored sex differences in 1,393 chromatin accessibility profiles, derived from neuronal and non-neuronal nuclei of two distinct cortical regions from 234 cases with serious mental illness and 235 controls. We identified sex-specific enhancer-promoter interactions and showed that they regulate genes involved in X-chromosome inactivation (XCI). Examining chromosomal conformation allowed us to identify sex-specific cis- and trans-regulatory domains (CRDs and TRDs). Co-localization of sex-specific TRDs with schizophrenia common risk variants pinpointed male-specific regulatory regions controlling a number of metabolic pathways. Additionally, enhancers from female-specific TRDs were found to regulate two genes known to escape XCI, (XIST and JPX), underlying the importance of TRDs in deciphering sex differences in schizophrenia. Overall, these findings provide extensive characterization of sex differences in the brain epigenome and disease-associated regulomes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Yixuan Ma
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
9
|
Lafta MS, Mwinyi J, Affatato O, Rukh G, Dang J, Andersson G, Schiöth HB. Exploring sex differences: insights into gene expression, neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, cognition, and pathology. Front Neurosci 2024; 18:1340108. [PMID: 38449735 PMCID: PMC10915038 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1340108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024] Open
Abstract
Increased knowledge about sex differences is important for development of individualized treatments against many diseases as well as understanding behavioral and pathological differences. This review summarizes sex chromosome effects on gene expression, epigenetics, and hormones in relation to the brain. We explore neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, cognition, and brain pathology aiming to explain the current state of the art. While some domains exhibit strong differences, others reveal subtle differences whose overall significance warrants clarification. We hope that the current review increases awareness and serves as a basis for the planning of future studies that consider both sexes equally regarding similarities and differences.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Muataz S. Lafta
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Functional Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Jessica Mwinyi
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Functional Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Centre for Women’s Mental Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Oreste Affatato
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Functional Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Centre for Women’s Mental Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Gull Rukh
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Functional Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Junhua Dang
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Functional Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Gerhard Andersson
- Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Helgi B. Schiöth
- Department of Surgical Sciences, Functional Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Rodríguez-Montes L, Ovchinnikova S, Yuan X, Studer T, Sarropoulos I, Anders S, Kaessmann H, Cardoso-Moreira M. Sex-biased gene expression across mammalian organ development and evolution. Science 2023; 382:eadf1046. [PMID: 37917687 PMCID: PMC7615307 DOI: 10.1126/science.adf1046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2022] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/04/2023]
Abstract
Sexually dimorphic traits are common among mammals and are specified during development through the deployment of sex-specific genetic programs. Because little is known about these programs, we investigated them using a resource of gene expression profiles in males and females throughout the development of five organs in five mammals (human, mouse, rat, rabbit, and opossum) and a bird (chicken). We found that sex-biased gene expression varied considerably across organs and species and was often cell-type specific. Sex differences increased abruptly around sexual maturity instead of increasing gradually during organ development. Finally, sex-biased gene expression evolved rapidly at the gene level, with differences between organs in the evolutionary mechanisms used, but more slowly at the cellular level, with the same cell types being sexually dimorphic across species.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Leticia Rodríguez-Montes
- Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | | | - Xuefei Yuan
- Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Tania Studer
- Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ioannis Sarropoulos
- Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Simon Anders
- BioQuant, Heidelberg University, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Henrik Kaessmann
- Center for Molecular Biology of Heidelberg University (ZMBH), DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | | |
Collapse
|
11
|
Wingo AP, Liu Y, Gerasimov ES, Vattathil SM, Liu J, Cutler DJ, Epstein MP, Blokland GAM, Thambisetty M, Troncoso JC, Duong DM, Bennett DA, Levey AI, Seyfried NT, Wingo TS. Sex differences in brain protein expression and disease. Nat Med 2023; 29:2224-2232. [PMID: 37653343 PMCID: PMC10504083 DOI: 10.1038/s41591-023-02509-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Accepted: 07/21/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
Abstract
Most complex human traits differ by sex, but we have limited insight into the underlying mechanisms. Here, we investigated the influence of biological sex on protein expression and its genetic regulation in 1,277 human brain proteomes. We found that 13.2% (1,354) of brain proteins had sex-differentiated abundance and 1.5% (150) of proteins had sex-biased protein quantitative trait loci (sb-pQTLs). Among genes with sex-biased expression, we found 67% concordance between sex-differentiated protein and transcript levels; however, sex effects on the genetic regulation of expression were more evident at the protein level. Considering 24 psychiatric, neurologic and brain morphologic traits, we found that an average of 25% of their putatively causal genes had sex-differentiated protein abundance and 12 putatively causal proteins had sb-pQTLs. Furthermore, integrating sex-specific pQTLs with sex-stratified genome-wide association studies of six psychiatric and neurologic conditions, we uncovered another 23 proteins contributing to these traits in one sex but not the other. Together, these findings begin to provide insights into mechanisms underlying sex differences in brain protein expression and disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aliza P Wingo
- Veterans Affairs Atlanta Health Care System, Decatur, GA, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
| | - Yue Liu
- Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | | | - Selina M Vattathil
- Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Jiaqi Liu
- Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - David J Cutler
- Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Michael P Epstein
- Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Gabriëlla A M Blokland
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, Maastricht University School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Madhav Thambisetty
- Clinical and Translational Neuroscience Section, Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Juan C Troncoso
- Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Duc M Duong
- Department of Biochemistry, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - David A Bennett
- Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Allan I Levey
- Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Goizueta Alzheimer's Disease Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Nicholas T Seyfried
- Department of Biochemistry, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Goizueta Alzheimer's Disease Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Thomas S Wingo
- Department of Neurology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
- Department of Human Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
- Goizueta Alzheimer's Disease Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Zelco A, Wapeesittipan P, Joshi A. Insights into Sex and Gender Differences in Brain and Psychopathologies Using Big Data. Life (Basel) 2023; 13:1676. [PMID: 37629533 PMCID: PMC10455614 DOI: 10.3390/life13081676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2023] [Revised: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 07/15/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The societal implication of sex and gender (SG) differences in brain are profound, as they influence brain development, behavior, and importantly, the presentation, prevalence, and therapeutic response to diseases. Technological advances have enabled speed up identification and characterization of SG differences during development and in psychopathologies. The main aim of this review is to elaborate on new technological advancements, such as genomics, imaging, and emerging biobanks, coupled with bioinformatics analyses of data generated from these technologies have facilitated the identification and characterization of SG differences in the human brain through development and psychopathologies. First, a brief explanation of SG concepts is provided, along with a developmental and evolutionary context. We then describe physiological SG differences in brain activity and function, and in psychopathologies identified through imaging techniques. We further provide an overview of insights into SG differences using genomics, specifically taking advantage of large cohorts and biobanks. We finally emphasize how bioinformatics analyses of big data generated by emerging technologies provides new opportunities to reduce SG disparities in health outcomes, including major challenges.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Anagha Joshi
- Department of Clinical Science, Computational Biology Unit, University of Bergen, 5020 Bergen, Norway; (A.Z.); (P.W.)
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Paquin V, Pries LK, Ten Have M, Bak M, Gunther N, de Graaf R, van Dorsselaer S, Lin BD, van Eijk KR, Kenis G, Richards A, O'Donovan MC, Luykx JJ, Rutten BPF, van Os J, Shah JL, Guloksuz S. Age- and sex-specific associations between risk scores for schizophrenia and self-reported health in the general population. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2023; 58:43-52. [PMID: 35913550 PMCID: PMC9845157 DOI: 10.1007/s00127-022-02346-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2022] [Accepted: 07/19/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE The health correlates of polygenic risk (PRS-SCZ) and exposome (ES-SCZ) scores for schizophrenia may vary depending on age and sex. We aimed to examine age- and sex-specific associations of PRS-SCZ and ES-SCZ with self-reported health in the general population. METHODS Participants were from the population-based Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study-2 (NEMESIS-2). Mental and physical health were measured with the 36-item Short Form Survey 4 times between 2007 and 2018. The PRS-SCZ and ES-SCZ were respectively calculated from common genetic variants and exposures (cannabis use, winter birth, hearing impairment, and five childhood adversity categories). Moderation by age and sex was examined in linear mixed models. RESULTS For PRS-SCZ and ES-SCZ analyses, we included 3099 and 6264 participants, respectively (age range 18-65 years; 55.7-56.1% female). Age and sex did not interact with PRS-SCZ. Age moderated the association between ES-SCZ and mental (interaction: p = 0.02) and physical health (p = 0.0007): at age 18, + 1.00 of ES-SCZ was associated with - 0.10 of mental health and - 0.08 of physical health, whereas at age 65, it was associated with - 0.21 and - 0.23, respectively (all units in standard deviations). Sex moderated the association between ES-SCZ and physical health (p < .0001): + 1.00 of ES-SCZ was associated with - 0.19 of physical health among female and - 0.11 among male individuals. CONCLUSION There were larger associations between higher ES-SCZ and poorer health among female and older individuals. Accounting for these interactions may increase ES-SCZ precision and help uncover populational determinants of environmental influences on health.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vincent Paquin
- Prevention and Early Intervention Program for Psychosis (PEPP-Montreal), Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Lotta-Katrin Pries
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Vijverdalseweg 1, SN.2.068, P.O.Box 616 6200, Maastricht, MD, The Netherlands
| | - Margreet Ten Have
- Department of Epidemiology, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Maarten Bak
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Vijverdalseweg 1, SN.2.068, P.O.Box 616 6200, Maastricht, MD, The Netherlands.,FACT, Mondriaan Mental Health, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Nicole Gunther
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Vijverdalseweg 1, SN.2.068, P.O.Box 616 6200, Maastricht, MD, The Netherlands.,School of Psychology, Open University, Heerlen, The Netherlands
| | - Ron de Graaf
- Department of Epidemiology, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Saskia van Dorsselaer
- Department of Epidemiology, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Bochao D Lin
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Vijverdalseweg 1, SN.2.068, P.O.Box 616 6200, Maastricht, MD, The Netherlands.,Department of Psychiatry, UMC Utrecht Brain Center, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.,Research Institute Brainclinics, Brainclinics Foundation, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | - Kristel R van Eijk
- Department of Neurology, UMC Utrecht Brain Center, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Gunter Kenis
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Vijverdalseweg 1, SN.2.068, P.O.Box 616 6200, Maastricht, MD, The Netherlands
| | - Alexander Richards
- Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Michael C O'Donovan
- Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Jurjen J Luykx
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Vijverdalseweg 1, SN.2.068, P.O.Box 616 6200, Maastricht, MD, The Netherlands.,Department of Psychiatry, UMC Utrecht Brain Center, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.,Research Institute Brainclinics, Brainclinics Foundation, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.,GGNet Mental Health, Warnsveld, The Netherlands
| | - Bart P F Rutten
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Vijverdalseweg 1, SN.2.068, P.O.Box 616 6200, Maastricht, MD, The Netherlands
| | - Jim van Os
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Vijverdalseweg 1, SN.2.068, P.O.Box 616 6200, Maastricht, MD, The Netherlands.,Department of Epidemiology, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Utrecht, The Netherlands.,Department of Psychiatry, UMC Utrecht Brain Center, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.,Research Institute Brainclinics, Brainclinics Foundation, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.,Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Jai L Shah
- Prevention and Early Intervention Program for Psychosis (PEPP-Montreal), Douglas Mental Health University Institute, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Sinan Guloksuz
