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Snelleksz M, Dean B. Higher levels of AKT-interacting protein in the frontal pole from people with schizophrenia are limited to a sub-group who have a marked deficit in cortical muscarinic M1 receptors. Psychiatry Res 2024; 341:116156. [PMID: 39236366 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2024.116156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2023] [Revised: 06/29/2024] [Accepted: 07/03/2024] [Indexed: 09/07/2024]
Abstract
We are studying the molecular pathology of a sub-group within schizophrenia (∼ 25 %: termed Muscarinic Receptor Deficit subgroup of Schizophrenia (MRDS)) who can be separated because they have very low levels of cortical muscarinic M1 receptors (CHRM1). Based on our transcriptomic data from Brodmann's area ((BA) 9, 10 and 33 (controls, schizophrenia and mood disorders) and the cortex of the CHRM1-/- mouse (a molecular model of aberrant CHRM1 signaling), we predicted levels of AKT interacting protein (AKTIP), but not tubulin alpha 1b (TUBA1B) or AKT serine/threonine kinase 1 (AKT1) and pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1) (two AKTIP-functionally associated proteins), would be changed in MRDS. Hence, we used Western blotting to measure AKTIP (BA 10: controls, schizophrenia and mood disorders; BA 9: controls and schizophrenia) plus TUBA1B, AKT1 and PDK1 (BA 10: controls and schizophrenia) proteins. The only significant change with diagnosis was higher levels of AKTIP protein in BA 10 (Cohen's d = 0.73; p = 0.02) in schizophrenia compared to controls due to higher levels of AKTIP only in people with MRDS (Cohen's d = 0.80; p = 0.03). As AKTIP is involved in AKT1 signaling, our data suggests that signaling pathway is particularly disturbed in BA 10 in MRDS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan Snelleksz
- The Molecular Psychiatry Laboratory, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
| | - Brian Dean
- The Molecular Psychiatry Laboratory, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
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Ganapathiraju MK, Bhatia T, Deshpande S, Wesesky M, Wood J, Nimgaonkar VL. Schizophrenia Interactome-Derived Repurposable Drugs and Randomized Controlled Trials of Two Candidates. Biol Psychiatry 2024; 96:651-658. [PMID: 38950808 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.06.022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2024] [Revised: 05/29/2024] [Accepted: 06/09/2024] [Indexed: 07/03/2024]
Abstract
There is a substantial unmet need for effective and patient-acceptable drugs to treat severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia (SZ). Computational analysis of genomic, transcriptomic, and pharmacologic data generated in the past 2 decades enables repurposing of drugs or compounds with acceptable safety profiles, namely those that are U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved or have reached late stages in clinical trials. We developed a rational approach to achieve this computationally for SZ by studying drugs that target the proteins in its protein interaction network (interactome). This involved contrasting the transcriptomic modulations observed in the disorder and the drug; our analyses resulted in 12 candidate drugs, 9 of which had additional supportive evidence whereby their target networks were enriched for pathways relevant to SZ etiology or for genes that had an association with diseases pathogenically similar to SZ. To translate these computational results to the clinic, these shortlisted drugs must be tested empirically through randomized controlled trials, in which their previous safety approvals obviate the need for time-consuming phase 1 and 2 studies. We selected 2 among the shortlisted candidates based on likely adherence and side-effect profiles. We are testing them through adjunctive randomized controlled trials for patients with SZ or schizoaffective disorder who experienced incomplete resolution of psychotic features with conventional treatment. The integrated computational analysis for identifying and ranking drugs for clinical trials can be iterated as additional data are obtained. Our approach could be expanded to enable disease subtype-specific drug discovery in the future and should also be exploited for other psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madhavi K Ganapathiraju
- Department of Biomedical Informatics and Intelligent Systems Program, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Doha, Qatar.
| | - Triptish Bhatia
- Department of Psychiatry, Centre of Excellence in Mental Health, ABVIMS - Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi, India
| | - Smita Deshpande
- Department of Psychiatry, St John's Medical College Hospital, Koramangala, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
| | - Maribeth Wesesky
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Joel Wood
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Vishwajit L Nimgaonkar
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Department of Human Genetics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Veterans Administration Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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Nakamura T, Yoshihara T, Tanegashima C, Kadota M, Kobayashi Y, Honda K, Ishiwata M, Ueda J, Hara T, Nakanishi M, Takumi T, Itohara S, Kuraku S, Asano M, Kasahara T, Nakajima K, Tsuboi T, Takata A, Kato T. Transcriptomic dysregulation and autistic-like behaviors in Kmt2c haploinsufficient mice rescued by an LSD1 inhibitor. Mol Psychiatry 2024; 29:2888-2904. [PMID: 38528071 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-024-02479-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2024] [Revised: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/27/2024]
Abstract
