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Kathuria A, Lopez-Lengowski K, Vater M, McPhie D, Cohen BM, Karmacharya R. Transcriptome analysis and functional characterization of cerebral organoids in bipolar disorder. Genome Med 2020; 12:34. [PMID: 32306996 PMCID: PMC7168850 DOI: 10.1186/s13073-020-00733-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2019] [Accepted: 04/02/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Reprogramming human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from somatic cells and generating three-dimensional brain organoids from these iPSCs provide access to live human neuronal tissue with disease-specific genetic backgrounds. Methods Cerebral organoids were generated from iPSCs of eight bipolar disorder (BPI) patients and eight healthy control individuals. RNA-seq experiments were undertaken using RNA isolated from the cerebral organoids. Functional activity in the cerebral organoids was studied using microelectrode arrays. Results RNA-seq data comparing gene expression profiles in the cerebral organoids showed downregulation of pathways involved in cell adhesion, neurodevelopment, and synaptic biology in bipolar disorder along with upregulation of genes involved in immune signaling. The central hub in the network analysis was neurocan (NCAN), which is located in a locus with evidence for genome-wide significant association in BPI. Gene ontology analyses suggested deficits related to endoplasmic reticulum biology in BPI, which was supported by cellular characterization of ER–mitochondria interactions. Functional studies with microelectrode arrays revealed specific deficits in response to stimulation and depolarization in BPI cerebral organoids. Conclusions Our studies in cerebral organoids from bipolar disorder showed dysregulation in genes involved in cell adhesion, immune signaling, and endoplasmic reticulum biology; implicated a central role for the GWAS hit NCAN in the biology of BPI; and showed evidence of deficits in neurotransmission.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annie Kathuria
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Chemical Biology Program, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kara Lopez-Lengowski
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Chemical Biology Program, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Magdalena Vater
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Chemical Biology Program, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Donna McPhie
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
| | - Bruce M Cohen
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.,Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
| | - Rakesh Karmacharya
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. .,Chemical Biology Program, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA. .,Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. .,Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA. .,Program in Neuroscience, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. .,Program in Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. .,Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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