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Vijverdalseweg 1, SN.2.068, P.O.Box 616 6200, Maastricht, MD, The Netherlands. .,Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Waldhorn I, Turetsky T, Steiner D, Gil Y, Benyamini H, Gropp M, Reubinoff BE. Modeling sex differences in humans using isogenic induced pluripotent stem cells. Stem Cell Reports 2022; 17:2732-2744. [PMID: 36427492 PMCID: PMC9768579 DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2022.10.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2021] [Revised: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 10/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Biological sex is a fundamental trait influencing development, reproduction, pathogenesis, and medical treatment outcomes. Modeling sex differences is challenging because of the masking effect of genetic variability and the hurdle of differentiating chromosomal versus hormonal effects. In this work we developed a cellular model to study sex differences in humans. Somatic cells from a mosaic Klinefelter syndrome patient were reprogrammed to generate isogenic induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines with different sex chromosome complements: 47,XXY/46,XX/46,XY/45,X0. Transcriptional analysis of the hiPSCs revealed novel and known genes and pathways that are sexually dimorphic in the pluripotent state and during early neural development. Female hiPSCs more closely resembled the naive pluripotent state than their male counterparts. Moreover, the system enabled differentiation between the contributions of X versus Y chromosome to these differences. Taken together, isogenic hiPSCs present a novel platform for studying sex differences in humans and bear potential to promote gender-specific medicine in the future.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ithai Waldhorn
- Hadassah Stem Cell Research Center, Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Tikva Turetsky
- Hadassah Stem Cell Research Center, Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Debora Steiner
- Hadassah Stem Cell Research Center, Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Yaniv Gil
- Hadassah Stem Cell Research Center, Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Hadar Benyamini
- Bioinformatics Unit of the I-CORE at Hebrew University and Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Michal Gropp
- Hadassah Stem Cell Research Center, Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Benjamin E. Reubinoff
- Hadassah Stem Cell Research Center, Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel,Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ein Kerem, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel,Corresponding author
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Evidence of transgenerational effects on autism spectrum disorder using multigenerational space-time cluster detection. Int J Health Geogr 2022; 21:13. [PMID: 36192740 PMCID: PMC9531495 DOI: 10.1186/s12942-022-00313-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2022] [Accepted: 09/05/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Transgenerational epigenetic risks associated with complex health outcomes, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), have attracted increasing attention. Transgenerational environmental risk exposures with potential for epigenetic effects can be effectively identified using space-time clustering. Specifically applied to ancestors of individuals with disease outcomes, space-time clustering characterized for vulnerable developmental stages of growth can provide a measure of relative risk for disease outcomes in descendants. Objectives (1) Identify space-time clusters of ancestors with a descendent with a clinical ASD diagnosis and matched controls. (2) Identify developmental windows of ancestors with the highest relative risk for ASD in descendants. (3) Identify how the relative risk may vary through the maternal or paternal line. Methods Family pedigrees linked to residential locations of ASD cases in Utah have been used to identify space-time clusters of ancestors. Control family pedigrees of none-cases based on age and sex have been matched to cases 2:1. The data have been categorized by maternal or paternal lineage at birth, childhood, and adolescence. A total of 3957 children, both parents, and maternal and paternal grandparents were identified. Bernoulli space-time binomial relative risk (RR) scan statistic was used to identify clusters. Monte Carlo simulation was used for statistical significance testing. Results Twenty statistically significant clusters were identified. Thirteen increased RR (> 1.0) space-time clusters were identified from the maternal and paternal lines at a p-value < 0.05. The paternal grandparents carry the greatest RR (2.86–2.96) during birth and childhood in the 1950’s–1960, which represent the smallest size clusters, and occur in urban areas. Additionally, seven statistically significant clusters with RR < 1 were relatively large in area, covering more rural areas of the state. Conclusion This study has identified statistically significant space-time clusters during critical developmental windows that are associated with ASD risk in descendants. The geographic space and time clusters family pedigrees with over 3 + generations, which we refer to as a person’s geographic legacy, is a powerful tool for studying transgenerational effects that may be epigenetic in nature. Our novel use of space-time clustering can be applied to any disease where family pedigree data is available. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12942-022-00313-4.
Collapse
|
16
|
Djordjevic J, Dumas Z, Robinson-Rechavi M, Schwander T, Parker DJ. Dynamics of sex-biased gene expression during development in the stick insect Timema californicum. Heredity (Edinb) 2022; 129:113-122. [PMID: 35581477 PMCID: PMC9338061 DOI: 10.1038/s41437-022-00536-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2022] [Revised: 04/04/2022] [Accepted: 04/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Sexually dimorphic phenotypes are thought to arise primarily from sex-biased gene expression during development. Major changes in developmental strategies, such as the shift from hemimetabolous to holometabolous development, are therefore expected to have profound consequences for the dynamics of sex-biased gene expression. However, no studies have previously examined sex-biased gene expression during development in hemimetabolous insects, precluding comparisons between developmental strategies. Here we characterized sex-biased gene expression at three developmental stages in a hemimetabolous stick insect (Timema californicum): hatchlings, juveniles, and adults. As expected, the proportion of sex-biased genes gradually increased during development, mirroring the gradual increase of phenotypic sexual dimorphism. Sex-biased genes identified at early developmental stages were generally consistently male- or female-biased at later stages, suggesting their importance in sexual differentiation. Additionally, we compared the dynamics of sex-biased gene expression during development in T. californicum to those of the holometabolous fly Drosophila melanogaster by reanalyzing publicly available RNA-seq data from third instar larval, pupal and adult stages. In D. melanogaster, 84% of genes were sex-biased at the adult stage (compared to only 20% in T. californicum), and sex-biased gene expression increased abruptly at the adult stage when morphological sexual dimorphism is manifested. Our findings are consistent with the prediction that the dynamics of sex-biased gene expression during development differ extensively between holometabolous and hemimetabolous insect species.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Zoé Dumas
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Marc Robinson-Rechavi
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Tanja Schwander
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Darren James Parker
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland.
- School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor, Gwynedd, United Kingdom.
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Cortes CJ, De Miguel Z. Precision Exercise Medicine: Sex Specific Differences in Immune and CNS Responses to Physical Activity. Brain Plast 2022; 8:65-77. [DOI: 10.3233/bpl-220139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Physical activity is a powerful lifestyle factor capable of improving cognitive function, modifying the risk for dementia associated with neurodegeneration and possibly slowing neurodegenerative disease progression in both men and women. However, men and women show differences in the biological responses to physical activity and in the vulnerabilities to the onset, progression and outcome of neurodegenerative diseases, prompting the question of whether sex-specific regulatory mechanisms might differentially modulate the benefits of exercise on the brain. Mechanistic studies aimed to better understand how physical activity improves brain health and function suggest that the brain responds to physical exercise by overall reducing neuroinflammation and increasing neuroplasticity. Here, we review the emerging literature considering sex-specific differences in the immune system response to exercise as a potential mechanism by which physical activity affects the brain. Although the literature addressing sex differences in this light is limited, the initial findings suggest a potential influence of biological sex in the brain benefits of exercise, and lay out a scientific foundation to support very much needed studies investigating the potential effects of sex-differences on exercise neurobiology. Considering biological sex and sex-differences in the neurobiological hallmarks of exercise will help to enhance our understanding of the mechanisms by which physical activity benefits the brain and also improve the development of treatments and interventions for diseases of the central nervous system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Constanza J. Cortes
- Department of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology, School of Medicine
- UAB Nathan Shock Center for the Excellence in the Study of Aging
- UAB Center for Exercise Medicine
- UAB Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA
| | - Zurine De Miguel
- Department of Psychology, California State University, Monterey Bay, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Bakhtogarimov IR, Kudryavtseva AV, Krasnov GS, Gladysh NS, Volodin VV, Kudryavtsev AA, Bulavkina EV, Goncharova MA, Ledyaeva VS, Pastukhov IS, Vershinina YS, Starkova AM, Snezhkina AV, Shuvalova AI, Pavlov VS, Nikiforov-Nikishin DL, Moskalev AA, Guvatova ZG. The Effect of Meclofenoxate on the Transcriptome of Aging Brain of Nothobranchius guentheri Annual Killifish. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23052491. [PMID: 35269638 PMCID: PMC8910246 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23052491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2022] [Revised: 02/16/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Annual fish of the genus Nothobranchius are promising models for aging research. Nothobranchius reproduces typical aspects of vertebrate aging, including hallmarks of brain aging. Meclofenoxate (MF) is a well-known compound that can enhance cognitive performance. The drug is prescribed for asthenic conditions, trauma, and vascular diseases of the brain. It is believed that MF is able to delay age-dependent changes in the human brain. However, until now, there has been no study of the MF effect on the brain transcriptome. In the present work, we performed an RNA-Seq study of brain tissues from aged Nothobranchius guentheri, which were almost lifetime administered with MF, as well as young and aged control fish. As expected, in response to MF, we revealed significant overexpression of neuron-specific genes including genes involved in synaptic activity and plasticity, neurotransmitter secretion, and neuron projection. The effect was more pronounced in female fish. In this aspect, MF alleviated age-dependent decreased expression of genes involved in neuronal activity. In both treated and untreated animals, we observed strong aging-associated overexpression of immune and inflammatory response genes. MF treatment did not prevent this effect, and moreover, some of these genes tended to be slightly upregulated under MF treatment. Additionally, we noticed upregulation of some genes associated with aging and cellular senescence, including isoforms of putative vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM1), protein O-GlcNAcase (OGA), protein kinase C alpha type (KPCA), prolow-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1). Noteworthy, MF treatment was also associated with the elevated transcription of transposons, which are highly abundant in the N. guentheri genome. In conclusion, MF compensates for the age-dependent downregulation of neuronal activity genes, but its effect on aging brain transcriptome still cannot be considered unambiguously positive.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ildar R. Bakhtogarimov
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia; (I.R.B.); (G.S.K.); (N.S.G.); (V.V.V.); (A.A.M.)
| | - Anna V. Kudryavtseva
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia; (I.R.B.); (G.S.K.); (N.S.G.); (V.V.V.); (A.A.M.)
- Correspondence: (A.V.K.); (Z.G.G.); Tel.: +7-(499)-135-23-91 (A.V.K. & Z.G.G.)
| | - George S. Krasnov
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia; (I.R.B.); (G.S.K.); (N.S.G.); (V.V.V.); (A.A.M.)
| | - Natalya S. Gladysh
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia; (I.R.B.); (G.S.K.); (N.S.G.); (V.V.V.); (A.A.M.)
| | - Vsevolod V. Volodin
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia; (I.R.B.); (G.S.K.); (N.S.G.); (V.V.V.); (A.A.M.)
| | - Alexander A. Kudryavtsev
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia; (A.A.K.); (E.V.B.); (M.A.G.); (V.S.L.); (Y.S.V.); (A.M.S.); (A.V.S.); (A.I.S.); (V.S.P.)
| | - Elizaveta V. Bulavkina
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia; (A.A.K.); (E.V.B.); (M.A.G.); (V.S.L.); (Y.S.V.); (A.M.S.); (A.V.S.); (A.I.S.); (V.S.P.)
| | - Margarita A. Goncharova
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia; (A.A.K.); (E.V.B.); (M.A.G.); (V.S.L.); (Y.S.V.); (A.M.S.); (A.V.S.); (A.I.S.); (V.S.P.)
| | - Veronika S. Ledyaeva
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia; (A.A.K.); (E.V.B.); (M.A.G.); (V.S.L.); (Y.S.V.); (A.M.S.); (A.V.S.); (A.I.S.); (V.S.P.)
| | - Ivan S. Pastukhov
- Institute of Biotechnology and Fisheries, K.G. Razumovsky Moscow State University of Technologies and Management (the First Cossack University), 109004 Moscow, Russia; (I.S.P.); (D.L.N.-N.)
| | - Yulia S. Vershinina
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia; (A.A.K.); (E.V.B.); (M.A.G.); (V.S.L.); (Y.S.V.); (A.M.S.); (A.V.S.); (A.I.S.); (V.S.P.)
| | - Anna M. Starkova
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia; (A.A.K.); (E.V.B.); (M.A.G.); (V.S.L.); (Y.S.V.); (A.M.S.); (A.V.S.); (A.I.S.); (V.S.P.)
| | - Anastasiya V. Snezhkina
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia; (A.A.K.); (E.V.B.); (M.A.G.); (V.S.L.); (Y.S.V.); (A.M.S.); (A.V.S.); (A.I.S.); (V.S.P.)
| | - Anastasija I. Shuvalova
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia; (A.A.K.); (E.V.B.); (M.A.G.); (V.S.L.); (Y.S.V.); (A.M.S.); (A.V.S.); (A.I.S.); (V.S.P.)
| | - Vladislav S. Pavlov
- Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia; (A.A.K.); (E.V.B.); (M.A.G.); (V.S.L.); (Y.S.V.); (A.M.S.); (A.V.S.); (A.I.S.); (V.S.P.)
| | - Dmitry L. Nikiforov-Nikishin
- Institute of Biotechnology and Fisheries, K.G. Razumovsky Moscow State University of Technologies and Management (the First Cossack University), 109004 Moscow, Russia; (I.S.P.); (D.L.N.-N.)
| | - Alexey A. Moskalev
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia; (I.R.B.); (G.S.K.); (N.S.G.); (V.V.V.); (A.A.M.)
| | - Zulfiya G. Guvatova
- Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119991 Moscow, Russia; (I.R.B.); (G.S.K.); (N.S.G.); (V.V.V.); (A.A.M.)
