Biology subjects

Pembroke, W.

Publications and source records attributed to Pembroke, W..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

High-throughput platforms for genetic perturbation screening using CRISPR/Cas9 in human iPSC-derived macrophages for drug discovery

Human induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (hiPSC) models have revolutionised drug discovery, offering high translational relevance for recapitulating disease biology and thereby the potential to help reduce drug attrition. Macrophages are pivotal for maintaining tissue homeostasis and orchestrating immune responses; their dysregulation underpins several diseases, including autoinflammatory disorders, neurodegeneration, and cancer. Therapeutically targeting this cell type presents an attractive strategy to simultaneously influence multiple cellular mediators and functions. We have established a scalable, semi-automated, and physiologically relevant hiPSC-derived macrophage model, rigorously characterised through deep comparative multi-omics. We have also integrated our hiPSC-derived macrophage platform with large-scale CRISPR screening workflows designed for parallel genetic interrogation of thousands of gene targets, in both arrayed and pooled formats. In this manuscript, we apply those genetic screening methods to hiPSC-derived macrophages and showcase how genetic perturbations alter pro- and anti-inflammatory transcriptional signatures and significantly impact functional phenotypes in this cell model. This integrated approach allows for the exploration of novel genetic insights linked to causal disease biology, advancing myeloid cell-associated target discovery across a broad spectrum of therapeutic areas.

immunology↗

bioRxiv2020

The architecture of brain co-expression reveals the brain-wide basis of disease susceptibility

Gene networks have proven their utility for elucidating transcriptome structure in the brain, yielding numerous biological insights. Most analyses have focused on expression relationships within a circumspect number of regions - how these relationships vary across a broad array of brain regions is largely unknown. By leveraging RNA-sequencing in 864 samples representing 12 brain regions in a cohort of 131 phenotypically normal individuals, we identify 12 brain-wide, 114 region-specific, and 50 cross-regional co-expression modules. We replicate the majority (81%) of modules in regional microarray datasets. Nearly 40% of expressed genes fall into brain-wide modules corresponding to major cell classes and conserved biological processes. Region-specific modules comprise 25% of expressed genes and correspond to region-specific cell types and processes, such as oxytocin signaling in the hypothalamus, or addiction pathways in the nucleus accumbens. We further leverage these modules to capture cell-type-specific lncRNA and gene isoforms, both of which contribute substantially to regional synaptic diversity. We identify enrichment of neuropsychiatric disease risk variants in brain wide and multi-regional modules, consistent with their broad impact on cell classes, and highlight specific roles in neuronal proliferation and activity-dependent processes. Finally, we examine the manner in which gene co-expression and gene regulatory networks reflect genetic risk, including the recently framed omnigenic model of disease architecture.

genetics↗