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| 2. |
- Alic, I., et al.
(författare)
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Patient-specific Alzheimer-like pathology in trisomy 21 cerebral organoids reveals BACE2 as a gene dose-sensitive AD suppressor in human brain
- 2021
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Ingår i: Molecular Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1359-4184 .- 1476-5578. ; 26:10, s. 5766-5788
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A population of more than six million people worldwide at high risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are those with Down Syndrome (DS, caused by trisomy 21 (T21)), 70% of whom develop dementia during lifetime, caused by an extra copy of beta-amyloid-(A beta)-precursor-protein gene. We report AD-like pathology in cerebral organoids grown in vitro from non-invasively sampled strands of hair from 71% of DS donors. The pathology consisted of extracellular diffuse and fibrillar A beta deposits, hyperphosphorylated/pathologically conformed Tau, and premature neuronal loss. Presence/absence of AD-like pathology was donor-specific (reproducible between individual organoids/iPSC lines/experiments). Pathology could be triggered in pathology-negative T21 organoids by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated elimination of the third copy of chromosome 21 gene BACE2, but prevented by combined chemical beta and gamma-secretase inhibition. We found that T21 organoids secrete increased proportions of A beta-preventing (A beta 1-19) and A beta-degradation products (A beta 1-20 and A beta 1-34). We show these profiles mirror in cerebrospinal fluid of people with DS. We demonstrate that this protective mechanism is mediated by BACE2-trisomy and cross-inhibited by clinically trialled BACE1 inhibitors. Combined, our data prove the physiological role of BACE2 as a dose-sensitive AD-suppressor gene, potentially explaining the dementia delay in similar to 30% of people with DS. We also show that DS cerebral organoids could be explored as pre-morbid AD-risk population detector and a system for hypothesis-free drug screens as well as identification of natural suppressor genes for neurodegenerative diseases.
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| 3. |
- Amare, A. T., et al.
(författare)
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Association of polygenic score for major depression with response to lithium in patients with bipolar disorder
- 2021
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Ingår i: Molecular Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1359-4184 .- 1476-5578. ; 26, s. 2457-2470
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lithium is a first-line medication for bipolar disorder (BD), but only one in three patients respond optimally to the drug. Since evidence shows a strong clinical and genetic overlap between depression and bipolar disorder, we investigated whether a polygenic susceptibility to major depression is associated with response to lithium treatment in patients with BD. Weighted polygenic scores (PGSs) were computed for major depression (MD) at different GWAS p value thresholds using genetic data obtained from 2586 bipolar patients who received lithium treatment and took part in the Consortium on Lithium Genetics (ConLi(+)Gen) study. Summary statistics from genome-wide association studies in MD (135,458 cases and 344,901 controls) from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) were used for PGS weighting. Response to lithium treatment was defined by continuous scores and categorical outcome (responders versus non-responders) using measurements on the Alda scale. Associations between PGSs of MD and lithium treatment response were assessed using a linear and binary logistic regression modeling for the continuous and categorical outcomes, respectively. The analysis was performed for the entire cohort, and for European and Asian sub-samples. The PGSs for MD were significantly associated with lithium treatment response in multi-ethnic, European or Asian populations, at various p value thresholds. Bipolar patients with a low polygenic load for MD were more likely to respond well to lithium, compared to those patients with high polygenic load [lowest vs highest PGS quartiles, multi-ethnic sample: OR = 1.54 (95% CI: 1.18-2.01) and European sample: OR = 1.75 (95% CI: 1.30-2.36)]. While our analysis in the Asian sample found equivalent effect size in the same direction: OR = 1.71 (95% CI: 0.61-4.90), this was not statistically significant. Using PGS decile comparison, we found a similar trend of association between a high genetic loading for MD and lower response to lithium. Our findings underscore the genetic contribution to lithium response in BD and support the emerging concept of a lithium-responsive biotype in BD.
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| 4. |
- Arber, C., et al.
(författare)
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Familial Alzheimer’s disease patient-derived neurons reveal distinct mutation-specific effects on amyloid beta
- 2020
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Ingår i: Molecular Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1359-4184 .- 1476-5578. ; 25:11, s. 2919-2931
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Familial Alzheimer’s disease (fAD) mutations alter amyloid precursor protein (APP) cleavage by γ-secretase, increasing the proportion of longer amyloidogenic amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides. Using five control induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines and seven iPSC lines generated from fAD patients, we investigated the effects of mutations on the Aβ secretome in human neurons generated in 2D and 3D. We also analysed matched CSF, post-mortem brain tissue, and iPSCs from the same participant with the APP V717I mutation. All fAD mutation lines demonstrated an increased Aβ42:40 ratio relative to controls, yet displayed varied signatures for Aβ43, Aβ38, and short Aβ fragments. We propose four qualitatively distinct mechanisms behind raised Aβ42:40. (1) APP V717I mutations alter γ-secretase cleavage site preference. Whereas, distinct presenilin 1 (PSEN1) mutations lead to either (2) reduced γ-secretase activity, (3) altered protein stability or (4) reduced PSEN1 maturation, all culminating in reduced γ-secretase carboxypeptidase-like activity. These data support Aβ mechanistic tenets in a human physiological model and substantiate iPSC-neurons for modelling fAD. © 2019, Springer Nature Limited.