- Correspondence: (A.V.K.); (Z.G.G.); Tel.: +7-(499)-135-23-91 (A.V.K. & Z.G.G.)
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Rurak GM, Simard S, Freitas-Andrade M, Lacoste B, Charih F, Van Geel A, Stead J, Woodside B, Green JR, Coppola G, Salmaso N. Sex differences in developmental patterns of neocortical astroglia: A mouse translatome database. Cell Rep 2022; 38:110310. [PMID: 35108542 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2020] [Revised: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 01/06/2022] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Astroglial cells are key players in the development and maintenance of neurons and neuronal networks. Astroglia express steroid hormone receptors and show rapid responses to hormonal manipulations. However, despite important sex differences in the cortex and hippocampus, few studies have examined sex differences in astroglial cells in telencephalic development. To characterize the cortical astroglial translatome in male and female mice across postnatal development, we use translating ribosome affinity purification together with RNA sequencing and immunohistochemistry to phenotype astroglia at six developmental time points. Overall, we find two distinct astroglial phenotypes between early (P1-P7) and late development (P14-adult), independent of sex. We also find sex differences in gene expression patterns across development that peak at P7 and appear to result from males reaching a mature astroglial phenotype earlier than females. These developmental sex differences could have an impact on the construction of neuronal networks and windows of vulnerability to perturbations and disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gareth M Rurak
- Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - Stephanie Simard
- Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - Moises Freitas-Andrade
- Neuroscience Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada; Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada; Brain and Mind Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Baptiste Lacoste
- Neuroscience Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada; Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada; Brain and Mind Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - François Charih
- Department of Systems and Computer Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Amanda Van Geel
- Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - John Stead
- Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
| | - Barbara Woodside
- Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada; Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - James R Green
- Department of Systems and Computer Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
| | - Gianfilippo Coppola
- Department of Pathology, Yale University, 333 Cedar St., New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
| | - Natalina Salmaso
- Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada; Department of Pathology, Yale University, 333 Cedar St., New Haven, CT 06511, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Jash S, Sharma S. Pathogenic Infections during Pregnancy and the Consequences for Fetal Brain Development. Pathogens 2022; 11:pathogens11020193. [PMID: 35215136 PMCID: PMC8877441 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens11020193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2021] [Revised: 01/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Pathogens comprised of viruses, bacteria, gut microbiome, and parasites are a leading cause of ever-emerging diseases in humans. Studying pathogens for their ability to cause diseases is a topic of critical discussion among scientists and pharmaceutical centers for effective drug development that diagnose, treat, and prevent infection-associated disorders. Pathogens impact health either directly by invading the host or by eliciting an acute inflammatory immune response. This paradigm of inflammatory immune responses is even more consequential in people who may be immunocompromised. In this regard, pregnancy offers an altered immunity scenario, which may allow the onset of severe diseases. Viruses, such as Influenza, HIV, and now SARS-CoV-2, associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, raise new concerns for maternal and fetal/neonatal health. Intrauterine bacterial and parasitic infections are also known to impact pregnancy outcomes and neonatal health. More importantly, viral and bacterial infections during pregnancy have been identified as a common contributor to fetal brain development defects. Infection-mediated inflammatory uterine immune milieu is thought to be the main trigger for causing poor fetal brain development, resulting in long-term cognitive impairments. The concept of in utero programming of childhood and adult disorders has revolutionized the field of neurodevelopment and its associated complications. Recent findings in mice and humans clearly support the idea that uterine immunity during pregnancy controls the health trajectory of the child and considerably influences the cognitive function and mental health. In this review, we focus on the in utero programming of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and assess the effects of pathogens on the onset of ASD-like symptoms.
Collapse
|
21
|
Blokland GAM, Grove J, Chen CY, Cotsapas C, Tobet S, Handa R, St Clair D, Lencz T, Mowry BJ, Periyasamy S, Cairns MJ, Tooney PA, Wu JQ, Kelly B, Kirov G, Sullivan PF, Corvin A, Riley BP, Esko T, Milani L, Jönsson EG, Palotie A, Ehrenreich H, Begemann M, Steixner-Kumar A, Sham PC, Iwata N, Weinberger DR, Gejman PV, Sanders AR, Buxbaum JD, Rujescu D, Giegling I, Konte B, Hartmann AM, Bramon E, Murray RM, Pato MT, Lee J, Melle I, Molden E, Ophoff RA, McQuillin A, Bass NJ, Adolfsson R, Malhotra AK, Martin NG, Fullerton JM, Mitchell PB, Schofield PR, Forstner AJ, Degenhardt F, Schaupp S, Comes AL, Kogevinas M, Guzman-Parra J, Reif A, Streit F, Sirignano L, Cichon S, Grigoroiu-Serbanescu M, Hauser J, Lissowska J, Mayoral F, Müller-Myhsok B, Świątkowska B, Schulze TG, Nöthen MM, Rietschel M, Kelsoe J, Leboyer M, Jamain S, Etain B, Bellivier F, Vincent JB, Alda M, O'Donovan C, Cervantes P, Biernacka JM, Frye M, McElroy SL, Scott LJ, Stahl EA, Landén M, Hamshere ML, Smeland OB, Djurovic S, Vaaler AE, Andreassen OA, Baune BT, Air T, Preisig M, Uher R, Levinson DF, Weissman MM, Potash JB, Shi J, Knowles JA, Perlis RH, Lucae S, Boomsma DI, Penninx BWJH, Hottenga JJ, de Geus EJC, Willemsen G, Milaneschi Y, Tiemeier H, Grabe HJ, Teumer A, Van der Auwera S, Völker U, Hamilton SP, Magnusson PKE, Viktorin A, Mehta D, Mullins N, Adams MJ, Breen G, McIntosh AM, Lewis CM, Hougaard DM, Nordentoft M, Mors O, Mortensen PB, Werge T, Als TD, Børglum AD, Petryshen TL, Smoller JW, Goldstein JM. Sex-Dependent Shared and Nonshared Genetic Architecture Across Mood and Psychotic Disorders. Biol Psychiatry 2022; 91:102-117. [PMID: 34099189 PMCID: PMC8458480 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.02.972] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2020] [Revised: 02/11/2021] [Accepted: 02/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Sex differences in incidence and/or presentation of schizophrenia (SCZ), major depressive disorder (MDD), and bipolar disorder (BIP) are pervasive. Previous evidence for shared genetic risk and sex differences in brain abnormalities across disorders suggest possible shared sex-dependent genetic risk. METHODS We conducted the largest to date genome-wide genotype-by-sex (G×S) interaction of risk for these disorders using 85,735 cases (33,403 SCZ, 19,924 BIP, and 32,408 MDD) and 109,946 controls from the PGC (Psychiatric Genomics Consortium) and iPSYCH. RESULTS Across disorders, genome-wide significant single nucleotide polymorphism-by-sex interaction was detected for a locus encompassing NKAIN2 (rs117780815, p = 3.2 × 10-8), which interacts with sodium/potassium-transporting ATPase (adenosine triphosphatase) enzymes, implicating neuronal excitability. Three additional loci showed evidence (p < 1 × 10-6) for cross-disorder G×S interaction (rs7302529, p = 1.6 × 10-7; rs73033497, p = 8.8 × 10-7; rs7914279, p = 6.4 × 10-7), implicating various functions. Gene-based analyses identified G×S interaction across disorders (p = 8.97 × 10-7) with transcriptional inhibitor SLTM. Most significant in SCZ was a MOCOS gene locus (rs11665282, p = 1.5 × 10-7), implicating vascular endothelial cells. Secondary analysis of the PGC-SCZ dataset detected an interaction (rs13265509, p = 1.1 × 10-7) in a locus containing IDO2, a kynurenine pathway enzyme with immunoregulatory functions implicated in SCZ, BIP, and MDD. Pathway enrichment analysis detected significant G×S interaction of genes regulating vascular endothelial growth factor receptor signaling in MDD (false discovery rate-corrected p < .05). CONCLUSIONS In the largest genome-wide G×S analysis of mood and psychotic disorders to date, there was substantial genetic overlap between the sexes. However, significant sex-dependent effects were enriched for genes related to neuronal development and immune and vascular functions across and within SCZ, BIP, and MDD at the variant, gene, and pathway levels.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gabriëlla A M Blokland
- Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
| | - Jakob Grove
- Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research (iPSYCH), Copenhagen, Denmark; Center for Genome Analysis and Personalized Medicine, Aarhus, Denmark; Bioinformatics Research Centre (BiRC), Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Chia-Yen Chen
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Biogen Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Chris Cotsapas
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Departments of Neurology and Genetics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Stuart Tobet
- Innovation Center on Sex Differences in Medicine (ICON), Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
| | - Robert Handa
- Innovation Center on Sex Differences in Medicine (ICON), Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
| | - David St Clair
- University of Aberdeen, Institute of Medical Sciences, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
| | - Todd Lencz
- The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, New York; The Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hempstead, New York; The Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, New York
| | - Bryan J Mowry
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Sathish Periyasamy
- Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, The Park - Centre for Mental Health, Wacol, Queensland, Australia
| | - Murray J Cairns
- Schizophrenia Research Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia; Priority Centre for Translational Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Paul A Tooney
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia; Priority Centre for Translational Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia; Schizophrenia Research Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Jing Qin Wu
- School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia; Schizophrenia Research Institute, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Brian Kelly
- Priority Centre for Translational Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
| | - George Kirov
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Patrick F Sullivan
- Departments of Genetics and Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Aiden Corvin
- Neuropsychiatric Genetics Research Group, Department of Psychiatry, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Brien P Riley
- Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics, Departments of Psychiatry and Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia
| | - Tõnu Esko
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Lili Milani
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Erik G Jönsson
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Psychiatry Section, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), KG Jebsen Centre for Psychosis Research, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Aarno Palotie
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Hannelore Ehrenreich
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Martin Begemann
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Agnes Steixner-Kumar
- Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Pak C Sham
- Department of Psychiatry, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR China; State Key Laboratory for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR China; Centre for Genomic Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, SAR China
| | - Nakao Iwata
- Department of Psychiatry, Fujita Health University School of Medicine, Toyoake, Aichi, Japan
| | - Daniel R Weinberger
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, Baltimore, Maryland; Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, Neuroscience and Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Pablo V Gejman
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, North Shore University Health System, Evanston, Illinois
| | - Alan R Sanders
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, North Shore University Health System, Evanston, Illinois
| | - Joseph D Buxbaum
- Departments of Human Genetics and Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Dan Rujescu
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Halle, Halle, Germany; Department of Psychiatry, University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Ina Giegling
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Halle, Halle, Germany; Department of Psychiatry, University of Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Bettina Konte
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Halle, Halle, Germany
| | | | - Elvira Bramon
- Mental Health Neuroscience Research Department, Division of Psychiatry, Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Robin M Murray
- Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Michele T Pato
- Institute for Genomic Health, SUNY Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine, Brooklyn, New York; Department of Psychiatry and Zilkha Neurogenetics Institute, Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Jimmy Lee
- Research Division and Department of General Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore, Singapore; Duke-National University of Singapore Graduate Medical School, Singapore
| | - Ingrid Melle
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo and Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Espen Molden
- Center for Psychopharmacology, Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Roel A Ophoff
- University Medical Center Utrecht, Department of Psychiatry, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Department of Human Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, California; David Geffen School of Medicine, and Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Andrew McQuillin
- Molecular Psychiatry Laboratory, Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Nicholas J Bass
- Molecular Psychiatry Laboratory, Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Rolf Adolfsson
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Psychiatry, Umeå University Medical Faculty, Umeå, Sweden
| | - Anil K Malhotra
- The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Manhasset, New York; The Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell, Hempstead, New York; The Zucker Hillside Hospital, Glen Oaks, New York
| | - Nicholas G Martin
- School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Genetics and Computational Biology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Janice M Fullerton
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Philip B Mitchell
- School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Peter R Schofield
- Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Andreas J Forstner
- Centre for Human Genetics, University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany; Institute of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, School of Medicine & University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Franziska Degenhardt
- Institute of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, School of Medicine & University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany
| | - Sabrina Schaupp
- Institute of Psychiatric Phenomics and Genomics (IPPG), University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Ashley L Comes
- Institute of Psychiatric Phenomics and Genomics (IPPG), University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany; International Max Planck Research School for Translational Psychiatry (IMPRS-TP), Munich, Germany
| | | | - José Guzman-Parra
- Mental Health Department, University Regional Hospital, Biomedical Research Institute of Málaga (IBIMA), Málaga, Spain
| | - Andreas Reif
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Fabian Streit
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Lea Sirignano
