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Fass SB, Mulvey B, Chase R, Yang W, Selmanovic D, Chaturvedi SM, Tycksen E, Weiss LA, Dougherty JD. Relationship between sex biases in gene expression and sex biases in autism and Alzheimer's disease. Biol Sex Differ 2024; 15:47. [PMID: 38844994 PMCID: PMC11157820 DOI: 10.1186/s13293-024-00622-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2023] [Accepted: 05/23/2024] [Indexed: 06/09/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Sex differences in the brain may play an important role in sex-differential prevalence of neuropsychiatric conditions. METHODS In order to understand the transcriptional basis of sex differences, we analyzed multiple, large-scale, human postmortem brain RNA-Seq datasets using both within-region and pan-regional frameworks. RESULTS We find evidence of sex-biased transcription in many autosomal genes, some of which provide evidence for pathways and cell population differences between chromosomally male and female individuals. These analyses also highlight regional differences in the extent of sex-differential gene expression. We observe an increase in specific neuronal transcripts in male brains and an increase in immune and glial function-related transcripts in female brains. Integration with single-nucleus data suggests this corresponds to sex differences in cellular states rather than cell abundance. Integration with case-control gene expression studies suggests a female molecular predisposition towards Alzheimer's disease, a female-biased disease. Autism, a male-biased diagnosis, does not exhibit a male predisposition pattern in our analysis. CONCLUSION Overall, these analyses highlight mechanisms by which sex differences may interact with sex-biased conditions in the brain. Furthermore, we provide region-specific analyses of sex differences in brain gene expression to enable additional studies at the interface of gene expression and diagnostic differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stuart B Fass
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Bernard Mulvey
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, 855 North Wolfe St. Ste 300, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Rebecca Chase
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Wei Yang
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- McDonnell Genome Institute, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Din Selmanovic
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Sneha M Chaturvedi
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Eric Tycksen
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- McDonnell Genome Institute, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Lauren A Weiss
- Institute for Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Ave, HSE901, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Ave, HSE901, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Ave, HSE901, San Francisco, CA, 94143, USA
| | - Joseph D Dougherty
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA.
- Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA.
- Department of Genetics, 4566 Scott Ave., Campus Box 8232, St. Louis, MO, 63110-1093, USA.
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Gachechiladze MA, Dougherty JD. Neurodevelopmental Genetic Associations Across the Translational Space-Time Continuum. Biol Psychiatry 2024; 95:825-827. [PMID: 38599709 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.02.1010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 04/12/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Mariam Alexandra Gachechiladze
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri
| | - Joseph D Dougherty
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri; Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri.
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Yen A, Chen X, Skinner DD, Leti F, Crosby M, Hoisington-Lopez J, Wu Y, Chen J, Mitra RD, Dougherty JD. MYT1L deficiency impairs excitatory neuron trajectory during cortical development. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.06.583632. [PMID: 38496654 PMCID: PMC10942489 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.06.583632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
Mutations that reduce the function of MYT1L, a neuron-specific transcription factor, are associated with a syndromic neurodevelopmental disorder. Furthermore, MYT1L is routinely used as a proneural factor in fibroblast-to-neuron transdifferentiation. MYT1L has been hypothesized to play a role in the trajectory of neuronal specification and subtype specific maturation, but this hypothesis has not been directly tested, nor is it clear which neuron types are most impacted by MYT1L loss. In this study, we profiled 313,335 nuclei from the forebrains of wild-type and MYT1L-deficient mice at two developmental stages: E14 at the peak of neurogenesis and P21, when neurogenesis is complete, to examine the role of MYT1L levels in the trajectory of neuronal development. We found that MYT1L deficiency significantly disrupted the relative proportion of cortical excitatory neurons at E14 and P21. Significant changes in gene expression were largely concentrated in excitatory neurons, suggesting that transcriptional effects of MYT1L deficiency are largely due to disruption of neuronal maturation programs. Most effects on gene expression were cell autonomous and persistent through development. In addition, while MYT1L can both activate and repress gene expression, the repressive effects were most sensitive to haploinsufficiency, and thus more likely mediate MYT1L syndrome. These findings illuminate the intricate role of MYT1L in orchestrating gene expression dynamics during neuronal development, providing insights into the molecular underpinnings of MYT1L syndrome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Allen Yen
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA
| | - Xuhua Chen
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA
- Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA
| | | | | | - MariaLynn Crosby
- Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA
- DNA Sequencing and Innovation Lab, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO
| | - Jessica Hoisington-Lopez
- Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA
- DNA Sequencing and Innovation Lab, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO
| | - Yizhe Wu
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA
| | - Jiayang Chen
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA
| | - Robi D. Mitra
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA
- Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA
| | - Joseph D. Dougherty
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA
- Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, USA
- Lead contact
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4
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Fass SB, Mulvey B, Yang W, Selmanovic D, Chaturvedi S, Tycksen E, Weiss LA, Dougherty JD. Relationship between sex biases in gene expression and sex biases in autism and Alzheimer's disease. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2023:2023.08.29.23294773. [PMID: 37693465 PMCID: PMC10491382 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.29.23294773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/12/2023]
Abstract
Sex differences in the brain may play an important role in sex-differential prevalence of neuropsychiatric conditions. In order to understand the transcriptional basis of sex differences, we analyzed multiple, large-scale, human postmortem brain RNA-seq datasets using both within-region and pan-regional frameworks. We find evidence of sex-biased transcription in many autosomal genes, some of which provide evidence for pathways and cell population differences between chromosomally male and female individuals. These analyses also highlight regional differences in the extent of sex-differential gene expression. We observe an increase in specific neuronal transcripts in male brains and an increase in immune and glial function-related transcripts in female brains. Integration with single-cell data suggests this corresponds to sex differences in cellular states rather than cell abundance. Integration with case-control gene expression studies suggests a female molecular predisposition towards Alzheimer's disease, a female-biased disease. Autism, a male-biased diagnosis, does not exhibit a male predisposition pattern in our analysis. Finally, we provide region specific analyses of sex differences in brain gene expression to enable additional studies at the interface of gene expression and diagnostic differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stuart B Fass
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis MO, 63110, USA
| | - Bernard Mulvey
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis MO, 63110, USA
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development, 855 North Wolfe St. Ste 300, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Wei Yang
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis MO, 63110, USA
- McDonnell Genome Institute, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Din Selmanovic
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis MO, 63110, USA
| | - Sneha Chaturvedi
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis MO, 63110, USA
| | - Eric Tycksen
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis MO, 63110, USA
- McDonnell Genome Institute, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Lauren A Weiss
- Institute for Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Ave, HSE901, San Francisco, CA 94143
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Ave, HSE901, San Francisco, CA 94143
- Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Ave, HSE901, San Francisco, CA 94143
| | - Joseph D Dougherty
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis MO, 63110, USA
- Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S. Euclid Ave, Saint Louis MO, 63110, USA
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5
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Lindlöf A. The Vulnerability of the Developing Brain: Analysis of Highly Expressed Genes in Infant C57BL/6 Mouse Hippocampus in Relation to Phenotypic Annotation Derived From Mutational Studies. Bioinform Biol Insights 2022; 16:11779322211062722. [PMID: 35023907 PMCID: PMC8743926 DOI: 10.1177/11779322211062722] [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: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 11/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/06/2022] Open
Abstract
The hippocampus has been shown to have a major role in learning and memory, but also to participate in the regulation of emotions. However, its specific role(s) in memory is still unclear. Hippocampal damage or dysfunction mainly results in memory issues, especially in the declarative memory but, in animal studies, has also shown to lead to hyperactivity and difficulty in inhibiting responses previously taught. The brain structure is affected in neuropathological disorders, such as Alzheimer's, epilepsy, and schizophrenia, and also by depression and stress. The hippocampus structure is far from mature at birth and undergoes substantial development throughout infant and juvenile life. The aim of this study was to survey genes highly expressed throughout the postnatal period in mouse hippocampus and which have also been linked to an abnormal phenotype through mutational studies to achieve a greater understanding about hippocampal functions during postnatal development. Publicly available gene expression data from C57BL/6 mouse hippocampus was analyzed; from a total of 5 time points (at postnatal day 1, 10, 15, 21, and 30), 547 genes highly expressed in all of these time points were selected for analysis. Highly expressed genes are considered to be of potential biological importance and appear to be multifunctional, and hence any dysfunction in such a gene will most likely have a large impact on the development of abilities during the postnatal and juvenile period. Phenotypic annotation data downloaded from Mouse Genomic Informatics database were analyzed for these genes, and the results showed that many of them are important for proper embryo development and infant survival, proper growth, and increase in body size, as well as for voluntary movement functions, motor coordination, and balance. The results also indicated an association with seizures that have primarily been characterized by uncontrolled motor activity and the development of proper grooming abilities. The complete list of genes and their phenotypic annotation data have been compiled in a file for easy access.
