Project description:Huntington’s disease (HD) is an incurable hereditary neurodegenerative disorder, which manifests itself as a loss of GABAergic medium spiny (GABA MS) neurons in the striatum and caused by an expansion of the CAG repeat in exon 1 of the huntingtin gene. There is no cure for HD, existing pharmaceutical can only relieve its symptoms. Here, induced pluripotent stem cells were established from patients with low CAG repeat expansion in the huntingtin gene, and were then efficiently differentiated into GABA MS-like neurons under defined culture conditions. Analysis of differentially expressed genes between Huntington’s disease and wild type iPSCs derived GABA MS-like neurons has been performed.
Project description:Compared the global gene expression profiles of HD- and CON-iPSC-derived neurons We used microarrays to detail the global programme of gene expression for comparing the global gene expression profiles of HD- and CON-iPSC-derived neurons and facilitating studies of medium spiny neurons (MSN)-degenerative processes of Huntington's Disease (HD). By using a step-wise in vitro differentiation protocol combining EB formation, neural induction by small molecules, treatment with inhibitors of the TGFß pathway (SB431542) and the BMP pathway (LDN193189), and mechanical isolation/purification of neural progenitors and neurons, we induced 60-70% of control iPSCs or HD-iPSCs to differentiate into GABA- and DARPP-32- double positive neurons.
Project description:Fibroblasts from patients with Type I bipolar disorder (BPD) and their unaffected siblings were obtained from an Old Order Amish pedigree with a high incidence of BPD and reprogrammed to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Established iPSCs were subsequently differentiated into neuroprogenitors (NPs) and then to neurons. Transcriptomic microarray analysis was conducted on RNA samples from iPSCs, NPs and neurons matured in culture for either 2 weeks (termed early neurons, E) or 4 weeks (termed late neurons, L). Global RNA profiling indicated that BPD and control iPSCs differentiated into NPs and neurons at a similar rate, enabling studies of differentially expressed genes in neurons from controls and BPD cases. Significant disease-associated differences in gene expression were observed only in L neurons. Specifically, 328 genes were differentially expressed between BPD and control L neurons including GAD1, glutamate decarboxylase 1 (2.5 fold) and SCN4B, the voltage gated type IV sodium channel beta subunit (-14.6 fold). Quantitative RT-PCR confirmed the up-regulation of GAD1 in BPD compared to control L neurons. Gene Ontology, GeneGo and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis of differentially regulated genes in L neurons suggest that alterations in RNA biosynthesis and metabolism, protein trafficking as well as receptor signaling pathways GSK3β signaling may play an important role in the pathophysiology of BPD. Samples for each of four iPSCs, NPs and neurons matured in culture for either 2 weeks (termed early neurons, E) or 4 weeks (termed late neurons, L) were analyzed
Project description:Fibroblasts from patients with Type I bipolar disorder (BPD) and their unaffected siblings were obtained from an Old Order Amish pedigree with a high incidence of BPD and reprogrammed to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Established iPSCs were subsequently differentiated into neuroprogenitors (NPs) and then to neurons. Transcriptomic microarray analysis was conducted on RNA samples from iPSCs, NPs and neurons matured in culture for either 2 weeks (termed early neurons, E) or 4 weeks (termed late neurons, L). Global RNA profiling indicated that BPD and control iPSCs differentiated into NPs and neurons at a similar rate, enabling studies of differentially expressed genes in neurons from controls and BPD cases. Significant disease-associated differences in gene expression were observed only in L neurons. Specifically, 328 genes were differentially expressed between BPD and control L neurons including GAD1, glutamate decarboxylase 1 (2.5 fold) and SCN4B, the voltage gated type IV sodium channel beta subunit (-14.6 fold). Quantitative RT-PCR confirmed the up-regulation of GAD1 in BPD compared to control L neurons. Gene Ontology, GeneGo and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis of differentially regulated genes in L neurons suggest that alterations in RNA biosynthesis and metabolism, protein trafficking as well as receptor signaling pathways GSK3β signaling may play an important role in the pathophysiology of BPD.
Project description:Huntington’s disease is caused by a trinucleotide CAG repeat expansion in the HTT gene. Despite displaying autosomal dominance, phenotypic variation exists amongst mutation carriers, in particular relating to the age that symptoms first occur. This variation is predominantly driven by an inverse relationship between CAG expansion size and age of symptom onset. However, the majority of variation in age of onset is thought to be driven by environmental influences, independently of CAG repeat length. Since DNA methylation can be altered by environmental factors, and as methylomic variation is reported in other neurodegenerative diseases, it may offer a potential mechanism underlying disease manifestation. Here, we present the first epigenome-wide association study of Huntington’s disease conducted in the striatum, the primary region of neuropathology, along with the entorhinal cortex and cerebellum in 42 individuals (22 control; 20 Huntington’s disease) on the Illumina EPIC v1 array. We identified seven Bonferroni-significant differentially methylated CpGs within the striatum along with 27 differentially methylated regions. Weighted gene correlation network analysis identified six modules of co-methylated CpGs that were associated with Huntington’s disease, with ontological analyses showing enrichment in disease relevant processes. Furthermore, integration of single-nuclei RNA sequencing data highlighted that genes annotated to these modules are enriched in striatal spiny projection neurons, the primary cell types affected in the disease. These results suggest that DNA methylation is altered at loci associated with Huntington’s disease in disease relevant regions and cell types.
Project description:In this exploratory study, we used laser microdissection to extract dopaminergic neurons from 10 human SNpc samples obtained at autopsy in Parkinson’s disease patients and control subjects. Extracted RNA and proteins were identified by RNA sequencing and nano-LC-MS/MS, respectively, and the differential expression between Parkinson’s disease and control group was assessed.
Project description:Huntington's disease is caused by an expanded CAG repeat in the huntingtin gene, yeilding a Huntingtin protein with an expanded polyglutamine tract. Patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can help understand disease; however, defining pathological biomarkers in challanging. Here we used LC-MS/MS to determine differences in mitochondrial proteome between iPSC-derived neurons from healthy donors and Huntington's disease patients.
Project description:Gene transcripts and proteins expressed during disease pathogenesis identify targets for therapy. We performed microarray analysis of histologically characterized multiple sclerosis (MS) brain lesions in comparison with control brain samples to identify differentially expressed molecules. We identified CD47 as a target of interest and studied its biology in MS and EAE.