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Sven Cichon
- Institute of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, School of Medicine & University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany; Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany; Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Maria Grigoroiu-Serbanescu
- Biometric Psychiatric Genetics Research Unit, Alexandru Obregia Clinical Psychiatric Hospital, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Joanna Hauser
- Department of Psychiatry, Laboratory of Psychiatric Genetics, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| | - Jolanta Lissowska
- Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, M. Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Fermin Mayoral
- Mental Health Department, University Regional Hospital, Biomedical Research Institute of Málaga (IBIMA), Málaga, Spain
| | - Bertram Müller-Myhsok
- University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom; Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany; Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), Munich, Germany
| | - Beata Świątkowska
- Department of Environmental Epidemiology, Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Lodz, Poland
| | - Thomas G Schulze
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland; Institute of Psychiatric Phenomics and Genomics (IPPG), University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany; Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Markus M Nöthen
- Institute of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, School of Medicine & University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Marcella Rietschel
- Department of Genetic Epidemiology in Psychiatry, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
| | - John Kelsoe
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California
| | - Marion Leboyer
- Faculté de Médecine, Université Paris Est, Créteil, France; Department of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France; Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM), Paris, France
| | - Stéphane Jamain
- Faculté de Médecine, Université Paris Est, Créteil, France; INSERM U955, Psychiatrie Translationnelle, Créteil, France
| | - Bruno Etain
- Centre for Affective Disorders, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, London, United Kingdom; Department of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France; UMR-S1144 Team 1 Biomarkers of relapse and therapeutic response in addiction and mood disorders, INSERM, Paris, France; Psychiatry, Université Paris Diderot, Paris, France
| | - Frank Bellivier
- Department of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France; UMR-S1144 Team 1 Biomarkers of relapse and therapeutic response in addiction and mood disorders, INSERM, Paris, France; Psychiatry, Université Paris Diderot, Paris, France; Paris Bipolar and TRD Expert Centres, FondaMental Foundation, Paris, France
| | - John B Vincent
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Martin Alda
- Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czech Republic
| | - Claire O'Donovan
- Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Pablo Cervantes
- Department of Psychiatry, Mood Disorders Program, McGill University Health Center, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Joanna M Biernacka
- Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | - Mark Frye
- Department of Psychiatry & Psychology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
| | | | - Laura J Scott
- Center for Statistical Genetics and Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
| | - Eli A Stahl
- Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Mikael Landén
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, the Sahlgrenska Academy at Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Marian L Hamshere
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Institute of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Olav B Smeland
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo and Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Srdjan Djurovic
- Department of Medical Genetics, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; NORMENT Centre, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Arne E Vaaler
- Department of Mental Health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology - NTNU, Trondheim, Norway; Department of Psychiatry, St Olavs' University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Ole A Andreassen
- Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo and Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Bernhard T Baune
- Department of Psychiatry, Melbourne Medical School, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Florey Institute for Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Department of Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Tracy Air
- Discipline of Psychiatry, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Austrlalia, Australia
| | - Martin Preisig
- Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Rudolf Uher
- Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Douglas F Levinson
- Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California
| | - Myrna M Weissman
- Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York; Division of Translational Epidemiology, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York
| | - James B Potash
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
| | - Jianxin Shi
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - James A Knowles
- Psychiatry & The Behavioral Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
| | - Roy H Perlis
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Susanne Lucae
- Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany; Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
| | - Dorret I Boomsma
- Department of Biological Psychology/Netherlands Twin Register, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Brenda W J H Penninx
- Department of Psychiatry, Vrije Universiteit Medical Center and GGZ inGeest, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jouke-Jan Hottenga
- Department of Biological Psychology/Netherlands Twin Register, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Eco J C de Geus
- Department of Biological Psychology/Netherlands Twin Register, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Gonneke Willemsen
- Department of Biological Psychology/Netherlands Twin Register, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam UMC, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Yuri Milaneschi
- Department of Psychiatry, Vrije Universiteit Medical Center and GGZ inGeest, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Henning Tiemeier
- Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Hans J Grabe
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Alexander Teumer
- Institute of Community Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Sandra Van der Auwera
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Uwe Völker
- Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genomics, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | | | - Patrik K E Magnusson
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Alexander Viktorin
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Divya Mehta
- School of Psychology and Counseling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Niamh Mullins
- Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York; Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Mark J Adams
- Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Gerome Breen
- NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew M McIntosh
- Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Cathryn M Lewis
- Department of Medical & Molecular Genetics, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - David M Hougaard
- The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research (iPSYCH), Copenhagen, Denmark; Center for Neonatal Screening, Department for Congenital Disorders, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Merete Nordentoft
- The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research (iPSYCH), Copenhagen, Denmark; Copenhagen Mental Health Center, Mental Health Services Capital Region of Denmark Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Ole Mors
- The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research (iPSYCH), Copenhagen, Denmark; Psychosis Research Unit, Aarhus University Hospital, Risskov, Denmark
| | - Preben B Mortensen
- Centre for Integrative Sequencing (iSEQ), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; National Centre for Register-Based Research (NCCR), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; Centre for Integrated Register-based Research (CIRRAU), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research (iPSYCH), Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Thomas Werge
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; Institute of Biological Psychiatry, Mental Health Center Sct. Hans, Mental Health Services Copenhagen, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Thomas D Als
- Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research (iPSYCH), Copenhagen, Denmark; Center for Genome Analysis and Personalized Medicine, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Anders D Børglum
- Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark; The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research (iPSYCH), Copenhagen, Denmark; Center for Genome Analysis and Personalized Medicine, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Tracey L Petryshen
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Lexington, Massachusetts
| | - Jordan W Smoller
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Department of Psychiatry and Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts
| | - Jill M Goldstein
- Innovation Center on Sex Differences in Medicine (ICON), Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; Department of Psychiatry and Vincent Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts; MGH-MIT-HMS Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, Massachusetts; Departments of Psychiatry and Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Mkaouar R, Abdallah LCB, Naouali C, Lahbib S, Turki Z, Elouej S, Bouyacoub Y, Somai M, Mcelreavey K, Bashamboo A, Abdelhak S, Messaoud O. Oligogenic Inheritance Underlying Incomplete Penetrance of PROKR2 Mutations in Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism. Front Genet 2021; 12:665174. [PMID: 34539727 PMCID: PMC8446458 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.665174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2021] [Accepted: 07/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The role of the prokineticin 2 pathway in human reproduction, olfactory bulb morphogenesis, and gonadotropin-releasing hormone secretion is well established. Recent studies have highlighted the implication of di/oligogenic inheritance in this disorder. In the present study, we aimed to identify the genetic mechanisms that could explain incomplete penetrance in hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH). This study involved two unrelated Tunisian patients with HH, which was triggered by identifying a homozygous p.(Pro290Ser) mutation in the PROKR2 gene in a girl (HH1) with Kallmann syndrome (KS). The functional effect of this variant has previously been well demonstrated. Unexpectedly, her unaffected father (HH1P) and brother (HH1F) also carried this genetic variation at a homozygous state. In the second family, we identified a heterozygous p.(Lys205del) mutation in PROKR2, both in a male patient with normosmic idiopathic IHH (HH12) and his asymptomatic mother. Whole-exome sequencing in the three HH1 family members allowed the identification of additional variants in the prioritized genes. We then carried out digenic combination predictions using the oligogenic resource for variant analysis (ORVAL) software. For HH1, we found the highest number of disease-causing variant pairs. Notably, a CCDC141 variant (c.2803C > T) was involved in 18 pathogenic digenic combinations. The CCDC141 variant acts in an autosomal recessive inheritance mode, based on the digenic effect prediction data. For the second patient (HH12), prediction by ORVAL allowed the identification of an interesting pathogenic digenic combination between DUSP6 and SEMA7A genes, predicted as “dual molecular diagnosis.” The SEMA7A variant p.(Glu436Lys) is novel and predicted as a VUS by Varsome. Sanger validation revealed the absence of this variant in the healthy mother. We hypothesize that disease expression in HH12 could be induced by the digenic transmission of the SEMA7A and DUSP6 variants or a monogenic inheritance involving only the SEMA7A VUS if further functional assays allow its reclassification into pathogenic. Our findings confirm that homozygous loss-of-function genetic variations are insufficient to cause KS, and that oligogenism is most likely the main transmission mode involved in Congenital Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rahma Mkaouar
- Laboratoire de Génomique Biomédicale et Oncogénétique, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia.,Faculté des Sciences Mathématiques, Physiques et Naturelles de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia
| | | | - Chokri Naouali
- Laboratoire de Génomique Biomédicale et Oncogénétique, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Saida Lahbib
- Laboratoire de Génomique Biomédicale et Oncogénétique, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Zinet Turki
- Département d'Endocrinologie et de Technologie Alimentaire, Institut de Nutrition, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Sahar Elouej
- Laboratoire de Génomique Biomédicale et Oncogénétique, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Yosra Bouyacoub
- Laboratoire de Génomique Biomédicale et Oncogénétique, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Maali Somai
- Département d'Endocrinologie et de Technologie Alimentaire, Institut de Nutrition, Tunis, Tunisia
| | | | - Anu Bashamboo
- Génétique du Développement Humain, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
| | - Sonia Abdelhak
- Laboratoire de Génomique Biomédicale et Oncogénétique, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia
| | - Olfa Messaoud
- Laboratoire de Génomique Biomédicale et Oncogénétique, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Gene expression correlates of advanced epigenetic age and psychopathology in postmortem cortical tissue. Neurobiol Stress 2021; 15:100371. [PMID: 34458511 PMCID: PMC8377489 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynstr.2021.100371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2020] [Revised: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 07/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Psychiatric stress has been associated with accelerated epigenetic aging (i.e., when estimates of cellular age based on DNA methylation exceed chronological age) in both blood and brain tissue. Little is known about the downstream biological effects of accelerated epigenetic age on gene expression. In this study we examined associations between DNA methylation-derived estimates of cellular age that range from decelerated to accelerated relative to chronological age (“DNAm age residuals”) and transcriptome-wide gene expression. This was examined using tissue from three post-mortem cortical regions (ventromedial and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and motor cortex, n = 97) from the VA National PTSD Brain Bank. In addition, we examined how posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol-use disorders (AUD) moderated the association between DNAm age residuals and gene expression. Transcriptome-wide results across brain regions, psychiatric diagnoses, and cohorts (full sample and male and female subsets) revealed experiment-wide differential expression of 11 genes in association with PTSD or AUD in interaction with DNAm age residuals. This included the inflammation-related genes IL1B, RCOR2, and GCNT1. Candidate gene class analyses and gene network enrichment analyses further supported differential expression of inflammation/immune gene networks as well as glucocorticoid, circadian, and oxidative stress-related genes. Gene co-expression network modules suggested enrichment of myelination related processes and oligodendrocyte enrichment in association with DNAm age residuals in the presence of psychopathology. Collectively, results suggest that psychiatric stress accentuates the association between advanced epigenetic age and expression of inflammation genes in the brain. This highlights the role of inflammatory processes in the pathophysiology of accelerated cellular aging and suggests that inflammatory pathways may link accelerated cellular aging to premature disease onset and neurodegeneration, particularly in stressed populations. This suggests that anti-inflammatory interventions may be an important direction to pursue in evaluating ways to prevent or delay cellular aging and increase resilience to diseases of aging.
