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Davis EJ, Solsberg CW, White CC, Miñones-Moyano E, Sirota M, Chibnik L, Bennett DA, De Jager PL, Yokoyama JS, Dubal DB. Sex-Specific Association of the X Chromosome With Cognitive Change and Tau Pathology in Aging and Alzheimer Disease. JAMA Neurol 2021; 78:1249-1254. [PMID: 34424272 PMCID: PMC8383157 DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2021.2806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2021] [Accepted: 06/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Importance The X chromosome represents 5% of the human genome in women and men, and its influence on cognitive aging and Alzheimer disease (AD) is largely unknown. Objective To determine whether the X chromosome is associated with sex-specific cognitive change and tau pathology in aging and AD. Design, Setting, Participants This study examined differential gene expression profiling of the X chromosome from an RNA sequencing data set of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex obtained from autopsied, elderly individuals enrolled in the Religious Orders Study and Rush Memory and Aging Project joint cohorts. Samples were collected from the cohort study with enrollment from 1994 to 2017. Data were last analyzed in May 2021. Main Outcomes and Measures The main analysis examined whether X chromosome gene expression measured by RNA sequencing of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was associated with cognitive change during aging and AD, independent of AD pathology and at the transcriptome-wide level in women and men. Whether X chromosome gene expression was associated with neurofibrillary tangle burden, a measure of tau pathology that influences cognition, in women and men was also explored. Results Samples for RNA sequencing of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were obtained from 508 individuals (mean [SD] age at death, 88.4 [6.6] years; 315 [62.0%] were female; 197 [38.8%] had clinical diagnosis of AD at death; 293 [58.2%] had pathological diagnosis of AD at death) enrolled in the Religious Orders Study and Rush Memory and Aging Project joint cohorts and were followed up annually for a mean (SD) of 6.3 (3.9) years. X chromosome gene expression (29 genes), adjusted for age at death, education, and AD pathology, was significantly associated with cognitive change at the genome-wide level in women but not men. In the majority of identified X genes (19 genes), increased expression was associated with slower cognitive decline in women. In contrast with cognition, X chromosome gene expression (3 genes), adjusted for age at death and education, was associated with neuropathological tau burden at the genome-wide level in men but not women. Conclusions and Relevance In this study, the X chromosome was associated with cognitive trajectories and neuropathological tau burden in aging and AD in a sex-specific manner. This is important because specific X chromosome factors could contribute risk or resilience to biological pathways of aging and AD in women, men, or both.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily J. Davis
- Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco
- Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco
| | - Caroline W. Solsberg
- Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco
- Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenetics Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco
- Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco
- Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco
| | - Charles C. White
- Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
- Center for Translational and Computational Neuroimmunology, Department of Neurology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York
| | - Elena Miñones-Moyano
- Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco
| | - Marina Sirota
- Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco
| | - Lori Chibnik
- Biostatistics Center, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - David A. Bennett
- Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
| | - Philip L. De Jager
- Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois
- Center for Translational and Computational Neuroimmunology, Department of Neurology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York
| | - Jennifer S. Yokoyama
- Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco
- Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco
- Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco
| | - Dena B. Dubal
- Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco
- Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco
- Associate Editor, JAMA Neurology
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Davis EJ, Broestl L, Abdulai-Saiku S, Worden K, Bonham LW, Miñones-Moyano E, Moreno AJ, Wang D, Chang K, Williams G, Garay BI, Lobach I, Devidze N, Kim D, Anderson-Bergman C, Yu GQ, White CC, Harris JA, Miller BL, Bennett DA, Arnold AP, De Jager PL, Palop JJ, Panning B, Yokoyama JS, Mucke L, Dubal DB. A second X chromosome contributes to resilience in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Sci Transl Med 2021; 12:12/558/eaaz5677. [PMID: 32848093 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaz5677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2019] [Accepted: 01/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
A major sex difference in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is that men with the disease die earlier than do women. In aging and preclinical AD, men also show more cognitive deficits. Here, we show that the X chromosome affects AD-related vulnerability in mice expressing the human amyloid precursor protein (hAPP), a model of AD. XY-hAPP mice genetically modified to develop testicles or ovaries showed worse mortality and deficits than did XX-hAPP mice with either gonad, indicating a sex chromosome effect. To dissect whether the absence of a second X chromosome or the presence of a Y chromosome conferred a disadvantage on male mice, we varied sex chromosome dosage. With or without a Y chromosome, hAPP mice with one X chromosome showed worse mortality and deficits than did those with two X chromosomes. Thus, adding a second X chromosome conferred resilience to XY males and XO females. In addition, the Y chromosome, its sex-determining region Y gene (Sry), or testicular development modified mortality in hAPP mice with one X chromosome such that XY males with testicles survived longer than did XY or XO females with ovaries. Furthermore, a second X chromosome conferred resilience potentially through the candidate gene Kdm6a, which does not undergo X-linked inactivation. In humans, genetic variation in KDM6A was linked to higher brain expression and associated with less cognitive decline in aging and preclinical AD, suggesting its relevance to human brain health. Our study suggests a potential role for sex chromosomes in modulating disease vulnerability related to AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily J Davis
- Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.,Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Lauren Broestl
- Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Samira Abdulai-Saiku
- Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Kurtresha Worden
- Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Luke W Bonham
- Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.,Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Elena Miñones-Moyano
- Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Arturo J Moreno
- Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Dan Wang
- Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Kevin Chang
- Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Gina Williams
- Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.,Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Bayardo I Garay
- Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Iryna Lobach
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Nino Devidze
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Daniel Kim
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | | | - Gui-Qiu Yu
- Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Charles C White
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.,Center for Translational and Computational Neuroimmunology, Department of Neurology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Julie A Harris
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Bruce L Miller
- Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.,Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - David A Bennett
- Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
| | - Arthur P Arnold
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Phil L De Jager
- Center for Translational and Computational Neuroimmunology, Department of Neurology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Jorge J Palop
- Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.,Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.,Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.,Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Barbara Panning
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Jennifer S Yokoyama
- Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.,Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.,Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Lennart Mucke
- Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.,Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.,Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA.,Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Dena B Dubal
- Department of Neurology and Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA. .,Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.,Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
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