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6
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Dalal JS, Winden KD, Salussolia CL, Sundberg M, Singh A, Pham TT, Zhou P, Pu WT, Miller MT, Sahin M. Loss of Tsc1 in cerebellar Purkinje cells induces transcriptional and translation changes in FMRP target transcripts. eLife 2021; 10:e67399. [PMID: 34259631 PMCID: PMC8279760 DOI: 10.7554/elife.67399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is a genetic disorder that is associated with multiple neurological manifestations. Previously, we demonstrated that Tsc1 loss in cerebellar Purkinje cells (PCs) can cause altered social behavior in mice. Here, we performed detailed transcriptional and translational analyses of Tsc1-deficient PCs to understand the molecular alterations in these cells. We found that target transcripts of the Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP) are reduced in mutant PCs with evidence of increased degradation. Surprisingly, we observed unchanged ribosomal binding for many of these genes using translating ribosome affinity purification. Finally, we found that multiple FMRP targets, including SHANK2, were reduced, suggesting that compensatory increases in ribosomal binding efficiency may be unable to overcome reduced transcript levels. These data further implicate dysfunction of FMRP and its targets in TSC and suggest that treatments aimed at restoring the function of these pathways may be beneficial.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jasbir Singh Dalal
- Department of Neurology, Rosamund Stone Zander Translational Neuroscience Center, Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children’s HospitalBostonUnited States
| | - Kellen Diamond Winden
- Department of Neurology, Rosamund Stone Zander Translational Neuroscience Center, Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children’s HospitalBostonUnited States
| | - Catherine Lourdes Salussolia
- Department of Neurology, Rosamund Stone Zander Translational Neuroscience Center, Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children’s HospitalBostonUnited States
| | - Maria Sundberg
- Department of Neurology, Rosamund Stone Zander Translational Neuroscience Center, Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children’s HospitalBostonUnited States
| | - Achint Singh
- Department of Neurology, Rosamund Stone Zander Translational Neuroscience Center, Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children’s HospitalBostonUnited States
| | - Truc Thanh Pham
- Department of Neurology, Rosamund Stone Zander Translational Neuroscience Center, Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children’s HospitalBostonUnited States
| | - Pingzhu Zhou
- Department of Cardiology, Boston Children’s HospitalBostonUnited States
| | - William T Pu
- Department of Cardiology, Boston Children’s HospitalBostonUnited States
- Harvard Medical SchoolBostonUnited States
| | - Meghan T Miller
- Roche Pharma Research and Early Development, Neuroscience and Rare Diseases, Roche Innovation Center BaselBaselSwitzerland
| | - Mustafa Sahin
- Department of Neurology, Rosamund Stone Zander Translational Neuroscience Center, Kirby Neurobiology Center, Boston Children’s HospitalBostonUnited States
- Harvard Medical SchoolBostonUnited States
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7
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Clifton NE, Rees E, Holmans PA, Pardiñas AF, Harwood JC, Di Florio A, Kirov G, Walters JTR, O'Donovan MC, Owen MJ, Hall J, Pocklington AJ. Genetic association of FMRP targets with psychiatric disorders. Mol Psychiatry 2021; 26:2977-2990. [PMID: 33077856 PMCID: PMC8505260 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-020-00912-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2020] [Revised: 09/28/2020] [Accepted: 10/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Genes encoding the mRNA targets of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) are enriched for genetic association with psychiatric disorders. However, many FMRP targets possess functions that are themselves genetically associated with psychiatric disorders, including synaptic transmission and plasticity, making it unclear whether the genetic risk is truly related to binding by FMRP or is alternatively mediated by the sampling of genes better characterised by another trait or functional annotation. Using published common variant, rare coding variant and copy number variant data, we examined the relationship between FMRP binding and genetic association with schizophrenia, major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder. High-confidence targets of FMRP, derived from studies of multiple tissue types, were enriched for common schizophrenia risk alleles, as well as rare loss-of-function and de novo nonsynonymous variants in schizophrenia cases. Similarly, through common variation, FMRP targets were associated with major depressive disorder, and we present novel evidence of association with bipolar disorder. These relationships could not be explained by other functional annotations known to be associated with psychiatric disorders, including those related to synaptic structure and function. This study reinforces the evidence that targeting by FMRP captures a subpopulation of genes enriched for genetic association with a range of psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas E Clifton
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Elliott Rees
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Peter A Holmans
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Antonio F Pardiñas
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Janet C Harwood
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Arianna Di Florio
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - George Kirov
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - James T R Walters
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Michael C O'Donovan
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Michael J Owen
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Jeremy Hall
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK
| | - Andrew J Pocklington
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
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Genetic removal of p70 S6K1 corrects coding sequence length-dependent alterations in mRNA translation in fragile X syndrome mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2001681118. [PMID: 33906942 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2001681118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Loss of the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) causes fragile X syndrome (FXS). FMRP is widely thought to repress protein synthesis, but its translational targets and modes of control remain in dispute. We previously showed that genetic removal of p70 S6 kinase 1 (S6K1) corrects altered protein synthesis as well as synaptic and behavioral phenotypes in FXS mice. In this study, we examined the gene specificity of altered messenger RNA (mRNA) translation in FXS and the mechanism of rescue with genetic reduction of S6K1 by carrying out ribosome profiling and RNA sequencing on cortical lysates from wild-type, FXS, S6K1 knockout, and double knockout mice. We observed reduced ribosome footprint (RF) abundance in the majority of differentially translated genes in the cortices of FXS mice. We used molecular assays to discover evidence that the reduction in RF abundance reflects an increased rate of ribosome translocation, which is captured as a decrease in the number of translating ribosomes at steady state and is normalized by inhibition of S6K1. We also found that genetic removal of S6K1 prevented a positive-to-negative gradation of alterations in translation efficiencies (RF/mRNA) with coding sequence length across mRNAs in FXS mouse cortices. Our findings reveal the identities of dysregulated mRNAs and a molecular mechanism by which reduction of S6K1 prevents altered translation in FXS.