Collapse
|
24
|
Whittle CA, Kulkarni A, Extavour CG. Evolutionary dynamics of sex-biased genes expressed in cricket brains and gonads. J Evol Biol 2021; 34:1188-1211. [PMID: 34114713 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2021] [Accepted: 05/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Sex-biased gene expression, particularly sex-biased expression in the gonad, has been linked to rates of protein sequence evolution (nonsynonymous to synonymous substitutions, dN/dS) in animals. However, in insects, sex-biased expression studies remain centred on a few holometabolous species. Moreover, other major tissue types such as the brain remain underexplored. Here, we studied sex-biased gene expression and protein evolution in a hemimetabolous insect, the cricket Gryllus bimaculatus. We generated novel male and female RNA-seq data for two sexual tissue types, the gonad and somatic reproductive system, and for two core components of the nervous system, the brain and ventral nerve cord. From a genome-wide analysis, we report several core findings. Firstly, testis-biased genes had accelerated evolution, as compared to ovary-biased and unbiased genes, which was associated with positive selection events. Secondly, although sex-biased brain genes were much less common than for the gonad, they exhibited a striking tendency for rapid protein sequence evolution, an effect that was stronger for the female than male brain. Further, some sex-biased brain genes were linked to sexual functions and mating behaviours, which we suggest may have accelerated their evolution via sexual selection. Thirdly, a tendency for narrow cross-tissue expression breadth, suggesting low pleiotropy, was observed for sex-biased brain genes, suggesting relaxed purifying selection, which we speculate may allow enhanced freedom to evolve adaptive protein functional changes. The findings of rapid evolution of testis-biased genes and male and female-biased brain genes are discussed with respect to pleiotropy, positive selection and the mating biology of this cricket.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Carrie A Whittle
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Arpita Kulkarni
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Cassandra G Extavour
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Singh RS, Singh KK, Singh SM. Origin of Sex-Biased Mental Disorders: An Evolutionary Perspective. J Mol Evol 2021; 89:195-213. [PMID: 33630117 PMCID: PMC8116267 DOI: 10.1007/s00239-021-09999-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2020] [Accepted: 02/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Sexual dimorphism or sex bias in diseases and mental disorders have two biological causes: sexual selection and sex hormones. We review the role of sexual selection theory and bring together decades of molecular studies on the variation and evolution of sex-biased genes and provide a theoretical basis for the causes of sex bias in disease and health. We present a Sexual Selection-Sex Hormone theory and show that male-driven evolution, including sexual selection, leads to: (1) increased male vulnerability due to negative pleiotropic effects associated with male-driven sexual selection and evolution; (2) increased rates of male-driven mutations and epimutations in response to early fitness gains and at the cost of late fitness; and (3) enhanced female immunity due to antagonistic responses to mutations that are beneficial to males but harmful to females, reducing female vulnerability to diseases and increasing the thresholds for disorders such as autism. Female-driven evolution, such as reproduction-related fluctuation in female sex hormones in association with stress and social condition, has been shown to be associated with increased risk of certain mental disorders such as major depression disorder in women. Bodies have history, cells have memories. An evolutionary framework, such as the Sexual Selection–Sex Hormone theory, provides a historical perspective for understanding how the differences in the sex-biased diseases and mental disorders have evolved over time. It has the potential to direct the development of novel preventive and treatment strategies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rama S Singh
- Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
| | - Karun K Singh
- Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.,Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
| | - Shiva M Singh
- Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Walker DM, Zhou X, Cunningham AM, Lipschultz AP, Ramakrishnan A, Cates HM, Bagot RC, Shen L, Zhang B, Nestler EJ. Sex-Specific Transcriptional Changes in Response to Adolescent Social Stress in the Brain's Reward Circuitry. Biol Psychiatry 2021; 91:118-128. [PMID: 33892914 PMCID: PMC8382786 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.02.964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2020] [Revised: 02/04/2021] [Accepted: 02/18/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Sex differences in addiction have been described in humans and animal models. A key factor that influences addiction in both males and females is adolescent experience. Adolescence is associated with higher vulnerability to substance use disorders, and male rodents subjected to adolescent social isolation (SI) stress form stronger preferences for drugs of abuse in adulthood. However, little is known about how females respond to SI, and few studies have investigated the transcriptional changes induced by SI in the brain's reward circuitry. METHODS We tested the hypothesis that SI alters the transcriptome in a persistent and sex-specific manner in prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, and ventral tegmental area. Mice were isolated or group housed from postnatal day P22 to P42, then group housed until ∼P90. Transcriptome-wide changes were investigated by RNA sequencing after acute or chronic cocaine or saline administration. RESULTS We found that SI disrupts sex-specific transcriptional responses to cocaine and reduces sex differences in gene expression across all three brain regions. Furthermore, SI induces gene expression profiles in males that more closely resemble group-housed females, suggesting that SI "feminizes" the male transcriptome. Coexpression analysis reveals that such disruption of sex differences in gene expression alters sex-specific gene networks and identifies potential sex-specific key drivers of these transcriptional changes. CONCLUSIONS Together, these data show that SI has region-specific effects on sex-specific transcriptional responses to cocaine and provide a better understanding of reward-associated transcription that differs in males and females.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Deena M. Walker
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029,Persons to whom all correspondence should be addressed and lead contacts: Eric J. Nestler, M.D., Ph.D. () and Deena M. Walker ()
| | - Xianxiao Zhou
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029,Mount Sinai Center for Transformative Disease Modeling, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029
| | - Ashley M. Cunningham
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029
| | - Andrew P. Lipschultz
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029
| | - Aarthi Ramakrishnan
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029
| | - Hannah M. Cates
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029
| | - Rosemary C. Bagot
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029
| | - Li Shen
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029
| | - Bin Zhang
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and Icahn Institute for Data Science and Genomic Technology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029,Mount Sinai Center for Transformative Disease Modeling, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029
| | - Eric J. Nestler
- Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029,Persons to whom all correspondence should be addressed and lead contacts: Eric J. Nestler, M.D., Ph.D. () and Deena M. Walker ()
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Fels JA, Casalena GA, Manfredi G. Sex and oestrogen receptor β have modest effects on gene expression in the mouse brain posterior cortex. Endocrinol Diabetes Metab 2021; 4:e00191. [PMID: 33532622 PMCID: PMC7831211 DOI: 10.1002/edm2.191] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2020] [Revised: 09/12/2020] [Accepted: 09/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Introduction Sex differences in brain cortical function affect cognition, behaviour and susceptibility to neural diseases, but the molecular basis of sexual dimorphism in cortical function is still largely unknown. Oestrogen and oestrogen receptors (ERs), specifically ERβ, the most abundant ER in the cortex, may play a role in determining sex differences in gene expression, which could underlie functional sex differences. However, further investigation is needed to address brain region specificity of the effects of sex and ERβ on gene expression. The goal of this study was to investigate sex differences in gene expression in the mouse posterior cortex, where sex differences in transcription have never been examined, and to determine how genetic ablation of ERβ affects transcription. Methods In this study, we performed unbiased transcriptomics on RNA from the posterior cortex of adult wild-type and ERβ knockout mice (n = 4/sex/genotype). We used unbiased clustering to analyse whole-transcriptome changes between the groups. We also performed differential expression analysis on the data using DESeq2 to identify specific changes in gene expression. Results We found only 27 significantly differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in wild-type (WT) males vs females, of which 17 were autosomal genes. Interestingly, in ERβKO males vs females all the autosomal DEGs were lost. Gene Ontology analysis of the subset of DEGs with sex differences only in the WT cortex revealed a significant enrichment of genes annotated with the function 'cation channel activity'. Moreover, within each sex we found only a few DEGs in ERβKO vs WT mice (8 and 5 in males and females, respectively). Conclusions Overall, our results suggest that in the adult mouse posterior cortex there are surprisingly few sex differences in gene expression, and those that exist are mainly related to cation channel activity. Additionally, they indicate that brain region-specific functional effects of ERβ may be largely post-transcriptional.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jasmine A. Fels
- Feil Family Brain and Mind Research InstituteWeill Cornell MedicineNew YorkNYUSA
| | | | - Giovanni Manfredi
- Feil Family Brain and Mind Research InstituteWeill Cornell MedicineNew YorkNYUSA
| |
Collapse
|
28
|
Reilly J, Gallagher L, Leader G, Shen S. Coupling of autism genes to tissue-wide expression and dysfunction of synapse, calcium signalling and transcriptional regulation. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0242773. [PMID: 33338084 PMCID: PMC7748153 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2020] [Accepted: 11/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous disorder that is often accompanied with many co-morbidities. Recent genetic studies have identified various pathways from hundreds of candidate risk genes with varying levels of association to ASD. However, it is unknown which pathways are specific to the core symptoms or which are shared by the co-morbidities. We hypothesised that critical ASD candidates should appear widely across different scoring systems, and that comorbidity pathways should be constituted by genes expressed in the relevant tissues. We analysed the Simons Foundation for Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) database and four independently published scoring systems and identified 292 overlapping genes. We examined their mRNA expression using the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) database and validated protein expression levels using the human protein atlas (HPA) dataset. This led to clustering of the overlapping ASD genes into 2 groups; one with 91 genes primarily expressed in the central nervous system (CNS geneset) and another with 201 genes expressed in both CNS and peripheral tissues (CNS+PT geneset). Bioinformatic analyses showed a high enrichment of CNS development and synaptic transmission in the CNS geneset, and an enrichment of synapse, chromatin remodelling, gene regulation and endocrine signalling in the CNS+PT geneset. Calcium signalling and the glutamatergic synapse were found to be highly interconnected among pathways in the combined geneset. Our analyses demonstrate that 2/3 of ASD genes are expressed beyond the brain, which may impact peripheral function and involve in ASD co-morbidities, and relevant pathways may be explored for the treatment of ASD co-morbidities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jamie Reilly
- Regenerative Medicine Institute, School of Medicine, Biomedical Science Building, National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway, Galway, Ireland
- * E-mail: (JR); (SS)
| | - Louise Gallagher
- Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- Trinity Translational Medicine Institute, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences—Trinity College Dublin, St. James’s Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Geraldine Leader
- Irish Centre for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Research (ICAN), Department of Psychology, National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway, Galway, Ireland
| | - Sanbing Shen
- Regenerative Medicine Institute, School of Medicine, Biomedical Science Building, National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway, Galway, Ireland
- FutureNeuro Research Centre, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Dublin, Ireland
- * E-mail: (JR); (SS)
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Cáceres A, González JR. Female-specific risk of Alzheimer's disease is associated with tau phosphorylation processes: A transcriptome-wide interaction analysis. Neurobiol Aging 2020; 96:104-108. [PMID: 32977080 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2020.08.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2020] [Revised: 08/25/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
The levels of tau phosphorylation differ between sexes in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Transcriptome-wide associations of sex by disease interaction could indicate whether specific genes underlie sex differences in tau pathology; however, no such study has been reported yet. We report the first analysis of the effect of the interaction between disease status and sex on differential gene expression, meta-analyzing transcriptomic data from the 3 largest publicly available case-control studies (N = 785) in the brain to date. A total of 128 genes, significantly associated with sex-AD interactions, were enriched in phosphoproteins (false discovery rate (FDR) = 0.001). High and consistent associations were found for the overexpressions of NCL (FDR = 0.002), whose phosphorylated protein generates an epitope against neurofibrillary tangles and KIF2A (FDR = 0.005), a microtubule-associated motor protein gene. Transcriptome-wide interaction analyses suggest sex-modulated tau phosphorylation, at sites like Thr231, Ser199, or Ser202 that could increase the risk of women to AD and indicate sex-specific strategies for intervention and prevention.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alejandro Cáceres
- Division of Noncommunicable Diseases, Instituto de Salud Global de Barcelona (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.
