| 1. |
- Guerreiro, R., et al.
(författare)
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Heritability and genetic variance of dementia with Lewy bodies
- 2019
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Disease. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-9961. ; 127, s. 492-501
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent large-scale genetic studies have allowed for the first glimpse of the effects of common genetic variability in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), identifying risk variants with appreciable effect sizes. However, it is currently well established that a substantial portion of the genetic heritable component of complex traits is not captured by genome-wide significant SNPs. To overcome this issue, we have estimated the proportion of phenotypic variance explained by genetic variability (SNP heritability) in DLB using a method that is unbiased by allele frequency or linkage disequilibrium properties of the underlying variants. This shows that the heritability of DLB is nearly twice as high as previous estimates based on common variants only (31% vs 59.9%). We also determine the amount of phenotypic variance in DLB that can be explained by recent polygenic risk scores from either Parkinson's disease (PD) or Alzheimer's disease (AD), and show that, despite being highly significant, they explain a low amount of variance. Additionally, to identify pleiotropic events that might improve our understanding of the disease, we performed genetic correlation analyses of DLB with over 200 diseases and biomedically relevant traits. Our data shows that DLB has a positive correlation with education phenotypes, which is opposite to what occurs in AD. Overall, our data suggests that novel genetic risk factors for DLB should be identified by larger GWAS and these are likely to be independent from known AD and PD risk variants. © 2019 Elsevier Inc.
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| 2. |
- Guerreiro, R., et al.
(författare)
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Investigating the genetic architecture of dementia with Lewy bodies: a two-stage genome-wide association study
- 2018
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Ingår i: Lancet Neurology. - 1474-4422. ; 17:1, s. 64-74
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Dementia with Lewy bodies is the second most common form of dementia in elderly people but has been overshadowed in the research field, partly because of similarities between dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. So far, to our knowledge, no large-scale genetic study of dementia with Lewy bodies has been done. To better understand the genetic basis of dementia with Lewy bodies, we have done a genome-wide association study with the aim of identifying genetic risk factors for this disorder. Methods In this two-stage genome-wide association study, we collected samples from white participants of European ancestry who had been diagnosed with dementia with Lewy bodies according to established clinical or pathological criteria. In the discovery stage (with the case cohort recruited from 22 centres in ten countries and the controls derived from two publicly available database of Genotypes and Phenotypes studies [phs000404.v1.p1 and phs000982.v1.p1] in the USA), we performed genotyping and exploited the recently established Haplotype Reference Consortium panel as the basis for imputation. Pathological samples were ascertained following autopsy in each individual brain bank, whereas clinical samples were collected after participant examination. There was no specific timeframe for collection of samples. We did association analyses in all participants with dementia with Lewy bodies, and also only in participants with pathological diagnosis. In the replication stage, we performed genotyping of significant and suggestive results from the discovery stage. Lastly, we did a meta-analysis of both stages under a fixed-effects model and used logistic regression to test for association in each stage. Findings This study included 1743 patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (1324 with pathological diagnosis) and 4454 controls (1216 patients with dementia with Lewy bodies vs 3791 controls in the discovery stage; 527 vs 663 in the replication stage). Results confirm previously reported associations: APOE (rs429358; odds ratio [OR] 2.40, 95% CI 2.14-2.70; p=1.05 x 10-48), SNCA (rs7681440; OR 0.73, 0.66-0.81; p=6.39 x 10(-10)), and GBA (rs35749011; OR 2.55, 1.88-3.46; p=1.78 x 10(-9)). They also provide some evidence for a novel candidate locus, namely CNTN1 (rs7314908; OR 1.51, 1.27-1.79; p=2.32 x 10(-6)); further replication will be important. Additionally, we estimate the heritable component of dementia with Lewy bodies to be about 36%. Interpretation Despite the small sample size for a genome-wide association study, and acknowledging the potential biases from ascertaining samples from multiple locations, we present the most comprehensive and well powered genetic study in dementia with Lewy bodies so far. These data show that common genetic variability has a role in the disease.
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| 3. |
- Murray, C. E., et al.
(författare)
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The presubiculum is preserved from neurodegenerative changes in Alzheimer's disease
- 2018
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Ingår i: Acta Neuropathologica Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2051-5960. ; 6:62
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the majority of affected brain regions the pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are beta-amyloid (A beta) deposits in the form of diffuse and neuritic plaques, tau pathology in the form of neurofibrillary tangles, neuropil threads and plaque-associated abnormal neurites in combination with an inflammatory response. However, the anatomical area of the presubiculum, is characterised by the presence of a single large evenly distributed 'lake-like' A beta deposit with minimal tau deposition or accumulation of inflammatory markers. Post-mortem brain samples from sporadic AD (SAD) and familial AD (FAD) and two hereditary cerebral amyloid diseases, familial British dementia (FBD) and familial Danish dementia (FDD) were used to compare the morphology of the extracellular proteins deposited in the presubiculum compared to the entorhinal cortex. The level of tau pathology and the extent of microglial activation were quantitated in the two brain regions in SAD and FAD. Frozen tissue was used to investigate the A beta species and proteomic differences between the two regions. Consistent with our previous investigations of FBD and FDD cases we were able to establish that the 'lake-like' pre-amyloid deposits of the presubiculum were not a unique feature of AD but they also found two non-A beta amyloidosis. Comparing the presubiculum to the entorhinal cortex the number of neurofibrillary tangles and tau load were significantly reduced; there was a reduction in microglial activation; there were differences in the A beta profiles and the investigation of the whole proteome showed significant changes in different protein pathways. In summary, understanding why the presubiculum has a different morphological appearance, biochemical and proteomic makeup compared to surrounding brain regions severely affected by neurodegeneration could lead us to understanding protective mechanisms in neurodegenerative diseases.