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Shohat S, Amelan A, Shifman S. Convergence and Divergence in the Genetics of Psychiatric Disorders From Pathways to Developmental Stages. Biol Psychiatry 2021; 89:32-40. [PMID: 32682568 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.05.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2020] [Revised: 05/14/2020] [Accepted: 05/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
In the past decade, the identification of susceptibility genes for psychiatric disorders has become routine, but understanding the biology underlying these discoveries has proven extremely difficult. The large number of potential risk genes and the genetic overlap between disorders are major obstacles for studying the etiology of these conditions. Systems biology approaches relying on gene ontologies, gene coexpression, and protein-protein interactions are used to identify convergence of the genes in relation to biological processes, cell types, brain areas, and developmental stages. Across psychiatric disorders, there is a clear enrichment for genes expressed in the brain and especially in the cortex, but a higher resolution is vastly dependent on sample size and statistical power. There is indication that susceptibility genes tend to be expressed in the brain during periods preceding the typical onset of the disorders. Thus, the role of genes in prenatal brain development is more pronounced for childhood-onset disorders, such as autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, but is much less so for bipolar disorder and depression. One of the most consistent findings across multiple disorders and classes of genetic variants is the role of genes intolerant to mutations in psychiatric disorders, yet this association is more pronounced for disorders with a clear neurodevelopmental component. Notwithstanding, a detailed understanding of the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders is still lacking. It is possible that it will only be revealed by studying the risk genes at the level of the development and function of neuronal networks and circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahar Shohat
- Department of Genetics, Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Alana Amelan
- Department of Genetics, Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Sagiv Shifman
- Department of Genetics, Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel.
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Mulvey B, Lagunas T, Dougherty JD. Massively Parallel Reporter Assays: Defining Functional Psychiatric Genetic Variants Across Biological Contexts. Biol Psychiatry 2021; 89:76-89. [PMID: 32843144 PMCID: PMC7938388 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.06.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2020] [Revised: 06/09/2020] [Accepted: 06/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Neuropsychiatric phenotypes have long been known to be influenced by heritable risk factors, directly confirmed by the past decade of genetic studies that have revealed specific genetic variants enriched in disease cohorts. However, the initial hope that a small set of genes would be responsible for a given disorder proved false. The more complex reality is that a given disorder may be influenced by myriad small-effect noncoding variants and/or by rare but severe coding variants, many de novo. Noncoding genomic sequences-for which molecular functions cannot usually be inferred-harbor a large portion of these variants, creating a substantial barrier to understanding higher-order molecular and biological systems of disease. Fortunately, novel genetic technologies-scalable oligonucleotide synthesis, RNA sequencing, and CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-have opened novel avenues to experimentally identify biologically significant variants en masse. Massively parallel reporter assays (MPRAs) are an especially versatile technique resulting from such innovations. MPRAs are powerful molecular genetics tools that can be used to screen thousands of untranscribed or untranslated sequences and their variants for functional effects in a single experiment. This approach, though underutilized in psychiatric genetics, has several useful features for the field. We review methods for assaying putatively functional genetic variants and regions, emphasizing MPRAs and the opportunities they hold for dissection of psychiatric polygenicity. We discuss literature applying functional assays in neurogenetics, highlighting strengths, caveats, and design considerations-especially regarding disease-relevant variables (cell type, neurodevelopment, and sex), and we ultimately propose applications of MPRA to both computational and experimental neurogenetics of polygenic disease risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bernard Mulvey
- Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri; Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Tomás Lagunas
- Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri; Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Joseph D Dougherty
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri.
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11
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Rieger MA, King DM, Crosby H, Liu Y, Cohen BA, Dougherty JD. CLIP and Massively Parallel Functional Analysis of CELF6 Reveal a Role in Destabilizing Synaptic Gene mRNAs through Interaction with 3' UTR Elements. Cell Rep 2020; 33:108531. [PMID: 33357440 DOI: 10.1101/401604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2018] [Revised: 08/14/2020] [Accepted: 11/25/2020] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
CELF6 is a CELF-RNA-binding protein, and thus part of a protein family with roles in human disease; however, its mRNA targets in the brain are largely unknown. Using cross-linking immunoprecipitation and sequencing (CLIP-seq), we define its CNS targets, which are enriched for 3' UTRs in synaptic protein-coding genes. Using a massively parallel reporter assay framework, we test the consequence of CELF6 expression on target sequences, with and without mutating putative binding motifs. Where CELF6 exerts an effect on sequences, it is largely to decrease RNA abundance, which is reversed by mutating UGU-rich motifs. This is also the case for CELF3-5, with a protein-dependent effect on magnitude. Finally, we demonstrate that targets are derepressed in CELF6-mutant mice, and at least two key CNS proteins, FOS and FGF13, show altered protein expression levels and localization. Our works find, in addition to previously identified roles in splicing, that CELF6 is associated with repression of its CNS targets via the 3' UTR in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael A Rieger
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Dana M King
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Haley Crosby
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Yating Liu
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Barak A Cohen
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Joseph D Dougherty
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
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12
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Rieger MA, King DM, Crosby H, Liu Y, Cohen BA, Dougherty JD. CLIP and Massively Parallel Functional Analysis of CELF6 Reveal a Role in Destabilizing Synaptic Gene mRNAs through Interaction with 3' UTR Elements. Cell Rep 2020; 33:108531. [PMID: 33357440 PMCID: PMC7780154 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2018] [Revised: 08/14/2020] [Accepted: 11/25/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
CELF6 is a CELF-RNA-binding protein, and thus part of a protein family with roles in human disease; however, its mRNA targets in the brain are largely unknown. Using cross-linking immunoprecipitation and sequencing (CLIP-seq), we define its CNS targets, which are enriched for 3′ UTRs in synaptic protein-coding genes. Using a massively parallel reporter assay framework, we test the consequence of CELF6 expression on target sequences, with and without mutating putative binding motifs. Where CELF6 exerts an effect on sequences, it is largely to decrease RNA abundance, which is reversed by mutating UGU-rich motifs. This is also the case for CELF3–5, with a protein-dependent effect on magnitude. Finally, we demonstrate that targets are derepressed in CELF6-mutant mice, and at least two key CNS proteins, FOS and FGF13, show altered protein expression levels and localization. Our works find, in addition to previously identified roles in splicing, that CELF6 is associated with repression of its CNS targets via the 3′ UTR in vivo. Rieger et al. assay the function of the RNA-binding protein CELF6 by defining its targets in the brain. They show that CELF6 largely binds 3′ UTRs of synaptic mRNAs. Using a massively parallel reporter assay, they further show that CELF6 and other CELFs are associated with lower mRNA abundance and that targets are derepressed in Celf6-knockout mice in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael A Rieger
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Dana M King
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Haley Crosby
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Yating Liu
