Using expression profiles from postmortem prefrontal cortex samples of 624 dementia patients and non-demented controls, we investigated global disruptions in the co-regulation of genes in two neurodegenerative diseases, late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Huntington's disease (HD). We identified networks of differentially co-expressed (DC) gene pairs that either gained or lost correlation in disease cases relative to the control group, with the former dominant for both AD and HD and both patterns replicating in independent human cohorts of AD and aging. When aligning networks of DC patterns and physical interactions, we identified a 242-gene subnetwork enriched for independent AD/HD signatures. This subnetwork revealed a surprising dichotomy of gained/lost correlations among two inter-connected processes, chromatin organization and neural differentiation, and included DNA methyltransferases, DNMT1 and DNMT3A, of which we predicted the former but not latter as a key regulator. To validate the inter-connection of these two processes and our key regulator prediction, we generated two brain-specific knockout (KO) mice and show that Dnmt1 KO signature significantly overlaps with the subnetwork (P = 3.1 × 10(-12)), while Dnmt3a KO signature does not (P = 0.017).
Pubmed ID: 25080494 RIS Download
Publication data is provided by the National Library of Medicine ® and PubMed ®. Data is retrieved from PubMed ® on a weekly schedule. For terms and conditions see the National Library of Medicine Terms and Conditions.
Software platform for complex network analysis and visualization. Used for visualization of molecular interaction networks and biological pathways and integrating these networks with annotations, gene expression profiles and other state data.
View all literature mentionsA biomaterial supply resource that acquires, processes, stores, and distributes postmortem brain specimens for brain research. Various types of brain tissue are collected, including those with neurological and psychiatric disorders, along with their parents, siblings and offspring. The HBTRC maintains an extensive collection of postmortem human brains from individuals with Huntington's chorea, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other neurological disorders. In addition, the HBTRC also has a collection of normal-control specimens.
View all literature mentionsAn independent, nonprofit organization focused on mammalian genetics research to advance human health. Their mission is to discover the genetic basis for preventing, treating, and curing human disease, and to enable research for the global biomedical community. Jackson Laboratory breeds and manages colonies of mice as resources for other research institutions and laboratories, along with providing software and techniques. Jackson Lab also conducts genetic research and provides educational material for various educational levels.
View all literature mentionsA research program of the NIA which focuses on neuroscience, aging biology, and translational gerontology. The central focus of the program's research is understanding age-related changes in physiology and the ability to adapt to environmental stress, and using that understanding to develop insight about the pathophysiology of age-related diseases. The IRP webpage provides access to other NIH resources such as the Biological Biochemical Image Database, the Bioinformatics Portal, and the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.
View all literature mentionsSoftware that estimates expression at transcript-level resolution and controls for variability evident across replicate libraries.
View all literature mentionsMus musculus with name C57BL/6J from IMSR.
View all literature mentions