Recent studies have consistently demonstrated that the regulation of chromatin and gene transcription plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental disorders. Among many genes involved in these pathways, KMT2C, encoding one of the six known histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4) methyltransferases in humans and rodents, was identified as a gene whose heterozygous loss-of-function variants are causally associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the Kleefstra syndrome phenotypic spectrum. However, little is known about how KMT2C haploinsufficiency causes neurodevelopmental deficits and how these conditions can be treated. To address this, we developed and analyzed genetically engineered mice with a heterozygous frameshift mutation of Kmt2c (Kmt2c+/fs mice) as a disease model with high etiological validity. In a series of behavioral analyses, the mutant mice exhibit autistic-like behaviors such as impairments in sociality, flexibility, and working memory, demonstrating their face validity as an ASD model. To investigate the molecular basis of the observed abnormalities, we performed a transcriptomic analysis of their bulk adult brains and found that ASD risk genes were specifically enriched in the upregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs), whereas KMT2C peaks detected by ChIP-seq were significantly co-localized with the downregulated genes, suggesting an important role of putative indirect effects of Kmt2c haploinsufficiency. We further performed single-cell RNA sequencing of newborn mouse brains to obtain cell type-resolved insights at an earlier stage. By integrating findings from ASD exome sequencing, genome-wide association, and postmortem brain studies to characterize DEGs in each cell cluster, we found strong ASD-associated transcriptomic changes in radial glia and immature neurons with no obvious bias toward upregulated or downregulated DEGs. On the other hand, there was no significant gross change in the cellular composition. Lastly, we explored potential therapeutic agents and demonstrate that vafidemstat, a lysine-specific histone demethylase 1 (LSD1) inhibitor that was effective in other models of neuropsychiatric/neurodevelopmental disorders, ameliorates impairments in sociality but not working memory in adult Kmt2c+/fs mice. Intriguingly, the administration of vafidemstat was shown to alter the vast majority of DEGs in the direction to normalize the transcriptomic abnormalities in the mutant mice (94.3 and 82.5% of the significant upregulated and downregulated DEGs, respectively, P < 2.2 × 10-16, binomial test), which could be the molecular mechanism underlying the behavioral rescuing. In summary, our study expands the repertoire of ASD models with high etiological and face validity, elucidates the cell-type resolved molecular alterations due to Kmt2c haploinsufficiency, and demonstrates the efficacy of an LSD1 inhibitor that might be generalizable to multiple categories of psychiatric disorders along with a better understanding of its presumed mechanisms of action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takumi Nakamura
- Laboratory for Molecular Pathology of Psychiatric Disorders, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
- Laboratory for Molecular Dynamics of Mental Disorders, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan
- Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Toru Yoshihara
- Institute of Laboratory Animals, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Chiharu Tanegashima
- Laboratory for Phyloinformatics, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Hyogo, Japan
| | - Mitsutaka Kadota
- Laboratory for Phyloinformatics, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Hyogo, Japan
| | - Yuki Kobayashi
- Laboratory for Behavioral Genetics, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan
| | - Kurara Honda
- Laboratory for Molecular Pathology of Psychiatric Disorders, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan
| | - Mizuho Ishiwata
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
- Laboratory for Molecular Dynamics of Mental Disorders, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan
| | - Junko Ueda
- Laboratory for Molecular Pathology of Psychiatric Disorders, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan
- Laboratory for Molecular Dynamics of Mental Disorders, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan
| | - Tomonori Hara
- Laboratory for Molecular Pathology of Psychiatric Disorders, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan
- Department of Organ Anatomy, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Miyagi, Japan
| | - Moe Nakanishi
- Laboratory for Mental Biology, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan
- Laboratory for Molecular Mechanism of Brain Development, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan
| | - Toru Takumi
- Laboratory for Mental Biology, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan
- Department of Physiology and Cell Biology, Kobe University School of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan
| | - Shigeyoshi Itohara
- Laboratory for Behavioral Genetics, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan
| | - Shigehiro Kuraku
- Laboratory for Phyloinformatics, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Hyogo, Japan
- Molecular Life History Laboratory, Department of Genomics and Evolutionary Biology, National Institute of Genetics, Shizuoka, Japan
- Department of Genetics, SOKENDAI (Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Shizuoka, Japan
| | - Masahide Asano
- Institute of Laboratory Animals, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Takaoki Kasahara
- Laboratory for Molecular Dynamics of Mental Disorders, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan
- Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany
| | - Kazuo Nakajima
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
- Laboratory for Molecular Dynamics of Mental Disorders, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan
- Department of Physiology, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Takashi Tsuboi
- Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Atsushi Takata
- Laboratory for Molecular Pathology of Psychiatric Disorders, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan.
- Research Institute for Diseases of Old Age, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
| | - Tadafumi Kato
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
- Laboratory for Molecular Dynamics of Mental Disorders, RIKEN Center for Brain Science, Saitama, Japan.
