Biology subjects

Schneider, J. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Schneider, J. A..

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Distinctive retinal peri-arteriolar versus peri-venular amyloid plaque distribution correlates with the cognitive performance

IntroductionThe vascular contribution to Alzheimers disease (AD) is tightly connected to cognitive performance across the AD continuum. We topographically describe retinal perivascular amyloid plaque (AP) burden in subjects with normal or impaired cognition. MethodsUsing scanning laser ophthalmoscopy, we quantified retinal peri-arteriolar and peri-venular curcumin-positive APs in the first, secondary and tertiary branches in twenty-eight subjects. Perivascular AP burden among cognitive states was correlated with neuroimaging and cognitive measures. ResultsPeri-arteriolar exceeded peri-venular AP count (p<0.0001). Secondary branch AP count was significantly higher in cognitively impaired (p<0.01). Secondary small and tertiary peri-venular AP count strongly correlated with clinical dementia rating, hippocampal volumes, and white matter hyperintensity count. DiscussionOur topographic analysis indicates greater retinal amyloid accumulation in the retinal peri-arteriolar regions overall, and distal peri-venular regions in cognitively impaired individuals. Larger longitudinal studies are warranted to understand the temporal-spatial relationship between vascular dysfunction and perivascular amyloid deposition in AD. HighlightsO_LIRetinal peri-arteriolar region exhibits more amyloid compared with peri-venular regions. C_LIO_LISecondary retinal vascular branches have significantly higher perivascular amyloid burden in subjects with impaired cognition, consistent across sexes. C_LIO_LICognitively impaired individuals have significantly greater retinal peri-venular amyloid deposits in the distal small branches, that correlate with CDR and hippocampal volumes. C_LI

pathology↗

bioRxiv2024

Identification of retinal tau oligomers, citrullinated tau, and other tau isoforms in early and advanced AD and relations to disease status

ImportanceThis study identifies and quantifies diverse pathological tau isoforms in the retina of both early and advanced-stage Alzheimers disease (AD) and determines their relationship with disease status. ObjectiveA case-control study was conducted to investigate the accumulation of retinal neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), paired helical filament (PHF)-tau, oligomeric tau (oligo-tau), hyperphosphorylated tau (p-tau), and citrullinated tau (Cit-tau) in relation to the respective brain pathology and cognitive dysfunction in mild cognitively impaired (MCI) and AD dementia patients versus normal cognition (NC) controls. Design, setting and participantsEyes and brains from donors diagnosed with AD, MCI (due to AD), and NC were collected (n=75 in total), along with clinical and neuropathological data. Brain and retinal cross-sections-in predefined superior-temporal and inferior-temporal (ST/IT) subregions-were subjected to histopathology analysis or Nanostring GeoMx digital spatial profiling. Main outcomes and measureRetinal burden of NFTs (pretangles and mature tangles), PHF-tau, p-tau, oligo-tau, and Cit-tau was assessed in MCI and AD versus NC retinas. Pairwise correlations revealed associations between retinal and brain parameters and cognitive status. ResultsIncreased retinal NFTs (1.8-fold, p=0.0494), PHF-tau (2.3-fold, p<0.0001), oligo-tau (9.1-fold, p<0.0001), CitR209-tau (4.3-fold, p<0.0001), pSer202/Thr205-tau (AT8; 4.1-fold, p<0.0001), and pSer396-tau (2.8-fold, p=0.0015) were detected in AD patients. Retinas from MCI patients showed significant increases in NFTs (2.0-fold, p=0.0444), CitR209-tau (3.5-fold, p=0.0201), pSer396-tau (2.6-fold, p=0.0409), and, moreover, oligo-tau (5.8-fold, p=0.0045). Nanostring GeoMx quantification demonstrated upregulated retinal p-tau levels in MCI patients at phosphorylation sites of Ser214 (2.3-fold, p=0.0060), Ser396 (1.8-fold, p=0.0052), Ser404 (2.4-fold, p=0.0018), and Thr231 (3.3-fold, p=0.0028). Strong correlations were found between retinal tau forms to paired-brain pathology and cognitive status: a) retinal oligo-tau vs. Braak stage (r=0.60, P=0.0002), b) retinal PHF-tau vs. ABC average score (r=0.64, P=0.0043), c) retinal pSer396-tau vs. brain NFTs (r=0.68, P<0.0001), and d) retinal pSer202/Thr205-tau vs. MMSE scores (r= -0.77, P=0.0089). Conclusions and RelevanceThis study reveals increases in immature and mature retinal tau isoforms in MCI and AD patients, highlighting their relationship with brain pathology and cognition. The data provide strong incentive to further explore retinal tauopathy markers that may be useful for early detection and monitoring of AD staging through noninvasive retinal imaging.