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| 5. |
- Barchiesi, Riccardo, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
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An epigenetic mechanism for over-consolidation of fear memories
- 2022
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Ingår i: Molecular Psychiatry. - : Springer Nature. - 1359-4184 .- 1476-5578. ; 27:12, s. 4893-4904
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Excessive fear is a hallmark of anxiety disorders, a major cause of disease burden worldwide. Substantial evidence supports a role of prefrontal cortex-amygdala circuits in the regulation of fear and anxiety, but the molecular mechanisms that regulate their activity remain poorly understood. Here, we show that downregulation of the histone methyltransferase PRDM2 in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex enhances fear expression by modulating fear memory consolidation. We further show that Prdm2 knock-down (KD) in neurons that project from the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex to the basolateral amygdala (dmPFC-BLA) promotes increased fear expression. Prdm2 KD in the dmPFC-BLA circuit also resulted in increased expression of genes involved in synaptogenesis, suggesting that Prdm2 KD modulates consolidation of conditioned fear by modifying synaptic strength at dmPFC-BLA projection targets. Consistent with an enhanced synaptic efficacy, we found that dmPFC Prdm2 KD increased glutamatergic release probability in the BLA and increased the activity of BLA neurons in response to fear-associated cues. Together, our findings provide a new molecular mechanism for excessive fear responses, wherein PRDM2 modulates the dmPFC -BLA circuit through specific transcriptomic changes.
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| 6. |
- Cacciaglia, R., et al.
(författare)
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Age, sex and APOE-epsilon 4 modify the balance between soluble and fibrillar beta-amyloid in non-demented individuals: topographical patterns across two independent cohorts
- 2022
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Ingår i: Molecular Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1359-4184 .- 1476-5578. ; 27, s. 2010-2018
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Amyloid (A beta) pathology is the earliest detectable pathophysiological event along the Alzheimer's continuum, which can be measured both in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and by Positron Emission Tomography (PET). Yet, these biomarkers identify two distinct A beta pools, reflecting the clearance of soluble A beta as opposed to the presence of A beta fibrils in the brain. An open question is whether risk factors known to increase Alzheimer's' disease (AD) prevalence may promote an imbalance between soluble and deposited A beta. Unveiling such interactions shall aid our understanding of the biological pathways underlying A beta deposition and foster the design of effective prevention strategies. We assessed the impact of three major AD risk factors, such as age, APOE-epsilon 4 and female sex, on the association between CSF and PET A beta, in two independent samples of non-demented individuals (ALFA: n = 320, ADNI: n = 682). We tested our hypotheses both in candidate regions of interest and in the whole brain using voxel-wise non-parametric permutations. All of the assessed risk factors induced a higher A beta deposition for any given level of CSF A beta 42/40, although in distinct cerebral topologies. While age and sex mapped onto neocortical areas, the effect of APOE-epsilon 4 was prominent in the medial temporal lobe, which represents a target of early tau deposition. Further, we found that the effects of age and APOE-epsilon 4 was stronger in women than in men. Our data indicate that specific AD risk factors affect the spatial patterns of cerebral A beta aggregation, with APOE-epsilon 4 possibly facilitating a co-localization between A beta and tau along the disease continuum.
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| 7. |
- Clements, C. C., et al.
(författare)
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Genome-wide association study of patients with a severe major depressive episode treated with electroconvulsive therapy
- 2021
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Ingår i: Molecular Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1359-4184 .- 1476-5578. ; 26:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although large genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of major depressive disorder (MDD) have identified many significant loci, the SNP-based heritability remains notably low, which might be due to etiological heterogeneity in existing samples. Here, we test the utility of targeting the severe end of the MDD spectrum through genome-wide SNP genotyping of 2725 cases who received electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for a major depressive episode (MDE) and 4035 controls. A subset of cases (n = 1796) met a narrow case definition (MDE occurring in the context of MDD). Standard GWAS quality control procedures and imputation were conducted. SNP heritability and genetic correlations with other traits were estimated using linkage disequilibrium score regression. Results were compared with MDD cases of mild-moderate severity receiving internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) and summary results from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC). The SNP-based heritability was estimated at 29-34% (SE: 6%) for the narrow case definition, considerably higher than the 6.5-8.0% estimate in the most recent PGC MDD study. Our severe MDE cases had smaller genetic correlations with neurodevelopmental disorders and neuroticism than PGC MDD cases but higher genetic risk scores for bipolar disorder than iCBT MDD cases. One genome-wide significant locus was identified (rs114583506, P = 5e-8) in an intron of HLA-B in the major histocompatibility locus on chr6. These results indicate that individuals receiving ECT for an MDE have higher burden of common variant risk loci than individuals with mild-moderate MDD. Furthermore, severe MDE shows stronger relations with other severe adult-onset psychiatric disorders but weaker relations with personality and stress-related traits than mild-moderate MDD. These findings suggest a different genetic architecture at the severest end of the spectrum, and support further study of the severest MDD cases as an extreme phenotype approach to understand the etiology of MDD.