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Dean B, Hopper S, Scarr E. Changes in levels of the zinc transporter SLC39A12 in Brodmann's area 44: Effects of sex, suicide, CNS pH and schizophrenia. J Psychiatr Res 2024; 177:177-184. [PMID: 39024742 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2024.07.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2024] [Revised: 07/04/2024] [Accepted: 07/11/2024] [Indexed: 07/20/2024]
Abstract
Disturbed CNS zinc homeostasis is suggested as part of the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Our data, from multiple studies, suggests levels of cortical RNA for the solute carrier family 39 member 12 (SLC39A12), a putative zinc transporter, is higher in people with schizophrenia and is more perturbed in a sub-group of people with the disorder that can be separated because they have very low levels of muscarinic M1 receptors (MRDS). In this study qPCR was used to measure levels of two RNA splice variants of SLC39A12 (a and b) in Brodmann's area (BA) 44 from new cohorts of controls and people with schizophrenia. For the first time, in our study cohort as a whole, we report levels of both splice variants of SLC39A12 are lower in females compared to males and there are correlations between levels of SLC39A12 a and b and CNS pH. Levels of both splice variants were also lower in people with schizophrenia who were suicide completers compared to those who were not. Accounting for these factors, we showed levels of SLC39A12 a and b were higher in BA 44 in schizophrenia compared to controls. In further analyses, with and without our previous data on SLC39A12 a and b, we confirmed changes in levels of SLC39A12 RNAs were more profound in MRDS. In conclusion, our study argues there are higher levels of SLC39A12 a and b in BA 44 in schizophrenia which could be contributing to the breakdown in CNS zinc homeostasis suggested as part of the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, particularly in those with MRDS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian Dean
- The Molecular Psychiatry Laboratory, The Florey, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
| | - Shaun Hopper
- The Molecular Psychiatry Laboratory, The Florey, Parkville, Victoria, Australia; Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - Elizabeth Scarr
- The Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
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Longhitano C, Finlay S, Peachey I, Swift JL, Fayet-Moore F, Bartle T, Vos G, Rudd D, Shareef O, Gordon S, Azghadi MR, Campbell I, Sethi S, Palmer C, Sarnyai Z. The effects of ketogenic metabolic therapy on mental health and metabolic outcomes in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder: a randomized controlled clinical trial protocol. Front Nutr 2024; 11:1444483. [PMID: 39234289 PMCID: PMC11371693 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1444483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2024] [Accepted: 07/23/2024] [Indexed: 09/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar affective disorder are debilitating psychiatric conditions characterized by a chronic pattern of emotional, behavioral, and cognitive disturbances. Shared psychopathology includes the pre-eminence of altered affective states, disorders of thoughts, and behavioral control. Additionally, those conditions share epidemiological traits, including significant cardiovascular, metabolic, infectious, and respiratory co-morbidities, resulting in reduced life expectancy of up to 25 years. Nutritional ketosis has been successfully used to treat a range of neurological disorders and preclinical data have convincingly shown potential for its use in animal models of psychotic disorders. More recent data from open clinical trials have pointed toward a dramatic reduction in psychotic, affective, and metabolic symptoms in both schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder. Objectives to investigate the effects of nutritional ketosis via a modified ketogenic diet (MKD) over 14 weeks in stable community patients with bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophrenia. Design A randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial of 100 non-hospitalized adult participants with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophrenia who are capable of consenting and willing to change their diets. Intervention Dietitian-led and medically supervised ketogenic diet compared to a diet following the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating for 14 weeks. Outcomes The primary outcomes include psychiatric and cognitive measures, reported as symptom improvement and functional changes in the Positive and Negative Symptoms Scale (PANSS), Young Mania Rating Scale (YMS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), WHO Disability Schedule, Affect Lability Scale and the Cambridge Cognitive Battery. The secondary metabolic outcomes include changes in body weight, blood pressure, liver and kidney function tests, lipid profiles, and markers of insulin resistance. Ketone and glucose levels will be used to study the correlation between primary and secondary outcomes. Optional hair cortisol analysis will assess long-term stress and variations in fecal microbiome composition. Autonomic nervous system activity will be measured via wearable devices (OURA ring and EMBRACE wristband) in the form of skin conductance, oximetry, continuous pulse monitoring, respiratory rate, movement tracking, and sleep quality. Based on the encouraging results from established preclinical research, clinical data from other neurodevelopment disorders, and open trials in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, we predict that the ketogenic metabolic therapy will be well tolerated and result in improved psychiatric and metabolic outcomes as well as global measures of social and community functioning. We additionally predict that a correlation may exist between the level of ketosis achieved and the metabolic, cognitive, and psychiatric outcomes in the intervention group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Calogero Longhitano
- Townsville University Hospital and Health Service, Mental Health Service Group, Queensland Health, Townsville, QLD, Australia
- Laboratory of Psychiatric Neurosciences, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Science, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
- College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
| | - Sabine Finlay
- Laboratory of Psychiatric Neurosciences, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Science, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
- College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
| | - Isabella Peachey
- Laboratory of Psychiatric Neurosciences, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Science, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
- College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
| | - Jaymee-Leigh Swift
- Mater Hospital, Aurora Healthcare and James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
| | - Flavia Fayet-Moore
- School of Environmental and Life Sciences, College of Engineering, Science and Environment, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
- FoodiQ Global, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Toby Bartle
- Laboratory of Psychiatric Neurosciences, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Science, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
- College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
| | - Gideon Vos
- Laboratory of Psychiatric Neurosciences, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Science, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
- Electrical and Electronics Engineering, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
| | - Donna Rudd
- College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