pathology↗

bioRxiv2023

Polygenic Risk Associated with Alzheimer's Disease and Other Traits Influences Genes Involved in T Cell Signaling and Activation

T cells, members of the adaptive immune system known for their ability to respond to an enormous variety of pathogens and other insults, are increasingly recognized as important mediators of pathology in neurodegeneration and other diseases. Previously, we and others have shown that T cell gene expression phenotypes are regulated by genetic variants associated with autoimmune disease, neurodegenerative disease, and inflammatory processes. However, many complex diseases have polygenic risk with thousands of common variants contributing a small amount to disease heritability. Here, we compute the polygenic risk score (PRS) of several autoimmune, neurological, and psychiatric disorders and present the first correlation of these PRSs with T cell gene expression, using transcriptomic and genomic sequencing data from a cohort of Alzheimers disease (AD) patients and age-matched controls. We validate our AD PRS against clinical metrics in our cohort and then compare PRS-associated genes across traits and four T cell subtypes. Several genes and biological pathways associated with the PRS for these traits relate to functions such as T cell chemotaxis, differentiation, response to and production of cytokines, and regulation of T cell receptor signaling. We also found that the trait-associated gene expression signature for certain traits was polarized towards a particular T cell subset, such as CD4+ for autoimmune disease traits or CD8+ for some psychiatric disease traits. Our findings may help guide efforts in precision medicine to target specific T cell functions in individuals with high polygenic risk for various complex diseases.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2022

Cell-subtype specific effects of genetic variation in the aging and Alzheimer cortex

The relationship between genetic variation and gene expression in individual brain cell types and subtypes has remained elusive. Here, we generated single-nucleus RNA sequencing data from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of 424 individuals of advanced age; analyzing 1.5 million nuclear transcriptomes, we assessed the effect of genetic variants on RNA expression in cis (cis-eQTL) for 7 cell types and 81 cell subtypes. This effort identified 10,004 eGenes at the cell type level and 8,138 eGenes at the cell subtype level. Many eGenes are only detected within cell subtypes. A new variant influences APOE expression only in microglia and is associated with greater cerebral amyloid angiopathy but not Alzheimer pathology, accounting for the effect of APOE{varepsilon}4, providing mechanistic insights into both pathologies. While eQTLs are readily detected, only a TMEM106B variant robustly affects the proportion of cell subtypes. Integration of these results with GWAS highlighted the targeted cell type and likely causal gene within susceptibility loci for Alzheimers, Parkinsons, schizophrenia, and educational attainment.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2022