| | - Juan R González
- Division of Noncommunicable Diseases, Instituto de Salud Global de Barcelona (ISGlobal), Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain; Department of Mathematics, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Simchovitz-Gesher A, Soreq H. Pharmaceutical Implications of Sex-Related RNA Divergence in Psychiatric Disorders. Trends Pharmacol Sci 2020; 41:840-850. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tips.2020.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2020] [Revised: 08/29/2020] [Accepted: 09/10/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
|
31
|
Busch RM, Yehia L, Bazeley P, Seyfi M, Blümcke I, Hermann BP, Najm IM, Eng C. Verbal memory dysfunction is associated with alterations in brain transcriptome in dominant temporal lobe epilepsy. Epilepsia 2020; 61:2203-2213. [PMID: 32945555 DOI: 10.1111/epi.16673] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2020] [Revised: 08/08/2020] [Accepted: 08/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Memory dysfunction is prevalent in many neurological disorders and can have a significant negative impact on quality of life. The genetic contributions to memory impairment in epilepsy, particularly temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), remain poorly understood. Here, we compare the brain transcriptome between TLE patients with and without verbal memory impairments to identify genes and signaling networks important for episodic memory. METHODS Brain tissues were resected from 23 adults who underwent dominant temporal lobectomy for treatment of pharmacoresistant epilepsy. To control for potential effects of APOE on memory, only those homozygous for the APOE ε3 allele were included. A battery of memory tests was performed, and patients were stratified into two groups based on preoperative memory performance. The groups were well matched on demographic and disease-related variables. Total RNA-Seq and small RNA-Seq were performed on RNA extracted from the brain tissues. Pathway and integrative analyses were subsequently performed. RESULTS We identified 1092 differentially expressed transcripts (DETs), with the majority (71%) being underexpressed in brain tissues from patients with impaired memory compared to those from patients with intact memory. Enrichment analysis revealed overrepresentation of genes in pathways pertaining to brain-related neurological dysfunction, including a subset associated with neurodegenerative diseases, memory, and cognition (APP, MAPT, PINK1). Despite including patients with identical APOE genotypes, we identify APOE as a differentially expressed gene associated with memory status. Small RNA-Seq identified four differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs) that were predicted to target a subset (22%) of all DETs. Integrative analysis showed that these miRNA-predicted DET targets impact brain-related pathways and biological processes also pertinent to memory and cognition. SIGNIFICANCE TLE-associated memory status may be influenced by differences in gene expression profiles within the temporal lobe. Upstream processes influencing differential expression signatures, such as miRNAs, could serve as biomarkers and potential treatment targets for memory impairment in TLE.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Robyn M Busch
- Epilepsy Center and Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio.,Genomic Medicine Institute, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Lamis Yehia
- Genomic Medicine Institute, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Peter Bazeley
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Marilyn Seyfi
- Genomic Medicine Institute, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Ingmar Blümcke
- Epilepsy Center and Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio.,Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospitals Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Bruce P Hermann
- Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
| | - Imad M Najm
- Epilepsy Center and Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Charis Eng
- Genomic Medicine Institute, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio.,Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio.,Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Keever MR, Zhang P, Bolt CR, Antonson AM, Rymut HE, Caputo MP, Houser AK, Hernandez AG, Southey BR, Rund LA, Johnson RW, Rodriguez-Zas SL. Lasting and Sex-Dependent Impact of Maternal Immune Activation on Molecular Pathways of the Amygdala. Front Neurosci 2020; 14:774. [PMID: 32848554 PMCID: PMC7431923 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2020] [Accepted: 07/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The prolonged and sex-dependent impact of maternal immune activation (MIA) during gestation on the molecular pathways of the amygdala, a brain region that influences social, emotional, and other behaviors, is only partially understood. To address this gap, we investigated the effects of viral-elicited MIA during gestation on the amygdala transcriptome of pigs, a species of high molecular and developmental homology to humans. Gene expression levels were measured using RNA-Seq on the amygdala for 3-week-old female and male offspring from MIA and control groups. Among the 403 genes that exhibited significant MIA effect, a prevalence of differentially expressed genes annotated to the neuroactive ligand-receptor pathway, glutamatergic functions, neuropeptide systems, and cilium morphogenesis were uncovered. Genes in these categories included corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 2, glutamate metabotropic receptor 4, glycoprotein hormones, alpha polypeptide, parathyroid hormone 1 receptor, vasointestinal peptide receptor 2, neurotensin, proenkephalin, and gastrin-releasing peptide. These categories and genes have been associated with the MIA-related human neurodevelopmental disorders, including schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders. Gene network reconstruction highlighted differential vulnerability to MIA effects between sexes. Our results advance the understanding necessary for the development of multifactorial therapies targeting immune modulation and neurochemical dysfunction that can ameliorate the effects of MIA on offspring behavior later in life.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marissa R. Keever
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
| | - Pan Zhang
- Illinois Informatics Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
| | - Courtni R. Bolt
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
| | - Adrienne M. Antonson
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
| | - Haley E. Rymut
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
| | - Megan P. Caputo
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
| | - Alexandra K. Houser
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
| | - Alvaro G. Hernandez
- High-throughput Sequencing and Genotyping Unit, Roy J. Carver Biotechnology Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
| | - Bruce R. Southey
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
| | - Laurie A. Rund
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
| | - Rodney W. Johnson
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
- Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
| | - Sandra L. Rodriguez-Zas
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
- Illinois Informatics Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
- Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
- Department of Statistics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
- Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, United States
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
A multidimensional precision medicine approach identifies an autism subtype characterized by dyslipidemia. Nat Med 2020; 26:1375-1379. [PMID: 32778826 DOI: 10.1038/s41591-020-1007-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2017] [Accepted: 07/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The promise of precision medicine lies in data diversity. More than the sheer size of biomedical data, it is the layering of multiple data modalities, offering complementary perspectives, that is thought to enable the identification of patient subgroups with shared pathophysiology. In the present study, we use autism to test this notion. By combining healthcare claims, electronic health records, familial whole-exome sequences and neurodevelopmental gene expression patterns, we identified a subgroup of patients with dyslipidemia-associated autism.
Collapse
|
34
|
Kitano J, Kakioka R, Ishikawa A, Toyoda A, Kusakabe M. Differences in the contributions of sex linkage and androgen regulation to sex-biased gene expression in juvenile and adult sticklebacks. J Evol Biol 2020; 33:1129-1138. [PMID: 32533720 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2020] [Revised: 05/30/2020] [Accepted: 06/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Different evolutionary interests between males and females can lead to the evolution of sexual dimorphism. However, intersex genetic correlations due to the shared genome can constrain the evolution of sexual dimorphism, resulting in intra-locus sexual conflict. One of the mechanisms resolving this conflict is sex linkage, which allows males and females to carry different alleles on sex chromosomes. Another is a regulatory mutation causing sex-biased gene expression, which is often mediated by gonadal steroids in vertebrates. How do these two mechanisms differ in the contributions to the resolution of intra-locus sexual conflict? The magnitude of sexual conflict often varies between the juvenile and adult stages. Because gonadal steroids change in titre during development, we hypothesized that gonadal steroids play a role in sexual dimorphism expression only at certain developmental stages, whereas sex linkage is more important for sexual dimorphism expressed throughout life. Our brain transcriptome analysis of juvenile and adult threespine sticklebacks showed that the majority of genes that were sex-biased in both stages were sex-linked. The relative contribution of androgen-dependent regulation to the sex-biased transcriptome increased and that of sex linkage declined in adults compared to juveniles. The magnitude of the sex differences was greater in sex-linked genes than androgen-responsive genes, suggesting that sex linkage is more effective than androgen regulation in the production of large sex differences in gene expression. Overall, our data are consistent with the hypothesis that sex linkage is effective in resolving sexual conflict throughout life, whereas androgen-dependent regulation can contribute to temporary resolution of sexual conflict.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jun Kitano
- Ecological Genetics Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan
| | - Ryo Kakioka
- Ecological Genetics Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan
| | - Asano Ishikawa
- Ecological Genetics Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan
| | - Atsushi Toyoda
- Comparative Genomics Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Shizuoka, Japan
| | - Makoto Kusakabe
- Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Shizuoka University, Surugaku, Shizuoka, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
35
|
Olney KC, Brotman SM, Andrews JP, Valverde-Vesling VA, Wilson MA. Reference genome and transcriptome informed by the sex chromosome complement of the sample increase ability to detect sex differences in gene expression from RNA-Seq data. Biol Sex Differ 2020; 11:42. [PMID: 32693839 PMCID: PMC7374973 DOI: 10.1186/s13293-020-00312-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2020] [Accepted: 06/17/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Human X and Y chromosomes share an evolutionary origin and, as a consequence, sequence similarity. We investigated whether the sequence homology between the X and Y chromosomes affects the alignment of RNA-Seq reads and estimates of differential expression. We tested the effects of using reference genomes and reference transcriptomes informed by the sex chromosome complement of the sample's genome on the measurements of RNA-Seq abundance and sex differences in expression. RESULTS The default genome includes the entire human reference genome (GRCh38), including the entire sequence of the X and Y chromosomes. We created two sex chromosome complement informed reference genomes. One sex chromosome complement informed reference genome was used for samples that lacked a Y chromosome; for this reference genome version, we hard-masked the entire Y chromosome. For the other sex chromosome complement informed reference genome, to be used for samples with a Y chromosome, we hard-masked only the pseudoautosomal regions of the Y chromosome, because these regions are duplicated identically in the reference genome on the X chromosome. We analyzed the transcript abundance in the whole blood, brain cortex, breast, liver, and thyroid tissues from 20 genetic female (46, XX) and 20 genetic male (46, XY) samples. Each sample was aligned twice: once to the default reference genome and then independently aligned to a reference genome informed by the sex chromosome complement of the sample, repeated using two different read aligners, HISAT and STAR. We then quantified sex differences in gene expression using featureCounts to get the raw count estimates followed by Limma/Voom for normalization and differential expression. We additionally created sex chromosome complement informed transcriptome references for use in pseudo-alignment using Salmon. Transcript abundance was quantified twice for each sample: once to the default target transcripts and then independently to target transcripts informed by the sex chromosome complement of the sample. CONCLUSIONS We show that regardless of the choice of the read aligner, using an alignment protocol informed by the sex chromosome complement of the sample results in higher expression estimates on the pseudoautosomal regions of the X chromosome in both genetic male and genetic female samples, as well as an increased number of unique genes being called as differentially expressed between the sexes. We additionally show that using a pseudo-alignment approach informed on the sex chromosome complement of the sample eliminates Y-linked expression in female XX samples.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kimberly C Olney
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, PO Box 874501, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4501, USA.,Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85282, USA
| | - Sarah M Brotman
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, PO Box 874501, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4501, USA.,Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA
| | - Jocelyn P Andrews
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, PO Box 874501, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4501, USA.,College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA, 91766, USA
| | | | - Melissa A Wilson
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, PO Box 874501, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4501, USA. .,Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85282, USA. .,Center for Mechanisms of Evolution, The Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85282, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Oertelt-Prigione S, Mariman E. The impact of sex differences on genomic research. Int J Biochem Cell Biol 2020; 124:105774. [PMID: 32470538 DOI: 10.1016/j.biocel.2020.105774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2019] [Revised: 05/15/2020] [Accepted: 05/22/2020] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Sex and gender differences affect all dimensions of human health ranging from the biological basis of disease to therapeutic access, choice and response. Genomics research has long ignored the role of sex differences as potential modulators and the concept is gaining more attention only recently. In the present review we summarize the current knowledge of the impact of sex differences on genomic and epigenomic research, the potential interaction of genomics and gender and the role of these differences in disease etiopathogenesis. Sex differences can emerge from differences in the sex chromosomes themselves, from their interaction with the genome and from the influence of hormones on genomic processes. The impact of these processes on the incidence of autoimmune and oncologic disease is well documented. The growing field of systems biology, which aims at integrating information from different networks of the human body, could also greatly benefit from this approach. In the present review we summarize the current knowledge and provide recommendations for the future performance of sex-sensitive genomics research.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sabine Oertelt-Prigione
- Department of Primary and Community Care, Radboud Institute of Health Sciences, Radboudumc, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Institute of Legal and Forensic Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Edwin Mariman
- Department of Human Biology, NUTRIM School of Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