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Barak A Cohen
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA
| | - Joseph D Dougherty
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
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13
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Clifton NE, Thomas KL, Wilkinson LS, Hall J, Trent S. FMRP and CYFIP1 at the Synapse and Their Role in Psychiatric Vulnerability. Complex Psychiatry 2020; 6:5-19. [PMID: 34883502 PMCID: PMC7673588 DOI: 10.1159/000506858] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2020] [Accepted: 02/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
There is increasing awareness of the role genetic risk variants have in mediating vulnerability to psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and autism. Many of these risk variants encode synaptic proteins, influencing biological pathways of the postsynaptic density and, ultimately, synaptic plasticity. Fragile-X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) and cytoplasmic fragile-X mental retardation protein (FMRP)-interacting protein 1 (CYFIP1) contain 2 such examples of highly penetrant risk variants and encode synaptic proteins with shared functional significance. In this review, we discuss the biological actions of FMRP and CYFIP1, including their regulation of (i) protein synthesis and specifically FMRP targets, (ii) dendritic and spine morphology, and (iii) forms of synaptic plasticity such as long-term depression. We draw upon a range of preclinical studies that have used genetic dosage models of FMR1 and CYFIP1 to determine their biological function. In parallel, we discuss how clinical studies of fragile X syndrome or 15q11.2 deletion patients have informed our understanding of FMRP and CYFIP1, and highlight the latest psychiatric genomic findings that continue to implicate FMRP and CYFIP1. Lastly, we assess the current limitations in our understanding of FMRP and CYFIP1 biology and how they must be addressed before mechanism-led therapeutic strategies can be developed for psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas E. Clifton
- Neuroscience & Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Kerrie L. Thomas
- Neuroscience & Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Lawrence S. Wilkinson
- Neuroscience & Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Jeremy Hall
- Neuroscience & Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Simon Trent
- Neuroscience & Mental Health Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
- School of Life Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Keele University, Keele, United Kingdom
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14
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Hu H, Kahrizi K, Musante L, Fattahi Z, Herwig R, Hosseini M, Oppitz C, Abedini SS, Suckow V, Larti F, Beheshtian M, Lipkowitz B, Akhtarkhavari T, Mehvari S, Otto S, Mohseni M, Arzhangi S, Jamali P, Mojahedi F, Taghdiri M, Papari E, Soltani Banavandi MJ, Akbari S, Tonekaboni SH, Dehghani H, Ebrahimpour MR, Bader I, Davarnia B, Cohen M, Khodaei H, Albrecht B, Azimi S, Zirn B, Bastami M, Wieczorek D, Bahrami G, Keleman K, Vahid LN, Tzschach A, Gärtner J, Gillessen-Kaesbach G, Varaghchi JR, Timmermann B, Pourfatemi F, Jankhah A, Chen W, Nikuei P, Kalscheuer VM, Oladnabi M, Wienker TF, Ropers HH, Najmabadi H. Genetics of intellectual disability in consanguineous families. Mol Psychiatry 2019; 24:1027-1039. [PMID: 29302074 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-017-0012-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 119] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2016] [Revised: 10/19/2017] [Accepted: 10/30/2017] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Autosomal recessive (AR) gene defects are the leading genetic cause of intellectual disability (ID) in countries with frequent parental consanguinity, which account for about 1/7th of the world population. Yet, compared to autosomal dominant de novo mutations, which are the predominant cause of ID in Western countries, the identification of AR-ID genes has lagged behind. Here, we report on whole exome and whole genome sequencing in 404 consanguineous predominantly Iranian families with two or more affected offspring. In 219 of these, we found likely causative variants, involving 77 known and 77 novel AR-ID (candidate) genes, 21 X-linked genes, as well as 9 genes previously implicated in diseases other than ID. This study, the largest of its kind published to date, illustrates that high-throughput DNA sequencing in consanguineous families is a superior strategy for elucidating the thousands of hitherto unknown gene defects underlying AR-ID, and it sheds light on their prevalence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hao Hu
- Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195, Berlin, Germany.,Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, 510623, Guangzhou, China
| | - Kimia Kahrizi
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | - Luciana Musante
- Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195, Berlin, Germany
| | - Zohreh Fattahi
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | - Ralf Herwig
- Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195, Berlin, Germany
| | - Masoumeh Hosseini
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | - Cornelia Oppitz
- IMP-Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, 1030, Vienna, Austria
| | - Seyedeh Sedigheh Abedini
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | - Vanessa Suckow
- Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195, Berlin, Germany
| | - Farzaneh Larti
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | - Maryam Beheshtian
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | | | - Tara Akhtarkhavari
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | - Sepideh Mehvari
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | - Sabine Otto
- Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195, Berlin, Germany
| | - Marzieh Mohseni
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | - Sanaz Arzhangi
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | - Payman Jamali
- Shahrood Genetic Counseling Center, Welfare Office, Semnan, 36156, Iran
| | - Faezeh Mojahedi
- Mashhad Medical Genetic Counseling Center, Mashhad, 91767, Iran
| | - Maryam Taghdiri
- Shiraz Genetic Counseling Center, Welfare Office, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Elaheh Papari
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | | | - Saeide Akbari
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | - Seyed Hassan Tonekaboni
- Pediatric Neurology Research Center, Mofid Children's Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 15468, Iran
| | - Hossein Dehghani
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | - Mohammad Reza Ebrahimpour
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | - Ingrid Bader
- Kinderzentrum München, Technische Universität München, 81377, München, Germany
| | - Behzad Davarnia
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | - Monika Cohen
- Children's Center Munich, 81377, Munich, Germany
| | - Hossein Khodaei
- Meybod Genetics Research Center, Welfare Organization, Yazd, 89651, Iran
| | - Beate Albrecht
- Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital Essen, 45122, Essen, Germany
| | - Sarah Azimi
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | - Birgit Zirn
- Genetikum Counseling Center, 70173, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Milad Bastami
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | - Dagmar Wieczorek
- Institute of Human Genetics and Anthropology, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Gholamreza Bahrami
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | - Krystyna Keleman
- IMP-Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, 1030, Vienna, Austria.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Research Campus, Ashburn, VA, 20147, USA
| | - Leila Nouri Vahid
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | - Andreas Tzschach
- Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195, Berlin, Germany.,Institute of Clinical Genetics, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Jutta Gärtner
- University Medical Center, Georg August University Göttingen, 37075, Göttingen, Germany
| | | | | | - Bernd Timmermann
- Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195, Berlin, Germany
| | | | - Aria Jankhah
- Shiraz Genetic Counseling Center, Shiraz, 71346, Iran
| | - Wei Chen
- Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology, Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine, 13125, Berlin, Germany
| | - Pooneh Nikuei
- Molecular Medicine Research Center, Hormozgan Health Institute, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran
| | | | - Morteza Oladnabi
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran
| | - Thomas F Wienker
- Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195, Berlin, Germany
| | - Hans-Hilger Ropers
- Max-Planck-Institute for Molecular Genetics, 14195, Berlin, Germany. .,Institute of Human Genetics, University Medicine, Mainz, Germany.
| | - Hossein Najmabadi
- Genetics Research Center, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, 19857, Iran. .,Kariminejad - Najmabadi Pathology & Genetics Centre, Tehran, 14667-13713, Iran.