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| 4. |
- Portelius, Erik, 1977, et al.
(författare)
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Brain Amyloid-Beta Fragment Signatures in Pathological Ageing and Alzheimer's Disease by Hybrid Immunoprecipitation Mass Spectrometry
- 2015
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Ingår i: Neurodegenerative Diseases. - : S. Karger AG. - 1660-2854 .- 1660-2862. ; 15:1, s. 50-57
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Senile plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD) are composed of amyloid-beta (A beta) especially N-truncated forms including A beta(4-42). These are thought to be neurotoxic. However, individuals may live for decades with biomarker evidence of cerebral beta-amyloidosis (positive amyloid PET imaging and/or low cerebrospinal fluid levels of the 42 amino acid form of A beta) without cognitive impairment. This condition may be termed pathological ageing (PA). Objective: To investigate whether there is a difference in the cerebral A beta fragment pattern in brain specimens from non-demented (PA) and demented (AD) individuals expressing the full neuropathological triad of AD (senile plaques, neurofibrillary tangles and neurodegeneration). Methods: We extracted A beta using formic acid and hybrid (6E10 and 4G8) immunoprecipitation from fresh-frozen temporal cortex tissue of 6 elderly individuals (mean age +/- SD:89 +/- 3.5 years) with PA and 10 patients with AD (mean age +/- SD: 72 +/- 8.5 years). The full spectrum of A beta peptides was determined by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Results: AD patients had generally more N-terminally truncated and pyroglutamate-modified A beta than PA patients, whereas PA patients had on average more A beta(1-40) than AD patients. Conclusion: Senile plaques in AD may have an AB fragment composition distinct from PA with more N-terminally and pyroglutamate-modified A beta peptides that may be linked to neurotoxicity. (C) 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel
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| 5. |
- Bhattacharjee, Payel, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Lewy Body-Enriched alpha-Synuclein in Parkinson's Disease
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Proteome Research. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1535-3893 .- 1535-3907. ; 18:5, s. 2109-2120
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by intraneuronal inclusions of aggregated alpha-synuclein protein (so-called Lewy bodies) in distinct brain regions. Multiple posttranslational modifications may affect the structure and function of alpha-synuclein. Mass spectrometry-based analysis may be useful for the characterization and quantitation of alpha-synuclein forms, but has proven challenging, mainly due to the insolubility of Lewy bodies in aqueous buffer. In the present study, we developed a novel method by combining differential solubilization with immunoprecipitation and targeted proteomics using liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. Brain tissue homogenization and sample preparation were modified to facilitate analysis of soluble, detergent-soluble, and detergent-insoluble protein fractions (Lewy body-enriched). The method was used to compare alpha-synuclein forms from cingulate cortex (affected) and occipital cortex (unaffected) in two study sets of PD patients and controls. We identified similar to 20 modified alpha-synuclein variants, including species with N-terminal acetylation and C-terminal truncations at amino acids 103 and 119. The levels of alpha-synuclein forms Ac-alpha-syn(1-6), alpha-syn(13-21), alpha-syn(35-43), alpha-syn(46-58), alpha-syn(61-80), and alpha-syn(81-96) except alpha-syn(103-119) were significantly increased in PD cingulate region compared to controls in the Lewy body-enriched alpha-synuclein fraction. In the soluble fraction, only Ac-alpha-syn(1-6) was significantly increased in PD compared to controls. None of the detected alpha-synuclein variants were Lewy body-specific, but acetylated forms should be examined further as potential biomarkers for abnormal alpha-synuclein accumulation.
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| 6. |
- Lashley, T., et al.
(författare)
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Molecular biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease: progress and prospects
- 2018
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Ingår i: Disease Models & Mechanisms. - : The Company of Biologists. - 1754-8403 .- 1754-8411. ; 11:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The neurodegenerative disorder Alzheimer's disease is characterised by the formation of beta-amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain parenchyma, which cause synapse and neuronal loss. This leads to clinical symptoms, such as progressive memory deficits. Clinically, these pathological changes can be detected in the cerebrospinal fluid and with brain imaging, although reliable blood tests for plaque and tangle pathologies remain to be developed. Plaques and tangles often co-exist with other brain pathologies, including aggregates of transactive response DNA-binding protein 43 and Lewy bodies, but the extent to which these contribute to the severity of Alzheimer's disease is currently unknown. In this 'At a glance' article and poster, we summarise the molecular biornarkers that are being developed to detect Alzheimer's disease and its related pathologies. We also highlight the biornarkers that are currently in clinical use and include a critical appraisal of the challenges associated with applying these biornarkers for diagnostic and prognostic purposes of Alzheimer's disease and related neurodegenerative disorders, also in their prodromal clinical phases.
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