Association of Whole-Person Eigen-Polygenic Risk Scores with Alzheimer's Disease

Late-Onset Alzheimers Disease (LOAD) is a heterogeneous neurodegenerative disorder with complex etiology and high heritability. Its multifactorial risk profile and large portions of unexplained heritability suggest the involvement of yet unidentified genetic risk factors. Here we describe the "whole person" genetic risk landscape of polygenic risk scores for 2,218 traits in 2,044 elderly individuals and test if novel eigen-PRSs derived from clustered subnetworks of single-trait PRSs can improve prediction of LOAD diagnosis, rates of cognitive decline, and canonical LOAD neuropathology. Principal component analyses of thousands of PRSs found generally poor global correlation among traits. However, component loadings confirmed covariance of clinically and biologically related traits and diagnoses, with the top PCs representing autoimmune traits, cardiovascular traits, and general pain medication prescriptions, depending on the PRS variant inclusion threshold. Network analyses revealed distinct clusters of PRSs with clinical and biological interpretability. Novel eigen-PRSs (ePRS) derived from these clusters were significantly associated with LOAD-related phenotypes and improved predictive model performance over the state-of-the-art LOAD PRS alone. Notably, an ePRS representing clusters of traits related to cholesterol levels was able to improve variance explained in a model of brain-wide beta-amyloid burden by 1.7% (likelihood ratio test p=9.02x10-7). While many associations of ePRS with LOAD phenotypes were eliminated by the removal of APOE-proximal loci, some modules (e.g. retinal defects, acidosis, colon health, ischaemic heart disease) showed associations at an unadjusted type I error rate. Our approach reveals new relationships between genetic risk for vascular, inflammatory, and other age-related traits and offers improvements over the existing single-trait PRS approach to capturing heritable risk for cognitive decline and beta-amyloid accumulation. Our results are catalogued for the scientific community, to aid in the generation of new hypotheses based on our maps of clustered PRSs and associations with LOAD-related phenotypes.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2022

Common genetic variants in CHRNA5 alter β-amyloid neuropathology and highlight chandelier cells in human aging and Alzheimer's disease

Changes in high-affinity nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are intricately connected to neuropathology in Alzheimers Disease (AD). Protective and cognitive-enhancing roles for the nicotinic 5 subunit have been identified, but this gene has not been closely examined in the context of human aging and dementia. Therefore, we investigate the nicotinic 5 gene CHRNA5 and the impact of relevant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in prefrontal cortex from 922 individuals with matched genotypic and post-mortem RNA sequencing in the Religious Orders Study and Memory and Aging Project (ROS/MAP). We find that a genotype robustly linked to increased expression of CHRNA5 (rs1979905A2) predicts significantly reduced cortical {beta}-amyloid load. Intriguingly, co-expression analysis suggests CHRNA5 has a distinct cellular expression profile compared to other nicotinic receptor genes. Consistent with this prediction, single nucleus RNA sequencing from 22 individuals reveals CHRNA5 expression is disproportionately-elevated in chandelier neurons, a distinct subtype of inhibitory neuron known for its role in excitatory/inhibitory (E/I) balance. We show that chandelier neurons are enriched in amyloid-binding proteins compared to basket cells, the other major subtype of PVALB-positive interneurons. Consistent with the hypothesis that nicotinic receptors in chandelier cells normally protect against {beta}-amyloid, cell-type proportion analysis from 549 individuals reveals these neurons show amyloid-associated vulnerability only in individuals with impaired function/trafficking of nicotinic 5-containing receptors due to homozygosity of the missense CHRNA5 SNP (rs16969968A2). Taken together, these findings suggest that CHRNA5 and its nicotinic 5 subunit exert a neuroprotective role in aging and Alzheimers disease centered on chandelier interneurons.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Bulk and Single-nucleus Transcriptomics Highlight Intra-telencephalic and Somatostatin Neurons in Alzheimer's Disease

BackgroundCortical neuron loss is a pathological hallmark of late-onset Alzheimers disease (AD). However, it remains unclear which neuronal subtypes are most vulnerable to degeneration and contribute most to cognitive decline. MethodsWe analyzed postmortem bulk brain RNA-sequencing (RNAseq) data collected from three studies of aging and AD comprising six neocortical regions (704 individuals; 1037 samples). We estimated relative cell type proportions from each brain sample using neuronal subclass-specific marker genes derived from ultra-high depth single-nucleus RNAseq data (snRNAseq). We associated cell type proportions with AD across all samples using mixed-effects mega-analyses. Bulk tissue analyses were complemented by analyses of three AD snRNAseq datasets using the same cell type definitions and diagnostic criteria (51 individuals). Lastly, we identified cell subtype associations with specific neuropathologies, cognitive decline, and residual cognition. ResultsIn our mega-analyses, we identified the strongest associations of AD with fewer somatostatin (SST) inhibitory neurons ({beta}=-0.48, pbonf=8.98x10-9) and intra-telencephalic (IT) excitatory neurons ({beta}=-0.45, pbonf =4.32x10-7). snRNAseq-based cell type proportion analyses especially supported the association of SST neurons. Analyses of cell type proportions with specific AD-related phenotypes in ROS/MAP consistently implicated fewer SST neurons with greater brain-wide postmortem tau and beta amyloid ({beta}=-0.155, pFDR=3.1x10-4) deposition, as well as more severe cognitive decline prior to death ({beta}=0.309, pFDR=3.9x10-6). Greater IT neuron proportions were associated strongly with improved cognition ({beta}=0.173, pFDR=8.3x10-5) and residual cognition ({beta}=0.175, pFDR=1.2x10-5), but not canonical AD neuropathology. ConclusionsProportionally fewer SST and IT neurons were significantly associated with AD diagnosis across multiple studies and cortical regions. These findings support seminal work implicating somatostatin and pyramidal neurons in the pathogenesis of AD and improves our current understanding of neuronal vulnerability in AD.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