| | - Omer Shareef
- Townsville University Hospital and Health Service, Mental Health Service Group, Queensland Health, Townsville, QLD, Australia
- Laboratory of Psychiatric Neurosciences, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Science, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
| | - Shaileigh Gordon
- Townsville University Hospital and Health Service, Mental Health Service Group, Queensland Health, Townsville, QLD, Australia
- Laboratory of Psychiatric Neurosciences, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Science, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
| | - Mostafa Rahimi Azghadi
- Electrical and Electronics Engineering, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
| | - Iain Campbell
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, Division of Psychiatry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Shebani Sethi
- Metabolic Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, United States
| | | | - Zoltan Sarnyai
- Laboratory of Psychiatric Neurosciences, Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Science, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
- College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
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Nussinov R, Yavuz BR, Demirel HC, Arici MK, Jang H, Tuncbag N. Review: Cancer and neurodevelopmental disorders: multi-scale reasoning and computational guide. Front Cell Dev Biol 2024; 12:1376639. [PMID: 39015651 PMCID: PMC11249571 DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1376639] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 06/10/2024] [Indexed: 07/18/2024] Open
Abstract
The connection and causality between cancer and neurodevelopmental disorders have been puzzling. How can the same cellular pathways, proteins, and mutations lead to pathologies with vastly different clinical presentations? And why do individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia, face higher chances of cancer emerging throughout their lifetime? Our broad review emphasizes the multi-scale aspect of this type of reasoning. As these examples demonstrate, rather than focusing on a specific organ system or disease, we aim at the new understanding that can be gained. Within this framework, our review calls attention to computational strategies which can be powerful in discovering connections, causalities, predicting clinical outcomes, and are vital for drug discovery. Thus, rather than centering on the clinical features, we draw on the rapidly increasing data on the molecular level, including mutations, isoforms, three-dimensional structures, and expression levels of the respective disease-associated genes. Their integrated analysis, together with chromatin states, can delineate how, despite being connected, neurodevelopmental disorders and cancer differ, and how the same mutations can lead to different clinical symptoms. Here, we seek to uncover the emerging connection between cancer, including pediatric tumors, and neurodevelopmental disorders, and the tantalizing questions that this connection raises.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruth Nussinov
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research in the Cancer Innovation Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD, United States
- Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel
| | - Bengi Ruken Yavuz
- Cancer Innovation Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD, United States
| | | | - M. Kaan Arici
- Graduate School of Informatics, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Türkiye
| | - Hyunbum Jang
- Computational Structural Biology Section, Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research in the Cancer Innovation Laboratory, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Nurcan Tuncbag
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Koc University, Istanbul, Türkiye
- School of Medicine, Koc University, Istanbul, Türkiye
- Koc University Research Center for Translational Medicine (KUTTAM), Istanbul, Türkiye
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7
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Hadler MD, Alle H, Geiger JRP. Parvalbumin interneuron cell-to-network plasticity: mechanisms and therapeutic avenues. Trends Pharmacol Sci 2024; 45:586-601. [PMID: 38763836 DOI: 10.1016/j.tips.2024.04.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2024] [Revised: 04/16/2024] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/21/2024]
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) and schizophrenia (SCZ) represent two major neuropathological conditions with a high disease burden. Despite their distinct etiologies, patients suffering from AD or SCZ share a common burden of disrupted memory functions unattended by current therapies. Recent preclinical analyses highlight cell-type-specific contributions of parvalbumin interneurons (PVIs), particularly the plasticity of their cellular excitability, towards intact neuronal network function (cell-to-network plasticity) and memory performance. Here we argue that deficits of PVI cell-to-network plasticity may underlie memory deficits in AD and SCZ, and we explore two therapeutic avenues: the targeting of PVI-specific neuromodulation, including by neuropeptides, and the recruitment of network synchrony in the gamma frequency range (40 Hz) by external stimulation. We finally propose that these approaches be merged under consideration of recent insights into human brain physiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael D Hadler
- Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany; Institute of Neurophysiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Henrik Alle
- Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany; Institute of Neurophysiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jörg R P Geiger
- Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany; Institute of Neurophysiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
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8
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Troisi A. An evolutionary analysis of the applicability and utility of the clinico-pathological method in psychiatry. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 159:105599. [PMID: 38387837 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2023] [Revised: 02/09/2024] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024]
Abstract
Unlike other medical specialties, psychiatry has not been involved in the theoretical shift that replaced the syndromal approach with the clinico-pathological method, which consists in explaining clinical manifestations by reference to morbid anatomical and physiological changes. Past and present discussions on the applicability of the clinico-pathological method in psychiatry are based on a pre-Darwinian concept of biology as the study of proximate causation. Distinguishing between mediating mechanisms and evolved functions, an evolutionary perspective offers an original contribution to the debate by overcoming the opposite views of dualism (i.e., the clinico-pathological method is not applicable to disorders of the mind) and neuroessentialism (i.e., the definitive way of explaining psychiatric disorders is by reference to the brain and its activity). An evolutionary perspective offers original insights on the utility of the clinico-pathological method to solve critical questions of psychiatric research and clinical practice, including the distinction between mental health and illness, a better understanding of the etiology and pathophysiology, the classification and differential diagnosis of psychiatric disorders, and the development of more efficacious psychiatric treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alfonso Troisi
- Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Viale Montpellier 1, Rome 00133, Italy.