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15
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Casanova EL, Switala AE, Dandamudi S, Hickman AR, Vandenbrink J, Sharp JL, Feltus FA, Casanova MF. Autism risk genes are evolutionarily ancient and maintain a unique feature landscape that echoes their function. Autism Res 2019; 12:860-869. [PMID: 31025836 PMCID: PMC6613973 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2018] [Revised: 03/22/2019] [Accepted: 04/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Previous research on autism risk (ASD), developmental regulatory (DevReg), and central nervous system (CNS) genes suggests they tend to be large in size, enriched in nested repeats, and mutation intolerant. The relevance of these genomic features is intriguing yet poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the feature landscape of these gene groups to discover structural themes useful in interpreting their function, developmental patterns, and evolutionary history. ASD, DevReg, CNS, housekeeping, and whole genome control (WGC) groups were compiled using various resources. Multiple gene features of interest were extracted from NCBI/UCSC Bioinformatics. Residual variation intolerance scores, Exome Aggregation Consortium pLI scores, and copy number variation data from Decipher were used to estimate variation intolerance. Gene age and protein-protein interactions (PPI) were estimated using Ensembl and EBI Intact databases, respectively. Compared to WGC: ASD, DevReg, and CNS genes are longer, produce larger proteins, maintain greater numbers/density of conserved noncoding elements and transposable elements, produce more transcript variants, and are comparatively variation intolerant. After controlling for gene size, mutation tolerance, and clinical association, ASD genes still retain many of these same features. In addition, we also found that ASD genes that are extremely mutation intolerant have larger PPI networks. These data support many of the recent findings within the field of autism genetics but also expand our understanding of the evolution of these broad gene groups, their potential regulatory complexity, and the extent to which they interact with the cellular network. Autism Res 2019, 12: 860-869. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Autism risk genes are more ancient compared to other genes in the genome. As such, they exhibit physical features related to their age, including long gene and protein size and regulatory sequences that help to control gene expression. They share many of these same features with other genes that are expressed in the brain and/or are associated with prenatal development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily L. Casanova
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of South
Carolina, South Carolina, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Greenville Health System,
Greenville, USA
| | - Andrew E. Switala
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Louisville,
Louisville, Kentucky, USA
| | - Srini Dandamudi
- Department of Statistics, Colorado State University, Fort
Collins, Colorado, USA
| | - Allison R. Hickman
- Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, Clemson
University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA
| | | | - Julia L. Sharp
- Department of Statistics, Colorado State University, Fort
Collins, Colorado, USA
| | - F. Alex Feltus
- Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, Clemson
University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA
| | - Manuel F. Casanova
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of South
Carolina, South Carolina, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Greenville Health System,
Greenville, USA
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16
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Affiliation(s)
- Sameer Aryal
- Sackler Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, New York University (NYU) Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA. .,Center for Neural Science, NYU, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Eric Klann
- Center for Neural Science, NYU, New York, NY 10003, USA. .,NYU Neuroscience Institute, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY 10016, USA
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17
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Raman AT, Pohodich AE, Wan YW, Yalamanchili HK, Lowry WE, Zoghbi HY, Liu Z. Apparent bias toward long gene misregulation in MeCP2 syndromes disappears after controlling for baseline variations. Nat Commun 2018; 9:3225. [PMID: 30104565 PMCID: PMC6089998 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05627-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2018] [Accepted: 07/04/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent studies have suggested that genes longer than 100 kb are more likely to be misregulated in neurological diseases associated with synaptic dysfunction, such as autism and Rett syndrome. These length-dependent transcriptional changes are modest in MeCP2-mutant samples, but, given the low sensitivity of high-throughput transcriptome profiling technology, here we re-evaluate the statistical significance of these results. We find that the apparent length-dependent trends previously observed in MeCP2 microarray and RNA-sequencing datasets disappear after estimating baseline variability from randomized control samples. This is particularly true for genes with low fold changes. We find no bias with NanoString technology, so this long gene bias seems to be particular to polymerase chain reaction amplification-based platforms. In contrast, authentic long gene effects, such as those caused by topoisomerase inhibition, can be detected even after adjustment for baseline variability. We conclude that accurate characterization of length-dependent (or other) trends requires establishing a baseline from randomized control samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ayush T Raman
- Graduate Program in Quantitative and Computational Biosciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.,Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Amy E Pohodich
- Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.,Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Ying-Wooi Wan
- Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.,Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Hari Krishna Yalamanchili
- Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.,Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - William E Lowry
- Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Huda Y Zoghbi
- Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. .,Department of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. .,Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. .,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
| | - Zhandong Liu
- Graduate Program in Quantitative and Computational Biosciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. .,Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. .,Department of Pediatrics, Section of Neurology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
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18
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Wong JKL, Gui H, Kwok M, Ng PW, Lui CHT, Baum L, Sham PC, Kwan P, Cherny SS. Rare variants and de novo variants in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis. NEUROLOGY-GENETICS 2018; 4:e245. [PMID: 29904720 PMCID: PMC5999346 DOI: 10.1212/nxg.0000000000000245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2017] [Accepted: 04/13/2018] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Objective We investigated the role of rare genetic variants and of de novo variants in the pathogenesis of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy related to hippocampal sclerosis (MTLE-HS). Methods Whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed in patients with MTLE-HS and their unaffected parents (trios). Genes or gene sets that were enriched with predicted damaging rare variants in the patients as compared to population controls were identified. Patients and their parents were compared to identify whether the variants were de novo or inherited. Results After quality control, WES data from 47 patients (26 female), including 23 complete trios, were available for analysis. Compared with population controls, significant enrichment of rare variants was observed in SEC24B. Integration of gene set data describing neuronal functions and psychiatric disorders showed enrichment signal on fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) targets. Twenty-one de novo variants were identified, with many known to cause neuropsychiatric disorders. The FMRP-targeted genes also carried more de novo variants. Inherited compound heterozygous and homozygous variants were identified. Conclusions The genetic architecture underlying MTHE-HS is complex. Multiple genes carrying de novo variants and rare variants among FMRP targets were identified, suggesting a pathogenic role. MTLE-HS and other neuropsychiatric disorders may have shared biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- John K L Wong
- Centre for Genomic Sciences and Department of Psychiatry (J.K.L.W., H.G., L.B., P.C.S., S.S.C.), Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong; Department of Medicine and Therapeutics (M.K., P.K.), The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Department of Medicine (P.W.N.), United Christian Hospital; Department of Medicine (C.H.T.L.), Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong, China; Departments of Medicine and Neurology (P.K.), The University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (S.S.C.) and Department of Anatomy and Anthropology (S.S.C.), Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel; and The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences (P.C.S., S.S.C.)
| | - Hongsheng Gui
- Centre for Genomic Sciences and Department of Psychiatry (J.K.L.W., H.G., L.B., P.C.S., S.S.C.), Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong; Department of Medicine and Therapeutics (M.K., P.K.), The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Department of Medicine (P.W.N.), United Christian Hospital; Department of Medicine (C.H.T.L.), Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong, China; Departments of Medicine and Neurology (P.K.), The University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (S.S.C.) and Department of Anatomy and Anthropology (S.S.C.), Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel; and The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences (P.C.S., S.S.C.)
| | - Maxwell Kwok
- Centre for Genomic Sciences and Department of Psychiatry (J.K.L.W., H.G., L.B., P.C.S., S.S.C.), Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong; Department of Medicine and Therapeutics (M.K., P.K.), The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Department of Medicine (P.W.N.), United Christian Hospital; Department of Medicine (C.H.T.L.), Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong, China; Departments of Medicine and Neurology (P.K.), The University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (S.S.C.) and Department of Anatomy and Anthropology (S.S.C.), Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel; and The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences (P.C.S., S.S.C.)
| | - Ping Wing Ng
- Centre for Genomic Sciences and Department of Psychiatry (J.K.L.W., H.G., L.B., P.C.S., S.S.C.), Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong; Department of Medicine and Therapeutics (M.K., P.K.), The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Department of Medicine (P.W.N.), United Christian Hospital; Department of Medicine (C.H.T.L.), Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong, China; Departments of Medicine and Neurology (P.K.), The University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (S.S.C.) and Department of Anatomy and Anthropology (S.S.C.), Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel; and The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences (P.C.S., S.S.C.)
| | - Colin H T Lui
- Centre for Genomic Sciences and Department of Psychiatry (J.K.L.W., H.G., L.B., P.C.S., S.S.C.), Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong; Department of Medicine and Therapeutics (M.K., P.K.), The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Department of Medicine (P.W.N.), United Christian Hospital; Department of Medicine (C.H.T.L.), Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong, China; Departments of Medicine and Neurology (P.K.), The University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (S.S.C.) and Department of Anatomy and Anthropology (S.S.C.), Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel; and The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences (P.C.S., S.S.C.)
| | - Larry Baum
- Centre for Genomic Sciences and Department of Psychiatry (J.K.L.W., H.G., L.B., P.C.S., S.S.C.), Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong; Department of Medicine and Therapeutics (M.K., P.K.), The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Department of Medicine (P.W.N.), United Christian Hospital; Department of Medicine (C.H.T.L.), Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong, China; Departments of Medicine and Neurology (P.K.), The University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (S.S.C.) and Department of Anatomy and Anthropology (S.S.C.), Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel; and The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences (P.C.S., S.S.C.)