DeCasien AR, Sherwood CC, Schapiro SJ, Higham JP. Greater variability in chimpanzee ( Pan troglodytes) brain structure among males. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 287:20192858. [PMID: 32315585 PMCID: PMC7211446 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2858] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2019] [Accepted: 03/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Across the animal kingdom, males tend to exhibit more behavioural and morphological variability than females, consistent with the 'greater male variability hypothesis'. This may reflect multiple mechanisms operating at different levels, including selective mechanisms that produce and maintain variation, extended male development, and X chromosome effects. Interestingly, human neuroanatomy shows greater male variability, but this pattern has not been demonstrated in any other species. To address this issue, we investigated sex-specific neuroanatomical variability in chimpanzees by examining relative and absolute surface areas of 23 cortical sulci across 226 individuals (135F/91M), using permutation tests of the male-to-female variance ratio of residuals from MCMC generalized linear mixed models controlling for relatedness. We used these models to estimate sulcal size heritability, simulations to assess the significance of heritability, and Pearson correlations to examine inter-sulcal correlations. Our results show that: (i) male brain structure is relatively more variable; (ii) sulcal surface areas are heritable and therefore potentially subject to selection; (iii) males exhibit lower heritability values, possibly reflecting longer development; and (iv) males exhibit stronger inter-sulcal correlations, providing indirect support for sex chromosome effects. These results provide evidence that greater male neuroanatomical variability extends beyond humans, and suggest both evolutionary and developmental explanations for this phenomenon.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alex R. DeCasien
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA
| | - Chet C. Sherwood
- Department of Anthropology and Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Steven J. Schapiro
- Department of Comparative Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Bastrop, TX, USA
- Department of Experimental Medicine, The University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - James P. Higham
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA
| |
Collapse
|
38
|
Abramson L, Uzefovsky F, Toccaceli V, Knafo-Noam A. The genetic and environmental origins of emotional and cognitive empathy: Review and meta-analyses of twin studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2020; 114:113-133. [PMID: 32353470 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.03.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2019] [Revised: 02/20/2020] [Accepted: 03/24/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Empathy is considered a cornerstone of human social experience, and as such has been widely investigated from psychological and neuroscientific approaches. To better understand the factors influencing individual differences in empathy, we reviewed and meta-analyzed the behavioral genetic literature of emotional empathy- sharing others' emotions (k=13), and cognitive empathy- understanding others' emotions (k = 15), as manifested in twin studies. Results showed that emotional empathy is more heritable, 48.3 % [41.3 %-50.6 %], than cognitive empathy, 26.9 % [18.1 %-35.8 %]. Moreover, cognitive empathy as examined by performance tests was affected by the environment shared by family members, 11.9 % [2.6 %-21.0 %], suggesting that emotional understanding is influenced, to some degree, by environmental factors that have similar effects on family members beyond their genetic relatedness. The effects of participants' age and the method used to asses empathy on the etiology of empathy were also examined. These findings have implications for understanding how individual differences in empathy are formed. After discussing these implications, we suggest theoretical and methodological future research directions that could potentially elucidate the relations between genes, brain, and empathy.
Collapse
|
39
|
Brivio E, Lopez JP, Chen A. Sex differences: Transcriptional signatures of stress exposure in male and female brains. GENES BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR 2020; 19:e12643. [PMID: 31989757 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2019] [Revised: 01/13/2020] [Accepted: 01/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
More than two-thirds of patients suffering from stress-related disorders are women but over two-thirds of suicide completers are men. These are just some examples of the many sex differences in the prevalence and manifestations of stress-related disorders, such as major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety disorders, which have been extensively documented in clinical research. Nonetheless, the molecular origins of this sex dimorphism are still quite obscure. In response to this lack of knowledge, the NIH recently advocated implementing sex as biological variable in the design of preclinical studies across disciplines. As a result, a newly emerging field within psychiatry is trying to elucidate the molecular causes underlying the clinically described sex dimorphism. Several studies in rodents and humans have already identified many stress-related genes that are regulated by acute and chronic stress in a sex-specific fashion. Furthermore, current transcriptomic studies have shown that pathways and networks in male and female individuals are not equally affected by stress exposure. In this review, we give an overview of transcriptional studies designed to understand how sex influences stress-specific transcriptomic changes in rodent models, as well as human psychiatric patients, highlighting the use of different methodological techniques. Understanding which mechanisms are more affected in males, and which in females, may lead to the identification of sex-specific mechanisms, their selective contribution to stress susceptibility, and their role in the development of stress-related psychiatric disorders.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elena Brivio
- Department of Stress Neurobiology and Neurogenetics, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany.,International Max Planck Research School for Translational Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
| | - Juan Pablo Lopez
- Department of Stress Neurobiology and Neurogenetics, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany
| | - Alon Chen
- Department of Stress Neurobiology and Neurogenetics, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany.,Department of Neurobiology, Nella and Leon Benoziyo Center for Neurological Diseases, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Gegenhuber B, Tollkuhn J. Signatures of sex: Sex differences in gene expression in the vertebrate brain. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY 2020; 9:e348. [PMID: 31106965 PMCID: PMC6864223 DOI: 10.1002/wdev.348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2019] [Revised: 04/10/2019] [Accepted: 04/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Women and men differ in disease prevalence, symptoms, and progression rates for many psychiatric and neurological disorders. As more preclinical studies include both sexes in experimental design, an increasing number of sex differences in physiology and behavior have been reported. In the brain, sex-typical behaviors are thought to result from sex-specific patterns of neural activity in response to the same sensory stimulus or context. These differential firing patterns likely arise as a consequence of underlying anatomic or molecular sex differences. Accordingly, gene expression in the brains of females and males has been extensively investigated, with the goal of identifying biological pathways that specify or modulate sex differences in brain function. However, there is surprisingly little consensus on sex-biased genes across studies and only a handful of robust candidates have been pursued in the follow-up experiments. Furthermore, it is not known how or when sex-biased gene expression originates, as few studies have been performed in the developing brain. Here we integrate molecular genetic and neural circuit perspectives to provide a conceptual framework of how sex differences in gene expression can arise in the brain. We detail mechanisms of gene regulation by steroid hormones, highlight landmark studies in rodents and humans, identify emerging themes, and offer recommendations for future research. This article is categorized under: Nervous System Development > Vertebrates: General Principles Gene Expression and Transcriptional Hierarchies > Regulatory Mechanisms Gene Expression and Transcriptional Hierarchies > Sex Determination.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Bruno Gegenhuber
- Watson School of Biological Sciences, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York
| | | |
Collapse
|
41
|
Dechaud C, Volff JN, Schartl M, Naville M. Sex and the TEs: transposable elements in sexual development and function in animals. Mob DNA 2019; 10:42. [PMID: 31700550 PMCID: PMC6825717 DOI: 10.1186/s13100-019-0185-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2019] [Accepted: 10/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Transposable elements are endogenous DNA sequences able to integrate into and multiply within genomes. They constitute a major source of genetic innovations, as they can not only rearrange genomes but also spread ready-to-use regulatory sequences able to modify host gene expression, and even can give birth to new host genes. As their evolutionary success depends on their vertical transmission, transposable elements are intrinsically linked to reproduction. In organisms with sexual reproduction, this implies that transposable elements have to manifest their transpositional activity in germ cells or their progenitors. The control of sexual development and function can be very versatile, and several studies have demonstrated the implication of transposable elements in the evolution of sex. In this review, we report the functional and evolutionary relationships between transposable elements and sexual reproduction in animals. In particular, we highlight how transposable elements can influence expression of sexual development genes, and how, reciprocally, they are tightly controlled in gonads. We also review how transposable elements contribute to the organization, expression and evolution of sexual development genes and sex chromosomes. This underscores the intricate co-evolution between host functions and transposable elements, which regularly shift from a parasitic to a domesticated status useful to the host.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Corentin Dechaud
- Institut de Genomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Univ Lyon, CNRS UMR 5242, Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 46 allee d’Italie, F-69364 Lyon, France
| | - Jean-Nicolas Volff
- Institut de Genomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Univ Lyon, CNRS UMR 5242, Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 46 allee d’Italie, F-69364 Lyon, France
| | - Manfred Schartl
- Entwicklungsbiochemie, Biozentrum, Universität Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
- The Xiphophorus Genetic Stock Center, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX USA
| | - Magali Naville
- Institut de Genomique Fonctionnelle de Lyon, Univ Lyon, CNRS UMR 5242, Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon, Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 46 allee d’Italie, F-69364 Lyon, France
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Meyer-Bahlburg HFL. "Diagnosing" Gender? Categorizing Gender-Identity Variants in the Anthropocene. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2019; 48:2027-2035. [PMID: 30607711 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-018-1349-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2018] [Revised: 11/07/2018] [Accepted: 11/08/2018] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
In recent decades, two interrelated major controversies have been unfolding in the area of sex/gender research. (1) Are gender-identity variants to be understood as psychopathology or natural variation? (2) Is gender (and perhaps even sex) better conceptualized as binary or non-binary? The answer depends on the conceptual context and related considerations of utility. In the context of evolutionary biology, marked variants of sex and gender decrease reproductive success and are, thereby, deemed pathologic. In the present era of the anthropocene, however, the material conditions underlying the traditional division of labor between the sexes and the role of reproductive success have dramatically changed. These changes decrease the psychosocial importance of the binary gender distinction, provide more freedom for non-binary gender expression and identity formation, and render the distinction of pathologic and non-pathologic less useful, unless gender dysphoria develops secondary to a psychiatric condition. Although most people state their gender identity in the form of a nominal category, most self-report or interview-based ratings and multi-item scales of gender expression and/or identity show continuous distributions, either unimodal-asymmetric or bimodal, depending on whether they are designed for one or both of the traditional genders. Similarly, the rating scales of androgen-influenced variants of the genitalia-usually designed for one of the traditional sexes-typically represent a unipolar-asymmetric continuum. However, the binary gender system remains the primary framework against which individuals evaluate themselves. For those who develop gender dysphoria, assistance by mental-health service providers continues to be important.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Heino F L Meyer-Bahlburg
- Department of Psychiatry, NYS Psychiatric Institute, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 15, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Rylaarsdam L, Guemez-Gamboa A. Genetic Causes and Modifiers of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Front Cell Neurosci 2019; 13:385. [PMID: 31481879 PMCID: PMC6710438 DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2019.00385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 246] [Impact Index Per Article: 49.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2019] [Accepted: 08/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is one of the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders, affecting an estimated 1 in 59 children. ASD is highly genetically heterogeneous and may be caused by both inheritable and de novo gene variations. In the past decade, hundreds of genes have been identified that contribute to the serious deficits in communication, social cognition, and behavior that patients often experience. However, these only account for 10-20% of ASD cases, and patients with similar pathogenic variants may be diagnosed on very different levels of the spectrum. In this review, we will describe the genetic landscape of ASD and discuss how genetic modifiers such as copy number variation, single nucleotide polymorphisms, and epigenetic alterations likely play a key role in modulating the phenotypic spectrum of ASD patients. We also consider how genetic modifiers can alter convergent signaling pathways and lead to impaired neural circuitry formation. Lastly, we review sex-linked modifiers and clinical implications. Further understanding of these mechanisms is crucial for both comprehending ASD and for developing novel therapies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Alicia Guemez-Gamboa
- Department of Physiology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| |
Collapse
|
44
|
Neuroepigenetic signatures of age and sex in the living human brain. Nat Commun 2019; 10:2945. [PMID: 31270332 PMCID: PMC6610136 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11031-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2019] [Accepted: 06/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Age- and sex-related alterations in gene transcription have been demonstrated, however the underlying mechanisms are unresolved. Neuroepigenetic pathways regulate gene transcription in the brain. Here, we measure in vivo expression of the epigenetic enzymes, histone deacetylases (HDACs), across healthy human aging and between sexes using [11C]Martinostat positron emission tomography (PET) neuroimaging (n = 41). Relative HDAC expression increases with age in cerebral white matter, and correlates with age-associated disruptions in white matter microstructure. A post mortem study confirmed that HDAC1 and HDAC2 paralogs are elevated in white matter tissue from elderly donors. There are also sex-specific in vivo HDAC expression differences in brain regions associated with emotion and memory, including the amygdala and hippocampus. Hippocampus and white matter HDAC expression negatively correlates with emotion regulation skills (n = 23). Age and sex are associated with HDAC expression in vivo, which could drive age- and sex-related transcriptional changes and impact human behavior. Gene transcription is known to vary with age and sex, although the underlying mechanisms are unresolved. Here, the authors show that epigenetic enzymes known as HDACs, which regulate gene transcription, are increasingly expressed with age in the living human brain, with sex differences also observed.