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| 8. |
- Dickstein, D. L., et al.
(författare)
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Brain and blood biomarkers of tauopathy and neuronal injury in humans and rats with neurobehavioral syndromes following blast exposure
- 2021
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Ingår i: Molecular Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1359-4184 .- 1476-5578. ; 26, s. 5940-5954
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a risk factor for the later development of neurodegenerative diseases that may have various underlying pathologies. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in particular is associated with repetitive mild TBI (mTBI) and is characterized pathologically by aggregation of hyperphosphorylated tau into neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). CTE may be suspected when behavior, cognition, and/or memory deteriorate following repetitive mTBI. Exposure to blast overpressure from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) has been implicated as a potential antecedent for CTE amongst Iraq and Afghanistan Warfighters. In this study, we identified biomarker signatures in rats exposed to repetitive low-level blast that develop chronic anxiety-related traits and in human veterans exposed to IED blasts in theater with behavioral, cognitive, and/or memory complaints. Rats exposed to repetitive low-level blasts accumulated abnormal hyperphosphorylated tau in neuronal perikarya and perivascular astroglial processes. Using positron emission tomography (PET) and the [F-18]AV1451 (flortaucipir) tau ligand, we found that five of 10 veterans exhibited excessive retention of [F-18]AV1451 at the white/gray matter junction in frontal, parietal, and temporal brain regions, a typical localization of CTE tauopathy. We also observed elevated levels of neurofilament light (NfL) chain protein in the plasma of veterans displaying excess [F-18]AV1451 retention. These findings suggest an association linking blast injury, tauopathy, and neuronal injury. Further study is required to determine whether clinical, neuroimaging, and/or fluid biomarker signatures can improve the diagnosis of long-term neuropsychiatric sequelae of mTBI.
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| 9. |
- Ferrari-Souza, J. P., et al.
(författare)
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Astrocyte biomarker signatures of amyloid-beta and tau pathologies in Alzheimer's disease
- 2022
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Ingår i: Molecular Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1359-4184 .- 1476-5578. ; 27:11, s. 4781-4789
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Astrocytes can adopt multiple molecular phenotypes in the brain of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. Here, we studied the associations of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and chitinase-3-like protein 1 (YKL-40) levels with brain amyloid-beta (A beta) and tau pathologies. We assessed 121 individuals across the aging and AD clinical spectrum with positron emission tomography (PET) brain imaging for A beta ([F-18]AZD4694) and tau ([F-18]MK-6240), as well as CSF GFAP and YKL-40 measures. We observed that higher CSF GFAP levels were associated with elevated A beta-PET but not tau-PET load. By contrast, higher CSF YKL-40 levels were associated with elevated tau-PET but not A beta-PET burden. Structural equation modeling revealed that CSF GFAP and YKL-40 mediate the effects of A beta and tau, respectively, on hippocampal atrophy, which was further associated with cognitive impairment. Our results suggest the existence of distinct astrocyte biomarker signatures in response to brain A beta and tau accumulation, which may contribute to our understanding of the complex link between reactive astrogliosis heterogeneity and AD progression.
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| 10. |
- Forstner, A. J., et al.
(författare)
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Genome-wide association study of panic disorder reveals genetic overlap with neuroticism and depression
- 2021
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Ingår i: Molecular Psychiatry. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1359-4184 .- 1476-5578. ; 26, s. 4179-4190
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Panic disorder (PD) has a lifetime prevalence of 2–4% and heritability estimates of 40%. The contributory genetic variants remain largely unknown, with few and inconsistent loci having been reported. The present report describes the largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) of PD to date comprising genome-wide genotype data of 2248 clinically well-characterized PD patients and 7992 ethnically matched controls. The samples originated from four European countries (Denmark, Estonia, Germany, and Sweden). Standard GWAS quality control procedures were conducted on each individual dataset, and imputation was performed using the 1000 Genomes Project reference panel. A meta-analysis was then performed using the Ricopili pipeline. No genome-wide significant locus was identified. Leave-one-out analyses generated highly significant polygenic risk scores (PRS) (explained variance of up to 2.6%). Linkage disequilibrium (LD) score regression analysis of the GWAS data showed that the estimated heritability for PD was 28.0–34.2%. After correction for multiple testing, a significant genetic correlation was found between PD and major depressive disorder, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism. A total of 255 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with p < 1 × 10−4 were followed up in an independent sample of 2408 PD patients and 228,470 controls from Denmark, Iceland and the Netherlands. In the combined analysis, SNP rs144783209 showed the strongest association with PD (pcomb = 3.10 × 10−7). Sign tests revealed a significant enrichment of SNPs with a discovery p-value of <0.0001 in the combined follow up cohort (p = 0.048). The present integrative analysis represents a major step towards the elucidation of the genetic susceptibility to PD. © 2019, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.
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