| | - Pak Chung Sham
- Centre for Genomic Sciences and Department of Psychiatry (J.K.L.W., H.G., L.B., P.C.S., S.S.C.), Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong; Department of Medicine and Therapeutics (M.K., P.K.), The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Department of Medicine (P.W.N.), United Christian Hospital; Department of Medicine (C.H.T.L.), Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong, China; Departments of Medicine and Neurology (P.K.), The University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (S.S.C.) and Department of Anatomy and Anthropology (S.S.C.), Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel; and The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences (P.C.S., S.S.C.)
| | - Patrick Kwan
- Centre for Genomic Sciences and Department of Psychiatry (J.K.L.W., H.G., L.B., P.C.S., S.S.C.), Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong; Department of Medicine and Therapeutics (M.K., P.K.), The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Department of Medicine (P.W.N.), United Christian Hospital; Department of Medicine (C.H.T.L.), Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong, China; Departments of Medicine and Neurology (P.K.), The University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (S.S.C.) and Department of Anatomy and Anthropology (S.S.C.), Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel; and The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences (P.C.S., S.S.C.)
| | - Stacey S Cherny
- Centre for Genomic Sciences and Department of Psychiatry (J.K.L.W., H.G., L.B., P.C.S., S.S.C.), Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong; Department of Medicine and Therapeutics (M.K., P.K.), The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Department of Medicine (P.W.N.), United Christian Hospital; Department of Medicine (C.H.T.L.), Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong, China; Departments of Medicine and Neurology (P.K.), The University of Melbourne, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia; Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (S.S.C.) and Department of Anatomy and Anthropology (S.S.C.), Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel; and The State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences (P.C.S., S.S.C.)
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19
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Casanova EL, Gerstner Z, Sharp JL, Casanova MF, Feltus FA. Widespread Genotype-Phenotype Correlations in Intellectual Disability. Front Psychiatry 2018; 9:535. [PMID: 30420816 PMCID: PMC6217001 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00535] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2018] [Accepted: 10/09/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Linking genotype to phenotype is a major aim of genetics research, yet the underlying biochemical mechanisms of many complex conditions continue to remain elusive. Recent research provides evidence that relevant gene-phenotype associations are discoverable in the study of intellectual disability (ID). Here we expand on that work, identifying distinctive gene interaction modules with unique enrichment patterns reflective of associated clinical features in ID. Methods: Two hundred twelve forms of monogenic ID were curated according to comorbidities with autism and epilepsy. These groups were further subdivided according to secondary clinical manifestations of complex vs. simple facial dysmorphia and neurodegenerative-like features due to their clinical prominence, modest symptom overlap, and probable etiological divergence. An aggregate gene interaction ID network for these phenotype subgroups was discovered via a public database of known gene interactions: protein-protein, genetic, and mRNA coexpression. Additional annotation resources (Gene Ontology, Human Phenotype Ontology, TRANSFAC/JASPAR, and KEGG/WikiPathways) were utilized to assess functional and phenotypic enrichment patterns within subgroups. Results: Phenotypic analysis revealed high rates of complex facial dysmorphia in ID with comorbid autism. In contrast, neurodegenerative-like features were overrepresented in ID with epilepsy. Network analysis subsequently showed that gene groups divided according to clinical features of interest resulted in distinctive interaction clusters, with unique functional enrichments according to gene set. Conclusions: These data suggest that specific comorbid and secondary clinical features in ID are predictive of underlying genotype. In summary, ID form unique clusters, which are comprised of individual conditions with remarkable genotypic and phenotypic overlap.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily L Casanova
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of South Carolina School of Medicine at Greenville, Greenville, SC, United States.,Department of Pediatrics, Greenville Health System, Greenville, SC, United States
| | - Zachary Gerstner
- Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, United States
| | - Julia L Sharp
- Department of Statistics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States
| | - Manuel F Casanova
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of South Carolina School of Medicine at Greenville, Greenville, SC, United States.,Department of Pediatrics, Greenville Health System, Greenville, SC, United States
| | - Frank Alex Feltus
- Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, United States.,Center for Human Genetics, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, United States.,Biomedical Data Science and Informatics Program, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, United States
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20
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Smidak R, Sialana FJ, Kristofova M, Stojanovic T, Rajcic D, Malikovic J, Feyissa DD, Korz V, Hoeger H, Wackerlig J, Mechtcheriakova D, Lubec G. Reduced Levels of the Synaptic Functional Regulator FMRP in Dentate Gyrus of the Aging Sprague-Dawley Rat. Front Aging Neurosci 2017; 9:384. [PMID: 29218006 PMCID: PMC5703695 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2017.00384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2017] [Accepted: 11/09/2017] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) encoded by Fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene is a RNA-binding regulator of mRNA translation, transport and stability with multiple targets responsible for proper synaptic function. Epigenetic silencing of FMR1 gene expression leads to the development of Fragile X syndrome (FXS) that is characterized by intellectual disability and other behavioral problems including autism. In the rat FXS model, the lack of FMRP caused a deficit in hippocampal-dependent memory. However, the hippocampal changes of FMRP in aging rats are not fully elucidated. The current study addresses the changes in FMRP levels in dentate gyrus (DG) from young (17 weeks) and aging (22 months) Sprague – Dawley rats. The aging animal group showed significant decline in spatial reference memory. Protein samples from five rats per each group were analyzed by quantitative proteomic analysis resulting in 153 significantly changed proteins. FMRP showed significant reduction in aging animals which was confirmed by immunoblotting and immunofluorescence microscopy. Furthermore, bioinformatic analysis of the differential protein dataset revealed several functionally related protein groups with individual interactions with FMRP. These include high representation of the RNA translation and processing machinery connected to FMRP and other RNA-binding regulators including CAPRIN1, the members of Pumilio (PUM) and CUG-BP, Elav-like (CELF) family, and YTH N(6)-methyladenosine RNA-binding proteins (YTHDF). The results of the current study point to the important role of FMRP and regulation of RNA processing in the rat DG and memory decline during the aging process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roman Smidak
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Fernando J Sialana
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Martina Kristofova
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Tamara Stojanovic
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Dragana Rajcic
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jovana Malikovic
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Daniel D Feyissa
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Volker Korz
- Core Unit of Biomedical Research, Division of Laboratory Animal Science and Genetics, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Harald Hoeger
- Core Unit of Biomedical Research, Division of Laboratory Animal Science and Genetics, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Judit Wackerlig
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Diana Mechtcheriakova
- Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Gert Lubec
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.,Neuroproteomics, Paracelsus Private Medical University, Salzburg, Austria
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21
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Transcriptomic Analysis of Ribosome-Bound mRNA in Cortical Neurites In Vivo. J Neurosci 2017; 37:8688-8705. [PMID: 28821669 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.3044-16.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2016] [Revised: 06/29/2017] [Accepted: 07/21/2017] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Localized translation in neurites helps regulate synaptic strength and development. Dysregulation of local translation is associated with many neurological disorders. However, due to technical limitations, study of this phenomenon has largely been limited to brain regions with laminar organization of dendrites such as the hippocampus or cerebellum. It has not been examined in the cortex, a region of importance for most neurological disorders, where dendrites of each neuronal population are densely intermingled with cell bodies of others. Therefore, we have developed a novel method, SynapTRAP, which combines synaptoneurosomal fractionation with translating ribosome affinity purification to identify ribosome-bound mRNA in processes of genetically defined cell types. We demonstrate SynapTRAP's efficacy and report local translation in the cortex of mice, where we identify a subset of mRNAs that are translated in dendrites by neuronal ribosomes. These mRNAs have disproportionately longer lengths, enrichment for FMRP binding and G-quartets, and their genes are under greater evolutionary constraint in humans. In addition, we show that alternative splicing likely regulates this phenomenon. Overall, SynapTRAP allows for rapid isolation of cell-type-specific localized translation and is applicable to classes of previously inaccessible neuronal and non-neuronal cells in vivoSIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Instructions for making proteins are found in the genome, housed within the nucleus of each cell. These are then copied as RNA and exported to manufacture new proteins. However, in the brain, memory is thought to be encoded by strengthening individual connections (synapses) between neurons far from the nucleus. Thus, to efficiently make new proteins specifically where they are needed, neurons can transport RNAs to sites near synapses to locally produce proteins. Importantly, several mutations that cause autism disrupt this process. It has been assumed this process occurs in all brain regions, but has never been measured in the cortex. We applied a newly developed method measure to study, for the first time, local translation in cortical neurons.
