1
|
Shvetcov A, Thomson S, Spathos J, Cho AN, Wilkins HM, Andrews SJ, Delerue F, Couttas TA, Issar JK, Isik F, Kaur S, Drummond E, Dobson-Stone C, Duffy SL, Rogers NM, Catchpoole D, Gold WA, Swerdlow RH, Brown DA, Finney CA. Blood-Based Transcriptomic Biomarkers Are Predictive of Neurodegeneration Rather Than Alzheimer's Disease. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:15011. [PMID: 37834458 PMCID: PMC10573468 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241915011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2023] [Revised: 10/06/2023] [Accepted: 10/07/2023] [Indexed: 10/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a growing global health crisis affecting millions and incurring substantial economic costs. However, clinical diagnosis remains challenging, with misdiagnoses and underdiagnoses being prevalent. There is an increased focus on putative, blood-based biomarkers that may be useful for the diagnosis as well as early detection of AD. In the present study, we used an unbiased combination of machine learning and functional network analyses to identify blood gene biomarker candidates in AD. Using supervised machine learning, we also determined whether these candidates were indeed unique to AD or whether they were indicative of other neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Our analyses showed that genes involved in spliceosome assembly, RNA binding, transcription, protein synthesis, mitoribosomes, and NADH dehydrogenase were the best-performing genes for identifying AD patients relative to cognitively healthy controls. This transcriptomic signature, however, was not unique to AD, and subsequent machine learning showed that this signature could also predict PD and ALS relative to controls without neurodegenerative disease. Combined, our results suggest that mRNA from whole blood can indeed be used to screen for patients with neurodegeneration but may be less effective in diagnosing the specific neurodegenerative disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Artur Shvetcov
- Department of Psychological Medicine, Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia
- Discipline of Psychiatry and Mental Health, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
| | - Shannon Thomson
- Neuroinflammation Research Group, Centre for Immunology and Allergy Research, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia
- School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia
| | - Jessica Spathos
- Neuroinflammation Research Group, Centre for Immunology and Allergy Research, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia
| | - Ann-Na Cho
- Dementia Research Centre, Macquarie Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Heather M. Wilkins
- University of Kansas Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centre, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Kansas Medical Centre, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of Kansas Medical Centre, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA
| | - Shea J. Andrews
- Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
| | - Fabien Delerue
- Department of Genetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Timothy A. Couttas
- Brain and Mind Centre, Translational Research Collective, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia
| | - Jasmeen Kaur Issar
- Molecular Neurobiology Research Laboratory, Kids Research, Children’s Medical Research Institute, Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
- Kids Neuroscience Centre, Kids Research, Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
- Sydney Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia
| | - Finula Isik
- Neuroinflammation Research Group, Centre for Immunology and Allergy Research, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia
- School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia
| | - Simranpreet Kaur
- Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Royal Children’s Hospital, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
| | - Eleanor Drummond
- School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia
| | - Carol Dobson-Stone
- School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia
- Brain and Mind Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia
| | - Shantel L. Duffy
- Allied Health, Research and Strategic Partnerships, Nepean Blue Mountains Local Health District, Penrith, NSW 2750, Australia
| | - Natasha M. Rogers
- Centre for Transplant and Renal Research, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia
- Renal and Transplant Medicine Unit, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
- Westmead Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia
| | - Daniel Catchpoole
- The Tumor Bank, Kids Research, Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
- Children’s Cancer Research Institute, Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
| | - Wendy A. Gold
- School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia
- Molecular Neurobiology Research Laboratory, Kids Research, Children’s Medical Research Institute, Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
- Kids Neuroscience Centre, Kids Research, Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Westmead, NSW 2145, Australia
| | - Russell H. Swerdlow
- University of Kansas Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centre, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Kansas Medical Centre, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of Kansas Medical Centre, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA
- Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Kansas Medical Centre, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA
| | - David A. Brown
- Neuroinflammation Research Group, Centre for Immunology and Allergy Research, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia
- Westmead Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia
- Department of Immunopathology, Institute for Clinical Pathology and Medical Research-New South Wales Health Pathology, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia
| | - Caitlin A. Finney
- Neuroinflammation Research Group, Centre for Immunology and Allergy Research, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia
- School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2050, Australia
| |
Collapse
|