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9
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Tordai C, Hathy E, Gyergyák H, Vincze K, Baradits M, Koller J, Póti Á, Jezsó B, Homolya L, Molnár MJ, Nagy L, Szüts D, Apáti Á, Réthelyi JM. Probing the biological consequences of a previously undescribed de novo mutation of ZMYND11 in a schizophrenia patient by CRISPR genome editing and induced pluripotent stem cell based in vitro disease-modeling. Schizophr Res 2024:S0920-9964(24)00024-0. [PMID: 38290943 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2024.01.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2023] [Revised: 01/10/2024] [Accepted: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a severe neuropsychiatric disorder of complex, poorly understood etiology, associated with both genetic and environmental factors. De novo mutations (DNMs) represent a new source of genetic variation in SCZ, however, in most cases their biological significance remains unclear. We sought to investigate molecular disease pathways connected to DNMs in SCZ by combining human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) based disease modeling and CRISPR-based genome editing. METHODS We selected a SCZ case-parent trio with the case individual carrying a potentially disease causing 1495C > T nonsense DNM in the zinc finger MYND domain-containing protein 11 (ZMYND11), a gene implicated in biological processes relevant for SCZ. In the patient-derived hiPSC line the mutation was corrected using CRISPR, while monoallelic or biallelic frameshift mutations were introduced into a control hiPSC line. Isogenic cell lines were differentiated into hippocampal neuronal progenitor cells (NPCs) and functionally active dentate gyrus granule cells (DGGCs). Immunofluorescence microscopy and RNA sequencing were used to test for morphological and transcriptomic differences at NPC and DGCC stages. Functionality of neurons was investigated using calcium-imaging and multi-electrode array measurements. RESULTS Morphology in the mutant hippocampal NPCs and neurons was preserved, however, we detected significant transcriptomic and functional alterations. RNA sequencing showed massive upregulation of neuronal differentiation genes, and downregulation of cell adhesion genes. Decreased reactivity to glutamate was demonstrated by calcium-imaging. CONCLUSIONS Our findings lend support to the involvement of glutamatergic dysregulation in the pathogenesis of SCZ. This approach represents a powerful model system for precision psychiatry and pharmacological research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Csongor Tordai
- Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, Research Center for Natural Sciences, 1117 Budapest, Magyar tudósok körútja 2, Budapest, Hungary; Molecular Psychiatry Research Group, Semmelweis University, 1083 Budapest, Balassa utca 6, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Edit Hathy
- Molecular Psychiatry Research Group, Semmelweis University, 1083 Budapest, Balassa utca 6, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Hella Gyergyák
- Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, Research Center for Natural Sciences, 1117 Budapest, Magyar tudósok körútja 2, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Katalin Vincze
- Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, Research Center for Natural Sciences, 1117 Budapest, Magyar tudósok körútja 2, Budapest, Hungary; Molecular Psychiatry Research Group, Semmelweis University, 1083 Budapest, Balassa utca 6, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Máté Baradits
- Molecular Psychiatry Research Group, Semmelweis University, 1083 Budapest, Balassa utca 6, Budapest, Hungary; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Semmelweis University, 1083 Budapest, Balassa utca 6, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Júlia Koller
- Molecular Psychiatry Research Group, Semmelweis University, 1083 Budapest, Balassa utca 6, Budapest, Hungary; Institute of Genomic Medicine and Rare Disorders, Semmelweis University, 1083 Budapest, Balassa utca 6, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Ádám Póti
- Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, Research Center for Natural Sciences, 1117 Budapest, Magyar tudósok körútja 2, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Bálint Jezsó
- Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, Research Center for Natural Sciences, 1117 Budapest, Magyar tudósok körútja 2, Budapest, Hungary; Doctoral School of Biology and Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, 1117 Budapest, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/c, Budapest, Hungary
| | - László Homolya
- Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, Research Center for Natural Sciences, 1117 Budapest, Magyar tudósok körútja 2, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Mária Judit Molnár
- Institute of Genomic Medicine and Rare Disorders, Semmelweis University, 1083 Budapest, Balassa utca 6, Budapest, Hungary
| | - László Nagy
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, Debrecen, Hungary
| | - Dávid Szüts
- Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, Research Center for Natural Sciences, 1117 Budapest, Magyar tudósok körútja 2, Budapest, Hungary.
| | - Ágota Apáti
- Institute of Molecular Life Sciences, Research Center for Natural Sciences, 1117 Budapest, Magyar tudósok körútja 2, Budapest, Hungary.
| | - János M Réthelyi
- Molecular Psychiatry Research Group, Semmelweis University, 1083 Budapest, Balassa utca 6, Budapest, Hungary; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Semmelweis University, 1083 Budapest, Balassa utca 6, Budapest, Hungary.
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10
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Lorca C, Fernández-Rhodes M, Sánchez Milán JA, Mulet M, Elortza F, Ramos-Miguel A, Callado LF, Meana JJ, Mur M, Batalla I, Vilella E, Serra A, Gallart-Palau X. Next-Generation Proteomics of Brain Extracellular Vesicles in Schizophrenia Provide New Clues on the Altered Molecular Connectome. Biomedicines 2024; 12:129. [PMID: 38255234 PMCID: PMC10812948 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines12010129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2023] [Revised: 12/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/05/2024] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are tiny membranous structures that mediate intercellular communication. The role(s) of these vesicles have been widely investigated in the context of neurological diseases; however, their potential implications in the neuropathology subjacent to human psychiatric disorders remain mostly unknown. Here, by using next-generation discovery-driven proteomics, we investigate the potential role(s) of brain EVs (bEVs) in schizophrenia (SZ) by analyzing these vesicles from the three post-mortem anatomical brain regions: the prefrontal cortex (PFC), hippocampus (HC), and caudate (CAU). The results obtained indicate that bEVs from SZ-affected brains contain region-specific proteins that are associated with abnormal GABAergic and glutamatergic transmission. Similarly, these vesicles from the analyzed regions were implicated in synaptic decay, abnormal brain immunity, neuron structural imbalances, and impaired cell homeostasis. Our findings also provide evidence, for the first time, that networks of molecular exchange (involving the PFC, HC, and CAU) are potentially active and mediated by EVs in non-diseased brains. Additionally, these bEV-mediated networks seem to have become partially reversed and largely disrupted in the brains of subjects affected by SZ. Taken as a whole, these results open the door to the uncovering of new biological markers and therapeutic targets, based on the compositions of bEVs, for the benefit of patients affected by SZ and related psychotic disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina Lorca
- Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida Dr. Pifarré Foundation (IRBLLEIDA), Neuroscience Area, +Pec Proteomics Research Group (+PPRG), University Hospital Arnau de Vilanova (HUAV), 80 Av. Rovira Roure, 25198 Lleida, Spain; (C.L.); (M.F.-R.); (J.A.S.M.); (M.M.)