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22
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Ballouz S, Gillis J. Strength of functional signature correlates with effect size in autism. Genome Med 2017; 9:64. [PMID: 28687074 PMCID: PMC5501949 DOI: 10.1186/s13073-017-0455-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2017] [Accepted: 06/23/2017] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Disagreements over genetic signatures associated with disease have been particularly prominent in the field of psychiatric genetics, creating a sharp divide between disease burdens attributed to common and rare variation, with study designs independently targeting each. Meta-analysis within each of these study designs is routine, whether using raw data or summary statistics, but combining results across study designs is atypical. However, tests of functional convergence are used across all study designs, where candidate gene sets are assessed for overlaps with previously known properties. This suggests one possible avenue for combining not study data, but the functional conclusions that they reach. METHOD In this work, we test for functional convergence in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across different study types, and specifically whether the degree to which a gene is implicated in autism is correlated with the degree to which it drives functional convergence. Because different study designs are distinguishable by their differences in effect size, this also provides a unified means of incorporating the impact of study design into the analysis of convergence. RESULTS We detected remarkably significant positive trends in aggregate (p < 2.2e-16) with 14 individually significant properties (false discovery rate <0.01), many in areas researchers have targeted based on different reasoning, such as the fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) interactor enrichment (false discovery rate 0.003). We are also able to detect novel technical effects and we see that network enrichment from protein-protein interaction data is heavily confounded with study design, arising readily in control data. CONCLUSIONS We see a convergent functional signal for a subset of known and novel functions in ASD from all sources of genetic variation. Meta-analytic approaches explicitly accounting for different study designs can be adapted to other diseases to discover novel functional associations and increase statistical power.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Ballouz
- The Stanley Institute for Cognitive Genomics, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724 USA
| | - Jesse Gillis
- The Stanley Institute for Cognitive Genomics, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724 USA
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23
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Dalal JS, Yang C, Sapkota D, Lake AM, O'Brien DR, Dougherty JD. Quantitative Nucleotide Level Analysis of Regulation of Translation in Response to Depolarization of Cultured Neural Cells. Front Mol Neurosci 2017; 10:9. [PMID: 28190998 PMCID: PMC5269599 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2017.00009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2016] [Accepted: 01/06/2017] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Studies on regulation of gene expression have contributed substantially to understanding mechanisms for the long-term activity-dependent alterations in neural connectivity that are thought to mediate learning and memory. Most of these studies, however, have focused on the regulation of mRNA transcription. Here, we utilized high-throughput sequencing coupled with ribosome footprinting to globally characterize the regulation of translation in primary mixed neuronal-glial cultures in response to sustained depolarization. We identified substantial and complex regulation of translation, with many transcripts demonstrating changes in ribosomal occupancy independent of transcriptional changes. We also examined sequence-based mechanisms that might regulate changes in translation in response to depolarization. We found that these are partially mediated by features in the mRNA sequence—notably upstream open reading frames and secondary structure in the 5′ untranslated region—both of which predict downregulation in response to depolarization. Translationally regulated transcripts are also more likely to be targets of FMRP and include genes implicated in autism in humans. Our findings support the idea that control of mRNA translation plays an important role in response to neural activity across the genome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jasbir S Dalal
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of MedicineSt. Louis, MO, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of MedicineSt. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Chengran Yang
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of MedicineSt. Louis, MO, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of MedicineSt. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Darshan Sapkota
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of MedicineSt. Louis, MO, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of MedicineSt. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Allison M Lake
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of MedicineSt. Louis, MO, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of MedicineSt. Louis, MO, USA
| | - David R O'Brien
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of MedicineSt. Louis, MO, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of MedicineSt. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Joseph D Dougherty
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of MedicineSt. Louis, MO, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of MedicineSt. Louis, MO, USA
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24
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Psychiatric gene discoveries shape evidence on ADHD's biology. Mol Psychiatry 2016; 21:1202-7. [PMID: 26573769 PMCID: PMC4820035 DOI: 10.1038/mp.2015.163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2015] [Revised: 07/08/2015] [Accepted: 09/08/2015] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
A strong motivation for undertaking psychiatric gene discovery studies is to provide novel insights into unknown biology. Although attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is highly heritable, and large, rare copy number variants (CNVs) contribute to risk, little is known about its pathogenesis and it remains commonly misunderstood. We assembled and pooled five ADHD and control CNV data sets from the United Kingdom, Ireland, United States of America, Northern Europe and Canada. Our aim was to test for enrichment of neurodevelopmental gene sets, implicated by recent exome-sequencing studies of (a) schizophrenia and (b) autism as a means of testing the hypothesis that common pathogenic mechanisms underlie ADHD and these other neurodevelopmental disorders. We also undertook hypothesis-free testing of all biological pathways. We observed significant enrichment of individual genes previously found to harbour schizophrenia de novo non-synonymous single-nucleotide variants (SNVs; P=5.4 × 10(-4)) and targets of the Fragile X mental retardation protein (P=0.0018). No enrichment was observed for activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein (P=0.23) or N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (P=0.74) post-synaptic signalling gene sets previously implicated in schizophrenia. Enrichment of ADHD CNV hits for genes impacted by autism de novo SNVs (P=0.019 for non-synonymous SNV genes) did not survive Bonferroni correction. Hypothesis-free testing yielded several highly significantly enriched biological pathways, including ion channel pathways. Enrichment findings were robust to multiple testing corrections and to sensitivity analyses that excluded the most significant sample. The findings reveal that CNVs in ADHD converge on biologically meaningful gene clusters, including ones now established as conferring risk of other neurodevelopmental disorders.
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25
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Tsur E, Friger M, Menashe I. The Unique Evolutionary Signature of Genes Associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Behav Genet 2016; 46:754-762. [PMID: 27515661 DOI: 10.1007/s10519-016-9804-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2016] [Accepted: 08/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a common heritable neurodevelopmental disorder, which is characterized by communication and social deficits that reduce the reproductive fitness of individuals with the disorder. Here, we studied the genomic characteristics of 651 ASD genes in a whole-exome sequencing dataset, to search for traces of the evolutionary forces that helped maintain ASD in the human population. We show that ASD genes are ~65 longer and ~20 % less variable than non-ASD genes. The mutational shortage in ASD genes was particularly eminent when considering only deleterious genetic variations, which is a hallmark of negative selection. We further show that these genomic characteristics are unique to ASD genes, as compared with brain-specific genes or with genes of other diseases. Our findings suggest that ASD genes have evolved under complex evolutionary forces, which have left a unique signature that can be used to identify new candidate ASD genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erez Tsur
- Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel.,Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel
| | - Michael Friger
- Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel
| | - Idan Menashe
- Department of Public Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel. .,Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel.
