Project description:Molecular pathology of Colorectal Cancer: Investigating the role of novel molecular profiles, microRNA’s and their targets in Colorectal Cancer progression
Project description:Recently genome-wide association studies have identified significant association between Alzheimer’s disease and variations in CLU, PICALM, BIN1, CR1, MS4A4/MS4A6E, CD2AP, CD33, EPHA1 and ABCA7. However, the pathogenic variants in these loci have not yet been found. We conducted a genome-wide scan for large copy number variations (CNVs) in a dataset of Caribbean Hispanic origin (554 controls and 559 cases with late-onset Alzheimer’s disease) that was previously investigated in a SNP-based genome-wide association study using Illumina HumanHap 650Y platform. We ran four CNV calling algorithms and analyzed rare large CNVs (>100 Kb) to obtain high-confidence calls that were detected by at least two algorithms. In total, 734 such CNVs were observed in our dataset. Global burden analyses did not reveal significant differences between cases and controls in CNV rate, distribution of deletions or duplications, total or average CNV size; and number of genes affected by CNVs. However, we observed a nominal association between Alzheimer’s disease and a ~470 Kb duplication on chromosome15q11.2 (P=0.037). This duplication, encompassing up to five genes (TUBGCP5, CYFIP1, NIPA2, NIPA1 and WHAMML1) was present in 10 cases (2.6%) and 3 controls (0.8%). The dosage increase of CYFIP1 and NIPA1 genes was further confirmed by quantitative PCR. The current study did not detect CNVs (including common CNVs) that affect novel Alzheimer’s disease loci reported by large genome-wide association studies. However, since the array technology used in our study has limitations in detecting small CNVs, future studies must carefully assess novel AD associated genes for the presence of disease related CNVs. Case-control analysis, screening of large copy number variation in 559 Alzheimer cases and 554 control subjects of Caribbean Hispanic ancestry
Project description:Microarray analyses of laser-captured hippocampus reveal distinct gray and white matter signatures associated with incipient Alzheimer’s disease
Project description:Neural stem cells (NSCs) constitute the reservoir for new cells and might be harnessed for stem cell-based regenerative therapies. Zebrafish has remarkable ability to regenerate its brain by inducing NSC plasticity upon Alzheimer’s pathology. We recently identified that NSCs enhance their proliferation and neurogenic outcome in an Amyloid-beta42-based (Aβ42) experimental Alzheimer’s disease model in zebrafish brain and Interleukin-4 (IL4) is a critical molecule for inducing NSC proliferation in AD conditions. However, the mechanisms by which Aβ42 and IL4 affect NSCs remained unknown. Using single cell transcriptomics, we determined distinct subtypes of NSCs and neurons in adult zebrafish brain, identified differentially expressed genes after Aβ42 and IL4 treatments, analyzed the gene ontology and pathways that are affected by Aβ42 and IL4, and investigated how cell-cell communication is altered through secreted molecules and their receptors. Our results constitute the most extensive resource in the Alzheimer’s disease model of adult zebrafish brain, are likely to provide unique insights into how Aβ42/IL4 affects NSC plasticity and yield in novel drug targets for mobilizing neural stem cells for endogenous neuro-regeneration.
Project description:Molecular mechanisms underlying retinal degeneration are not well characterized including in the widely utilized Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat model of retinal degeneration. To better understand molecular pathways driving retinal degeneration we performed mRNA transcriptomics on RCS retinas following the natural progression of the disease. This data can identify novel therapeutic targets for future development.