Project description:Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are two neurodegenerative diseases linked, at the pathologic and genetic level, to the macrutubule associated protein tau. We identified and replicated a dose-dependent effect of the risk-associated H1 haplotype on methylation levels within the region in independent datasets in blood and brain. These data reveal that the H1 haplotype increases risk for tauopathy via differential methylation, indicating a mediating role for methylation in dementia pathophysiology. We studied epigenetic changes (DNA methylation levels) in peripheral blood from patients with PSP, FTD, and unaffected controls. Analysis of genome-wide methylation patterns revealed significant differentially methylated probes in patients versus unaffected controls.
Project description:We performed a pooled CRISPRi screen (CROP-seq) and genome editing to validate 19 genetic variants prioritized from massively parallel reporter assays to screen 5,706 polymorphisms from genome-wide association studies for both Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) across 11 distinct loci. This allowed us to pinpoint regulatory targets in a cell-type specific manner.
Project description:Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are two neurodegenerative diseases linked, at the pathologic and genetic level, to the macrutubule associated protein tau. We identified and replicated a dose-dependent effect of the risk-associated H1 haplotype on methylation levels within the region in independent datasets in blood and brain. These data reveal that the H1 haplotype increases risk for tauopathy via differential methylation, indicating a mediating role for methylation in dementia pathophysiology.
Project description:Genome wide Methylation profiling of DNA extracted from post-mortem forebrains of PSP patients (n=94) and of controls (n=72). The Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip was used representing 485,000 potentially methylated CpG sites throughout the genome.
Project description:Gene methylation profiling of immortalized human mesenchymal stem cells comparing HPV E6/E7-transfected MSCs cells with human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)- and HPV E6/E7-transfected MSCs. hTERT may increase gene methylation in MSCs. Goal was to determine the effects of different transfected genes on global gene methylation in MSCs.
Project description:In these studies, we used splice variant-specific microarrays manufactured by the ExonHit company ( www.exonhit.com) on the Affymetrix platform. The goal was to identify splice isoforms whose expression is altered in whole blood of early-stage ParkinsonM-bM-^@M-^Ys disease patients compared to healthy and neurodegenerative disease controls. The study included 19 cases of ParkinsonM-bM-^@M-^Ys disease (PD) samples, 4 of multiple system atrophy (MSA), 4 progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and 10 healthy controls. Thirteen splice variants were confirmed in quantitative polymerase chain reactions and used to classify blinded samples from ParkinsonM-bM-^@M-^Ys disease patients and controls with 90% accuracy and 94% sensitivity. In these studies, we used splice variant-specific microarrays manufactured by the ExonHit company ( www.exonhit.com) on the Affymetrix platform. The study included 19 cases of ParkinsonM-bM-^@M-^Ys disease (PD) samples and 20 control samples including 4 cases of multiple system atrophy (MSA), 4 progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and 12 healthy controls. Splice isoforms differentially expressed in PD vs any other control group were identified and validated using real-time quantitative PCR on two independent sets of 33 coded and 53 blinded samples.
Project description:Deciphering the pathophysiological mechanisms that lead from the alteration of human Tau biology to neuronal death in tauopathies including Alzheimer's disease (AD), fronto-temporal dementia with parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17), Pick's disease (PiD), corticobasal degeneration (CBD) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) depends notably on the identification of Tau cellular partners and a better understanding of Tau functions. In this aim, we performed gene expression profiling to identify upregulated and downregulated genes in response to ectopic induced expression for 3 days of human Tau0N4RWT protein in Drosophila primary neuronal cultures from Elav-GAL4GS larval brains.
Project description:Gene methylation profiling of immortalized human mesenchymal stem cells comparing HPV E6/E7-transfected MSCs cells with human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)- and HPV E6/E7-transfected MSCs. hTERT may increase gene methylation in MSCs. Goal was to determine the effects of different transfected genes on global gene methylation in MSCs. Two-condition experiment, KP MSCs vs. 3A6 MSCs.
Project description:Background: Microarray technology may offer a new opportunity to gain insight into disease-specific global protein expression profiles. The present study was performed to apply a serum cytokine-array to screen for potential molecular biomarkers for Parkinson's disease (PD), multiple system atrophy (MSA), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal syndrome (CBS). Methodology/Principal Findings: Serum samples were obtained from patients with clinical diagnoses of PD (n=117), MSA (n=31) and PSP/CBS (n=38) and 99 controls. Cytokine profiles of sera of patients and controls were analyzed with a semiquantitative human cytokine antibody array. In a next step, significantly altered cytokines were individually validated by immunoassays. The cytokine array revealed a significantly altered expression of 12 cytokines. Immunoassay validation confirmed a significant increase of PDGF-BB in PSP/CBS, MSA and PD and a decrease of Prolactin in PD (Kruskal-Wallis p<0.05). A multivariate analysis taking into account diagnoses anti-Parkinsonian treatment, sex and age revealed that PDGF-BB levels were influenced only by the diagnoses (p<0.001), whereas Prolactin levels were influenced only by anti-Parkinsonian treatment (p<0.001). These findings could be corroborated by a subgroup analysis in untreated patients. Conclusions/Significance: In our unbiased cytokine array screening approach we found PDGF-BB to be elevated in PSP/CBS, MSA and PD. Increased PDGF-BB levels might be of relevance in a model of molecular biomarkers for Parkinsonian syndromes. Screen serum samples from patients with Parkinson's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal syndrome, multisystem atrophy and controls for deregulation of serum proteins using a cytokine-array detecting 174 secreted signaling proteins.
Project description:Background: Microarray technology may offer a new opportunity to gain insight into disease-specific global protein expression profiles. The present study was performed to apply a serum cytokine-array to screen for potential molecular biomarkers for Parkinson's disease (PD), multiple system atrophy (MSA), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal syndrome (CBS). Methodology/Principal Findings: Serum samples were obtained from patients with clinical diagnoses of PD (n=117), MSA (n=31) and PSP/CBS (n=38) and 99 controls. Cytokine profiles of sera of patients and controls were analyzed with a semiquantitative human cytokine antibody array. In a next step, significantly altered cytokines were individually validated by immunoassays. The cytokine array revealed a significantly altered expression of 12 cytokines. Immunoassay validation confirmed a significant increase of PDGF-BB in PSP/CBS, MSA and PD and a decrease of Prolactin in PD (Kruskal-Wallis p<0.05). A multivariate analysis taking into account diagnoses anti-Parkinsonian treatment, sex and age revealed that PDGF-BB levels were influenced only by the diagnoses (p<0.001), whereas Prolactin levels were influenced only by anti-Parkinsonian treatment (p<0.001). These findings could be corroborated by a subgroup analysis in untreated patients. Conclusions/Significance: In our unbiased cytokine array screening approach we found PDGF-BB to be elevated in PSP/CBS, MSA and PD. Increased PDGF-BB levels might be of relevance in a model of molecular biomarkers for Parkinsonian syndromes. Screen serum samples from patients with Parkinson's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy, corticobasal syndrome, multisystem atrophy and controls for deregulation of serum proteins using a cytokine-array detecting 174 secreted signaling proteins.