AI Article Synopsis

  • - The study examined the gene expression differences in specific excitatory neurons from the brains of individuals with Down syndrome (DS) compared to controls to understand their roles in neurodegeneration and potential therapies for Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
  • - More than 2,300 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in both layers of pyramidal neurons, including 100 genes from the extra chromosome 21, indicating a complex pattern of gene dysregulation beyond just trisomic genes.
  • - Key genes like amyloid precursor protein (APP) and superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) were highlighted as important regulators of neuronal dysfunction, suggesting they could be targets for new treatments aimed at improving cognitive decline in DS

Article Abstract

We elucidated the molecular fingerprint of vulnerable excitatory neurons within select cortical lamina of individuals with Down syndrome (DS) for mechanistic understanding and therapeutic potential that also informs Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathophysiology. Frontal cortex (BA9) layer III (L3) and layer V (L5) pyramidal neurons were microisolated from postmortem human DS and age- and sex-matched controls (CTR) to interrogate differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and key biological pathways relevant to neurodegenerative programs. We identified > 2300 DEGs exhibiting convergent dysregulation of gene expression in both L3 and L5 pyramidal neurons in individuals with DS versus CTR subjects. DEGs included over 100 triplicated human chromosome 21 genes in L3 and L5 neurons, demonstrating a trisomic neuronal karyotype in both laminae. In addition, thousands of other DEGs were identified, indicating gene dysregulation is not limited to trisomic genes in the aged DS brain, which we postulate is relevant to AD pathobiology. Convergent L3 and L5 DEGs highlighted pertinent biological pathways and identified key pathway-associated targets likely underlying corticocortical neurodegeneration and related cognitive decline in individuals with DS. Select key DEGs were interrogated as potential hub genes driving dysregulation, namely the triplicated DEGs amyloid precursor protein (APP) and superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1), along with key signaling DEGs including mitogen activated protein kinase 1 and 3 (MAPK1, MAPK3) and calcium calmodulin dependent protein kinase II alpha (CAMK2A), among others. Hub DEGs determined from multiple pathway analyses identified potential therapeutic candidates for amelioration of cortical neuron dysfunction and cognitive decline in DS with translational relevance to AD.

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Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11578391PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00401-024-02768-0DOI Listing

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