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26
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Promiscuous or discriminating: Has the favored mRNA target of Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein been overlooked? Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016; 113:7009-11. [PMID: 27317743 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1607665113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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27
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Wen Y, Alshikho MJ, Herbert MR. Pathway Network Analyses for Autism Reveal Multisystem Involvement, Major Overlaps with Other Diseases and Convergence upon MAPK and Calcium Signaling. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0153329. [PMID: 27055244 PMCID: PMC4824422 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0153329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2015] [Accepted: 03/28/2016] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
We used established databases in standard ways to systematically characterize gene ontologies, pathways and functional linkages in the large set of genes now associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). These conditions are particularly challenging—they lack clear pathognomonic biological markers, they involve great heterogeneity across multiple levels (genes, systemic biological and brain characteristics, and nuances of behavioral manifestations)—and yet everyone with this diagnosis meets the same defining behavioral criteria. Using the human gene list from Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) we performed gene set enrichment analysis with the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) Pathway Database, and then derived a pathway network from pathway-pathway functional interactions again in reference to KEGG. Through identifying the GO (Gene Ontology) groups in which SFARI genes were enriched, mapping the coherence between pathways and GO groups, and ranking the relative strengths of representation of pathway network components, we 1) identified 10 disease-associated and 30 function-associated pathways 2) revealed calcium signaling pathway and neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction as the most enriched, statistically significant pathways from the enrichment analysis, 3) showed calcium signaling pathways and MAPK signaling pathway to be interactive hubs with other pathways and also to be involved with pervasively present biological processes, 4) found convergent indications that the process “calcium-PRC (protein kinase C)-Ras-Raf-MAPK/ERK” is likely a major contributor to ASD pathophysiology, and 5) noted that perturbations associated with KEGG’s category of environmental information processing were common. These findings support the idea that ASD-associated genes may contribute not only to core features of ASD themselves but also to vulnerability to other chronic and systemic problems potentially including cancer, metabolic conditions and heart diseases. ASDs may thus arise, or emerge, from underlying vulnerabilities related to pleiotropic genes associated with pervasively important molecular mechanisms, vulnerability to environmental input and multiple systemic co-morbidities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ya Wen
- TRANSCEND Research, Neurology Department, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Higher Synthesis Foundation, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
- * E-mail: (YW); (MRH)
| | - Mohamad J. Alshikho
- TRANSCEND Research, Neurology Department, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Martha R. Herbert
- TRANSCEND Research, Neurology Department, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Higher Synthesis Foundation, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
- * E-mail: (YW); (MRH)
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28
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McMahon AC, Rahman R, Jin H, Shen JL, Fieldsend A, Luo W, Rosbash M. TRIBE: Hijacking an RNA-Editing Enzyme to Identify Cell-Specific Targets of RNA-Binding Proteins. Cell 2016; 165:742-53. [PMID: 27040499 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 156] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2015] [Revised: 01/15/2016] [Accepted: 02/25/2016] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
RNA transcripts are bound and regulated by RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). Current methods for identifying in vivo targets of an RBP are imperfect and not amenable to examining small numbers of cells. To address these issues, we developed TRIBE (targets of RNA-binding proteins identified by editing), a technique that couples an RBP to the catalytic domain of the Drosophila RNA-editing enzyme ADAR and expresses the fusion protein in vivo. RBP targets are marked with novel RNA editing events and identified by sequencing RNA. We have used TRIBE to identify the targets of three RBPs (Hrp48, dFMR1, and NonA). TRIBE compares favorably to other methods, including CLIP, and we have identified RBP targets from as little as 150 specific fly neurons. TRIBE can be performed without an antibody and in small numbers of specific cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aoife C McMahon
- Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02453, USA
| | - Reazur Rahman
- Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02453, USA
| | - Hua Jin
- Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02453, USA
| | - James L Shen
- Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02453, USA
| | - Allegra Fieldsend
- Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02453, USA
| | - Weifei Luo
- Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02453, USA
| | - Michael Rosbash
- Department of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and National Center for Behavioral Genomics, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02453, USA.
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29
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Araujo DJ, Anderson AG, Berto S, Runnels W, Harper M, Ammanuel S, Rieger MA, Huang HC, Rajkovich K, Loerwald KW, Dekker JD, Tucker HO, Dougherty JD, Gibson JR, Konopka G. FoxP1 orchestration of ASD-relevant signaling pathways in the striatum. Genes Dev 2016; 29:2081-96. [PMID: 26494785 PMCID: PMC4617974 DOI: 10.1101/gad.267989.115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
In this study, Araujo et al. demonstrate that Foxp1 plays a role in the transcriptional regulation of autism-related pathways as well as genes involved in neuronal activity by identifying the gene expression program regulated by FoxP1 in both human neural cells and patient-relevant heterozygous Foxp1 mouse brains. Mutations in the transcription factor Forkhead box p1 (FOXP1) are causative for neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. However, the function of FOXP1 within the brain remains largely uncharacterized. Here, we identify the gene expression program regulated by FoxP1 in both human neural cells and patient-relevant heterozygous Foxp1 mouse brains. We demonstrate a role for FoxP1 in the transcriptional regulation of autism-related pathways as well as genes involved in neuronal activity. We show that Foxp1 regulates the excitability of striatal medium spiny neurons and that reduction of Foxp1 correlates with defects in ultrasonic vocalizations. Finally, we demonstrate that FoxP1 has an evolutionarily conserved role in regulating pathways involved in striatal neuron identity through gene expression studies in human neural progenitors with altered FOXP1 levels. These data support an integral role for FoxP1 in regulating signaling pathways vulnerable in autism and the specific regulation of striatal pathways important for vocal communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J Araujo
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA
| | - Ashley G Anderson
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA
| | - Stefano Berto
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA
| | - Wesley Runnels
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA
| | - Matthew Harper
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA
| | - Simon Ammanuel
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA
| | - Michael A Rieger
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA
| | - Hung-Chung Huang
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA; Department of Biology, Jackson State University, Jackson, Mississippi 39217, USA
| | - Kacey Rajkovich
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA
| | - Kristofer W Loerwald
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA
| | - Joseph D Dekker
- University of Texas at Austin, Section of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
| | - Haley O Tucker
- University of Texas at Austin, Section of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
| | - Joseph D Dougherty
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA
| | - Jay R Gibson
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA
| | - Genevieve Konopka
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390, USA
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Kopp N, Climer S, Dougherty JD. Moving from capstones toward cornerstones: successes and challenges in applying systems biology to identify mechanisms of autism spectrum disorders. Front Genet 2015; 6:301. [PMID: 26500678 PMCID: PMC4595802 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2015.00301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2015] [Accepted: 09/11/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The substantial progress in the last few years toward uncovering genetic causes and risk factors for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has opened new experimental avenues for identifying the underlying neurobiological mechanism of the condition. The bounty of genetic findings has led to a variety of data-driven exploratory analyses aimed at deriving new insights about the shared features of these genes. These approaches leverage data from a variety of different sources such as co-expression in transcriptomic studies, protein–protein interaction networks, gene ontologies (GOs) annotations, or multi-level combinations of all of these. Here, we review the recurrent themes emerging from these analyses and highlight some of the challenges going forward. Themes include findings that ASD associated genes discovered by a variety of methods have been shown to contain disproportionate amounts of neurite outgrowth/cytoskeletal, synaptic, and more recently Wnt-related and chromatin modifying genes. Expression studies have highlighted a disproportionate expression of ASD gene sets during mid fetal cortical development, particularly for rare variants, with multiple analyses highlighting the striatum and cortical projection and interneurons as well. While these explorations have highlighted potentially interesting relationships among these ASD-related genes, there are challenges in how to best transition these insights into empirically testable hypotheses. Nonetheless, defining shared molecular or cellular pathology downstream of the diverse genes associated with ASDs could provide the cornerstones needed to build toward broadly applicable therapeutic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan Kopp
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis MO, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis MO, USA
| | - Sharlee Climer
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis MO, USA
| | - Joseph D Dougherty
- Department of Genetics, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis MO, USA ; Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis MO, USA
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