- Department of Medical Basic Sciences, Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida Dr. Pifarré Foundation (IRBLLEIDA), +Pec Proteomics Research Group (+PPRG), University of Lleida (UdL), 25198 Lleida, Spain
| | - María Fernández-Rhodes
- Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida Dr. Pifarré Foundation (IRBLLEIDA), Neuroscience Area, +Pec Proteomics Research Group (+PPRG), University Hospital Arnau de Vilanova (HUAV), 80 Av. Rovira Roure, 25198 Lleida, Spain; (C.L.); (M.F.-R.); (J.A.S.M.); (M.M.)
- Department of Medical Basic Sciences, Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida Dr. Pifarré Foundation (IRBLLEIDA), +Pec Proteomics Research Group (+PPRG), University of Lleida (UdL), 25198 Lleida, Spain
| | - Jose Antonio Sánchez Milán
- Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida Dr. Pifarré Foundation (IRBLLEIDA), Neuroscience Area, +Pec Proteomics Research Group (+PPRG), University Hospital Arnau de Vilanova (HUAV), 80 Av. Rovira Roure, 25198 Lleida, Spain; (C.L.); (M.F.-R.); (J.A.S.M.); (M.M.)
- Department of Medical Basic Sciences, Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida Dr. Pifarré Foundation (IRBLLEIDA), +Pec Proteomics Research Group (+PPRG), University of Lleida (UdL), 25198 Lleida, Spain
| | - María Mulet
- Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida Dr. Pifarré Foundation (IRBLLEIDA), Neuroscience Area, +Pec Proteomics Research Group (+PPRG), University Hospital Arnau de Vilanova (HUAV), 80 Av. Rovira Roure, 25198 Lleida, Spain; (C.L.); (M.F.-R.); (J.A.S.M.); (M.M.)
- Department of Medical Basic Sciences, Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida Dr. Pifarré Foundation (IRBLLEIDA), +Pec Proteomics Research Group (+PPRG), University of Lleida (UdL), 25198 Lleida, Spain
| | - Félix Elortza
- Proteomics Platform, CIC bioGUNE, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), CIBERehd, Science and Technology Park of Bizkaia, 48160 Derio, Spain;
| | - Alfredo Ramos-Miguel
- Department of Pharmacology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 48940 Leioa, Spain; (A.R.-M.); (L.F.C.); (J.J.M.)
- Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, 48903 Barakaldo, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Salud Mental CIBERSAM, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 43206 Reus, Spain
| | - Luis F. Callado
- Department of Pharmacology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 48940 Leioa, Spain; (A.R.-M.); (L.F.C.); (J.J.M.)
- Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, 48903 Barakaldo, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Salud Mental CIBERSAM, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 43206 Reus, Spain
| | - J. Javier Meana
- Department of Pharmacology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, 48940 Leioa, Spain; (A.R.-M.); (L.F.C.); (J.J.M.)
- Biocruces Bizkaia Health Research Institute, 48903 Barakaldo, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Salud Mental CIBERSAM, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 43206 Reus, Spain
| | - Maria Mur
- Psychiatry Department, Hospital Universitari Santa Maria, Medicine Department, Universitat de Lleida (UdL), 25198 Lleida, Spain; (M.M.); (I.B.)
| | - Iolanda Batalla
- Psychiatry Department, Hospital Universitari Santa Maria, Medicine Department, Universitat de Lleida (UdL), 25198 Lleida, Spain; (M.M.); (I.B.)
| | - Elisabet Vilella
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Salud Mental CIBERSAM, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 43206 Reus, Spain
- Hospital Universitari Institut Pere Mata, Institut Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV)-CERCA, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43206 Reus, Spain
| | - Aida Serra
- Department of Medical Basic Sciences, Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida Dr. Pifarré Foundation (IRBLLEIDA), +Pec Proteomics Research Group (+PPRG), University of Lleida (UdL), 25198 Lleida, Spain
| | - Xavier Gallart-Palau
- Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida Dr. Pifarré Foundation (IRBLLEIDA), Neuroscience Area, +Pec Proteomics Research Group (+PPRG), University Hospital Arnau de Vilanova (HUAV), 80 Av. Rovira Roure, 25198 Lleida, Spain; (C.L.); (M.F.-R.); (J.A.S.M.); (M.M.)
- Department of Psychology, University of Lleida (UdL), 25001 Lleida, Spain
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11
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Kanwal A, Sheikh SA, Aslam F, Yaseen S, Beetham Z, Pankratz N, Clabots CR, Naz S, Pardo JV. Genome Sequencing of Consanguineous Family Implicates Ubiquitin-Specific Protease 53 ( USP53) Variant in Psychosis/Schizophrenia: Wild-Type Expression in Murine Hippocampal CA 1-3 and Granular Dentate with AMPA Synapse Interactions. Genes (Basel) 2023; 14:1921. [PMID: 37895270 PMCID: PMC10606770 DOI: 10.3390/genes14101921] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2023] [Revised: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Psychosis is a severe mental disorder characterized by abnormal thoughts and perceptions (e.g., hallucinations) occurring quintessentially in schizophrenia and in several other neuropsychiatric disorders. Schizophrenia is widely considered as a neurodevelopmental disorder that onsets during teenage/early adulthood. A multiplex consanguineous Pakistani family was afflicted with severe psychosis and apparent autosomal recessive transmission. The first-cousin parents and five children were healthy, whereas two teenage daughters were severely affected. Structured interviews confirmed the diagnosis of DSM-V schizophrenia. Probands and father underwent next-generation sequencing. All available relatives were subjected to confirmatory Sanger sequencing. Homozygosity mapping and directed a priori filtering identified only one rare variant [MAF < 5(10)-5] at a residue conserved across vertebrates. The variant was a non-catalytic deubiquitinase, USP53 (p.Cys228Arg), predicted in silico as damaging. Genome sequencing did not identify any other potentially pathogenic single nucleotide variant or structural variant. Since the literature on USP53 lacked relevance to mental illness or CNS expression, studies were conducted which revealed USP53 localization in regions of the hippocampus (CA 1-3) and granular dentate. The staining pattern was like that seen with GRIA2/GluA2 and GRIP2 antibodies. All three proteins coimmunoprecipitated. These findings support the glutamate hypothesis of schizophrenia as part of the AMPA-R interactome. If confirmed, USP53 appears to be one of the few Mendelian variants potentially causal to a common-appearing mental disorder that is a rare genetic form of schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ambreen Kanwal
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan; (A.K.); (F.A.); (S.Y.)