Collapse
|
45
|
Guo S, Zhou Y, Zeng P, Xu G, Wang G, Cui Q. Identification and analysis of the human sex-biased genes. Brief Bioinform 2019; 19:188-198. [PMID: 28028006 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbw125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2016] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Tremendous differences between human sexes are universally observed. Therefore, identifying and analyzing the sex-biased genes are becoming basically important for uncovering the mystery of sex differences and personalized medicine. Here, we presented a computational method to identify sex-biased genes from public gene expression databases. We obtained 1407 female-biased genes (FGs) and 1096 male-biased genes (MGs) across 14 different tissues. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that compared with MGs, FGs have higher evolutionary rate, higher single-nucleotide polymorphism density, less homologous gene numbers and smaller phyletic age. FGs have lower expression level, higher tissue specificity and later expressed stage in body development. Moreover, FGs are highly involved in immune-related functions, whereas MGs are more enriched in metabolic process. In addition, cellular network analysis revealed that MGs have higher degree, more cellular activating signaling and tend to be located in cellular inner space, whereas FGs have lower degree, more cellular repressing signaling and tend to be located in cellular outer space. Finally, the identified sex-biased genes and the discovered biological insights together can be a valuable resource helpful for investigating sex-biased physiology and medicine, for example sex-biased disease diagnosis and therapy, which represents one important aspect of personalized and precision medicine.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sisi Guo
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, MOE Key Lab of Cardiovascular Sciences, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Rd, Beijing, China
| | - Yuan Zhou
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, MOE Key Lab of Cardiovascular Sciences, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Rd, Beijing, China
| | - Pan Zeng
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, MOE Key Lab of Cardiovascular Sciences, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Rd, Beijing, China
| | - Guoheng Xu
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, MOE Key Lab of Cardiovascular Sciences, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Rd, Beijing, China
| | - Guoqing Wang
- Department of Pathogenobiology, College of Basic Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Qinghua Cui
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, MOE Key Lab of Cardiovascular Sciences, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Rd, Beijing, China
| |
Collapse
|
46
|
Sexual dimorphism in brain transcriptomes of Amami spiny rats (Tokudaia osimensis): a rodent species where males lack the Y chromosome. BMC Genomics 2019; 20:87. [PMID: 30683046 PMCID: PMC6347839 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-019-5426-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2018] [Accepted: 01/02/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Brain sexual differentiation is sculpted by precise coordination of steroid hormones during development. Programming of several brain regions in males depends upon aromatase conversion of testosterone to estrogen. However, it is not clear the direct contribution that Y chromosome associated genes, especially sex-determining region Y (Sry), might exert on brain sexual differentiation in therian mammals. Two species of spiny rats: Amami spiny rat (Tokudaia osimensis) and Tokunoshima spiny rat (T. tokunoshimensis) lack a Y chromosome/Sry, and these individuals possess an XO chromosome system in both sexes. Both Tokudaia species are highly endangered. To assess the neural transcriptome profile in male and female Amami spiny rats, RNA was isolated from brain samples of adult male and female spiny rats that had died accidentally and used for RNAseq analyses. Results RNAseq analyses confirmed that several genes and individual transcripts were differentially expressed between males and females. In males, seminal vesicle secretory protein 5 (Svs5) and cytochrome P450 1B1 (Cyp1b1) genes were significantly elevated compared to females, whereas serine (or cysteine) peptidase inhibitor, clade A, member 3 N (Serpina3n) was upregulated in females. Many individual transcripts elevated in males included those encoding for zinc finger proteins, e.g. zinc finger protein X-linked (Zfx). Conclusions This method successfully identified several genes and transcripts that showed expression differences in the brain of adult male and female Amami spiny rat. The functional significance of these findings, especially differential expression of transcripts encoding zinc finger proteins, in this unusual rodent species remains to be determined. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12864-019-5426-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Collapse
|
47
|
|
48
|
Opposite Molecular Signatures of Depression in Men and Women. Biol Psychiatry 2018; 84:18-27. [PMID: 29548746 PMCID: PMC6014892 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.01.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 188] [Impact Index Per Article: 31.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2017] [Revised: 01/16/2018] [Accepted: 01/17/2018] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects women approximately twice as often as men. Women are three times as likely to have atypical depression, with hypersomnia and weight gain. This suggests that the molecular mechanisms of MDD may differ by sex. METHODS To test this hypothesis, we performed a large-scale gene expression meta-analysis across three corticolimbic brain regions: the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, and basolateral amygdala (26 men, 24 women with MDD and sex-matched control subjects). Results were further analyzed using a threshold-free approach, Gene Ontology, and cell type-specific analyses. A separate dataset was used for independent validation (13 MDD subjects/sex and 22 control subjects [13 men, 9 women]). RESULTS Of the 706 genes differentially expressed in men with MDD and 882 genes differentially expressed in women with MDD, only 21 were changed in the same direction in both sexes. Notably, 52 genes displayed expression changes in opposite directions between men and women with MDD. Similar results were obtained using a threshold-free approach, in which the overall transcriptional profile of MDD was opposite in men and women. Gene Ontology indicated that men with MDD had decreases in synapse-related genes, whereas women with MDD exhibited transcriptional increases in this pathway. Cell type-specific analysis indicated that men with MDD exhibited increases in oligodendrocyte- and microglia-related genes, while women with MDD had decreases in markers of these cell types. CONCLUSIONS The brain transcriptional profile of MDD differs greatly by sex, with multiple transcriptional changes in opposite directions between men and women with MDD.
Collapse
|
49
|
Manoli DS, Tollkuhn J. Gene regulatory mechanisms underlying sex differences in brain development and psychiatric disease. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2018; 1420:26-45. [PMID: 29363776 PMCID: PMC5991992 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.13564] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2017] [Revised: 10/26/2017] [Accepted: 11/01/2017] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The sexual differentiation of the mammalian nervous system requires the precise coordination of the temporal and spatial regulation of gene expression in diverse cell types. Sex hormones act at multiple developmental time points to specify sex-typical differentiation during embryonic and early development and to coordinate subsequent responses to gonadal hormones later in life by establishing sex-typical patterns of epigenetic modifications across the genome. Thus, mutations associated with neuropsychiatric conditions may result in sexually dimorphic symptoms by acting on different neural substrates or chromatin landscapes in males and females. Finally, as stress hormone signaling may directly alter the molecular machinery that interacts with sex hormone receptors to regulate gene expression, the contribution of chronic stress to the pathogenesis or presentation of mental illness may be additionally different between the sexes. Here, we review the mechanisms that contribute to sexual differentiation in the mammalian nervous system and consider some of the implications of these processes for sex differences in neuropsychiatric conditions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Devanand S. Manoli
- Department of Psychiatry and Weill Institute for Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | | |
Collapse
|
50
|
Orphan receptor GPR37L1 contributes to the sexual dimorphism of central cardiovascular control. Biol Sex Differ 2018; 9:14. [PMID: 29625592 PMCID: PMC5889568 DOI: 10.1186/s13293-018-0173-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2017] [Accepted: 03/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Over 100 mammalian G protein-coupled receptors are yet to be matched with endogenous ligands; these so-called orphans are prospective drug targets for the treatment of disease. GPR37L1 is one such orphan, abundant in the brain and detectable as mRNA in the heart and kidney. GPR37L1 ablation was reported to cause hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy, and thus, we sought to further define the role of GPR37L1 in blood pressure homeostasis. Methods We investigated the cardiovascular effects of GPR37L1 using wild-type (GPR37L1wt/wt) and null (GPR37L1KO/KO) mice established on a C57BL/6J background, both under baseline conditions and during AngII infusion. We profiled GPR37L1 tissue expression, examining the endogenous receptor by immunoblotting and a β-galactosidase reporter mouse by immunohistochemistry. Results GPR37L1 protein was abundant in the brain but not detectable in the heart and kidney. We measured blood pressure in GPR37L1wt/wt and GPR37L1KO/KO mice and found that deletion of GPR37L1 causes a female-specific increase in systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressures. When challenged with short-term AngII infusion, only male GPR37L1KO/KO mice developed exacerbated left ventricular hypertrophy and evidence of heart failure, while the female GPR37L1KO/KO mice were protected from cardiac fibrosis. Conclusions Despite its absence in the heart and kidney, GPR37L1 regulates baseline blood pressure in female mice and is crucial for cardiovascular compensatory responses in males. The expression of GPR37L1 in the brain, yet absence from peripheral cardiovascular tissues, suggests this orphan receptor is a hitherto unknown contributor to central cardiovascular control. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13293-018-0173-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Collapse
|