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, Minneapolis Veterans Health Care System, Minneapolis, MN 55417, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA
| | - Sohail A. Sheikh
- Department of Psychiatry, Hawkes Bay Hospital, Hastings 4120, New Zealand;
| | - Faiza Aslam
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan; (A.K.); (F.A.); (S.Y.)
| | - Samina Yaseen
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan; (A.K.); (F.A.); (S.Y.)
| | - Zachary Beetham
- Division of Computational Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; (Z.B.)
| | - Nathan Pankratz
- Division of Computational Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; (Z.B.)
| | - Connie R. Clabots
- Medicine Patient Service Line, Minneapolis Veterans Health Care System, Minneapolis, MN 55417, USA;
| | - Sadaf Naz
- School of Biological Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore 54590, Pakistan; (A.K.); (F.A.); (S.Y.)
| | - José V. Pardo
- Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, Minneapolis Veterans Health Care System, Minneapolis, MN 55417, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA
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12
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Forrest MP, Penzes P. Mechanisms of copy number variants in neuropsychiatric disorders: From genes to therapeutics. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2023; 82:102750. [PMID: 37515924 PMCID: PMC10529795 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2023.102750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2023] [Revised: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/31/2023]
Abstract
Copy number variants (CNVs) are genomic imbalances strongly linked to the aetiology of neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and autism. By virtue of their large size, CNVs often contain many genes, providing a multi-genic view of disease processes that can be dissected in model systems. Thus, CNV research provides an important stepping stone towards understanding polygenic disease mechanisms, positioned between monogenic and polygenic risk models. In this review, we will outline hypothetical models for gene interactions occurring within CNVs and discuss different approaches used to study rodent and stem cell disease models. We highlight recent work showing that genetic and pharmacological strategies can be used to rescue important aspects of CNV-mediated pathophysiology, which often converges onto synaptic pathways. We propose that using a rescue approach in complete CNV models provides a new path forward for precise mechanistic understanding of complex disorders and a tangible route towards therapeutic development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc P Forrest
- Department of Neuroscience, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA; Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
| | - Peter Penzes
- Department of Neuroscience, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA; Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
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13
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Kathuria A, Lopez-Lengowski K, Watmuff B, Karmacharya R. Morphological and transcriptomic analyses of stem cell-derived cortical neurons reveal mechanisms underlying synaptic dysfunction in schizophrenia. Genome Med 2023; 15:58. [PMID: 37507766 PMCID: PMC10375745 DOI: 10.1186/s13073-023-01203-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Postmortem studies in schizophrenia consistently show reduced dendritic spines in the cerebral cortex but the mechanistic underpinnings of these deficits remain unknown. Recent genome-wide association studies and exome sequencing investigations implicate synaptic genes and processes in the disease biology of schizophrenia. METHODS We generated human cortical pyramidal neurons by differentiating iPSCs of seven schizophrenia patients and seven healthy subjects, quantified dendritic spines and synapses in different cortical neuron subtypes, and carried out transcriptomic studies to identify differentially regulated genes and aberrant cellular processes in schizophrenia. RESULTS Cortical neurons expressing layer III marker CUX1, but not those expressing layer V marker CTIP2, showed significant reduction in dendritic spine density in schizophrenia, mirroring findings in postmortem studies. Transcriptomic experiments in iPSC-derived cortical neurons showed that differentially expressed genes in schizophrenia were enriched for genes implicated in schizophrenia in genome-wide association and exome sequencing studies. Moreover, most of the differentially expressed genes implicated in schizophrenia genetic studies had lower expression levels in schizophrenia cortical neurons. Network analysis of differentially expressed genes led to identification of NRXN3 as a hub gene, and follow-up experiments showed specific reduction of the NRXN3 204 isoform in schizophrenia neurons. Furthermore, overexpression of the NRXN3 204 isoform in schizophrenia neurons rescued the spine and synapse deficits in the cortical neurons while knockdown of NRXN3 204 in healthy neurons phenocopied spine and synapse deficits seen in schizophrenia cortical neurons. The antipsychotic clozapine increased expression of the NRXN3 204 isoform in schizophrenia cortical neurons and rescued the spine and synapse density deficits. CONCLUSIONS Taken together, our findings in iPSC-derived cortical neurons recapitulate cell type-specific findings in postmortem studies in schizophrenia and have led to the identification of a specific isoform of NRXN3 that modulates synaptic deficits in schizophrenia neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annie Kathuria
- Harvard University, MGH Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, CPZN6, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Chemical Biology Program, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kara Lopez-Lengowski
- Harvard University, MGH Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, CPZN6, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Chemical Biology Program, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Bradley Watmuff
- Harvard University, MGH Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, CPZN6, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Chemical Biology Program, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Rakesh Karmacharya
- Harvard University, MGH Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, 185 Cambridge Street, CPZN6, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
- Chemical Biology Program, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Program in Neuroscience, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Schizophrenia & Bipolar Disorder Program, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA.
- Program in Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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14
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Chung IH, Huang YS, Fang TH, Chen CH. Whole Genome Sequencing Revealed Inherited Rare Oligogenic Variants Contributing to Schizophrenia and Major Depressive Disorder in Two Families. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:11777. [PMID: 37511534 PMCID: PMC10380944 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241411777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2023] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Schizophrenia and affective disorder are two major complex mental disorders with high heritability. Evidence shows that rare variants with significant clinical impacts contribute to the genetic liability of these two disorders. Also, rare variants associated with schizophrenia and affective disorders are highly personalized; each patient may carry different variants. We used whole genome sequencing analysis to study the genetic basis of two families with schizophrenia and major depressive disorder. We did not detect de novo, autosomal dominant, or recessive pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants associated with psychiatric disorders in these two families. Nevertheless, we identified multiple rare inherited variants with unknown significance in the probands. In family 1, with singleton schizophrenia, we detected four rare variants in genes implicated in schizophrenia, including p.Arg1627Trp of LAMA2, p.Pro1338Ser of CSMD1, p.Arg691Gly of TLR4, and Arg182X of AGTR2. The p.Arg691Gly of TLR4 was inherited from the father, while the other three were inherited from the mother. In family 2, with two affected sisters diagnosed with major depressive disorder, we detected three rare variants shared by the two sisters in three genes implicated in affective disorders, including p.Ala4551Gly of FAT1, p.Val231Leu of HOMER3, and p.Ile185Met of GPM6B. These three rare variants were assumed to be inherited from their parents. Prompted by these findings, we suggest that these rare inherited variants may interact with each other and lead to psychiatric conditions in these two families. Our observations support the conclusion that inherited rare variants may contribute to the heritability of psychiatric disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- I-Hang Chung
- Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Linkou, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan
| | - Yu-Shu Huang
- Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Linkou, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan
- Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan
| | - Ting-Hsuan Fang
- Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Linkou, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan
| | - Chia-Hsiang Chen
- Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Linkou, Taoyuan 333, Taiwan
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15
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Witte K, Schneider-Burrus S, Salinas G, Mössner R, Ghoreschi K, Wolk K, Sabat R. Blood T Helper Memory Cells: A Tool for Studying Skin Inflammation in HS? Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24108854. [PMID: 37240200 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24108854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2023] [Revised: 05/04/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is an inflammatory skin disease characterized by painful lesions on intertriginous body areas such as the axillary, inguinal, and perianal sites. Given the limited treatment options for HS, expanding our knowledge of its pathogenetic mechanisms is a prerequisite for novel therapeutic developments. T cells are assumed to play a crucial role in HS pathogenesis. However, it is currently unknown whether blood T cells show specific molecular alterations in HS. To address this, we studied the molecular profile of CD4+ memory T (Thmem) cells purified from the blood of patients with HS and matched healthy participants. About 2.0% and 1.9% of protein-coding transcripts were found to be up- and down-regulated in blood HS Thmem cells, respectively. These differentially expressed transcripts (DETs) are known to be involved in nucleoside triphosphate/nucleotide metabolic processes, mitochondrion organization, and oxidative phosphorylation. The detected down-regulation of transcripts involved in oxidative phosphorylation suggest a metabolic shift of HS Thmem cells towards glycolysis. The inclusion of transcriptome data from skin from HS patients and healthy participants in the analyses revealed that in HS skin lesions, the expression pattern of transcripts identified as DETs in blood HS Thmem cells was very similar to the expression pattern of the totality of protein-coding transcripts. Furthermore, there was no significant association between the extent of the expressional changes in the DETs of blood HS Thmem cells and the extent of the expressional changes in these transcripts in HS skin lesions compared to healthy donor skin. Additionally, a gene ontology enrichment analysis did not demonstrate any association of the DETs of blood HS Thmem cells with skin disorders. Instead, there were associations with different neurological diseases, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and thermogenesis. The levels of most DETs linked to neurological diseases showed a positive correlation to each other, suggesting common regulatory mechanisms. In summary, the transcriptomic changes in blood Thmem cells observed in patients with manifest cutaneous HS lesions do not appear to be characteristic of the molecular changes in the skin. Instead, they could be useful for studying comorbidities and identifying corresponding blood biomarkers in these patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katrin Witte
- Psoriasis Research and Treatment Center, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Interdisciplinary Group of Molecular Immunopathology, Dermatology/Medical Immunology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Berlin Institute of Health Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT), Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 13353 Berlin, Germany
| | - Sylke Schneider-Burrus
- Psoriasis Research and Treatment Center, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Center for Dermatosurgery, Havelklinik Berlin, 13595 Berlin, Germany
| | - Gabriela Salinas
- NGS-Integrative Genomics Core Unit, Institute of Human Genetics, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Rotraut Mössner
- Department of Dermatology, Georg-August-University Goettingen, 37073 Goettingen, Germany
| | - Kamran Ghoreschi
- Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
| | - Kerstin Wolk
- Psoriasis Research and Treatment Center, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Interdisciplinary Group of Molecular Immunopathology, Dermatology/Medical Immunology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Berlin Institute of Health Center for Regenerative Therapies (BCRT), Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 13353 Berlin, Germany
| | - Robert Sabat
- Psoriasis Research and Treatment Center, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
- Interdisciplinary Group of Molecular Immunopathology, Dermatology/Medical Immunology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany
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