RNA-sequencing of human post-mortem hypothalamus and nucleus accumbens identifies expression profiles associated with obesity.

Obesity, the accumulation of body fat to excess, may cause serious negative health effects, including increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and certain cancers. The biology of obesity is complex and not well understood, involving both environmental and genetic factors and affecting metabolic and endocrine mechanisms in tissues of the gut, adipose, and brain. Previous RNA sequencing studies have identified transcripts associated with obesity and body mass index in blood and fat, often using animal models, but RNA sequencing studies in human brain tissue related to obesity have not been previously undertaken. We conducted both large and small RNA sequencing of hypothalamus (207 samples) and nucleus accumbens (276 samples) from individuals defined as consistently obese (124 samples), consistently normal weight as controls (148 samples) or selected without respect to BMI and falling within neither case nor control definition (211 samples), based on longitudinal BMI measures. The samples were provided by three cohort studies with brain donation programs; the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), the Religious Orders Study (ROS) and the Rush Memory and Aging Project (MAP). For each brain region and large/small RNA sequencing set, differential expression of obesity, BMI, brain region and sex was performed. Analyses were done transcriptome-wide as well as with a priori defined sets of obesity or BMI-associated mRNAs and microRNAs (miRNAs). There are sixteen mRNAs and five microRNAs that are differentially expressed (adjusted p < 0.05) by obesity or BMI in these tissues, several of which were validated with qPCR data. The results include many that are BMI-associated, such as APOBR and CES1, as well as many associated with the immune system and some with addiction, such as the gene sets "cytokine signaling in immune system" and "opioid signaling". In spite of the relatively large number of samples, our study was likely under-powered to detect other transcripts or miRNA with relevant but smaller effects.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2020

Multiplexed fractionated proteomics reveals synaptic factors associated with cognitive resilience in Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimers disease (AD) is a complex neurodegenerative disease defined by the presence of amyloid-{beta} (A{beta}) plaques and tau neurofibrillary tangles, and driven by dysproteostatis, inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, and oxidative injury, eventually leading to synapse loss and cell death. Synapse loss correlates with cognitive impairment and may occur independently of the extent of AD pathology. To understand how synaptic composition is changed in relation to AD neuropathology and cognition, highly sensitive multiplexed liquid chromatography mass-spectrometry was used to quantify biochemically enriched synaptic proteins from the parietal association cortex of 100 subjects with contrasting AD pathology and cognitive performance. Functional analysis showed preservation of synaptic signaling, ion transport, and mitochondrial proteins in normal aged and "resilient" (cognitively unimpaired with AD pathology) individuals. Compared to these individuals, those with cognitive impairment showed significant metabolic differences and increased immune- and inflammatory-related proteins, establishing the synapse as a potential integration point for multiple AD pathophysiologies.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2020

The Caribbean-Hispanic Alzheimer's Brain Transcriptome Reveals Ancestry-Specific Disease Mechanisms

Ethnicity impacts Alzheimers disease risk, especially among Caribbean-Hispanics. We report the first RNA-sequencing analysis of brain tissue from 45 Alzheimers disease and control Caribbean-Hispanics. Data were compared with two independent samples of non-Hispanic Caucasians (total n=729). By identifying and characterizing those genes with ancestry- and region-specific expression patterns in Alzheimers disease, we reveal molecular insights that may help explain epidemiological disparities in this understudied aging population.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2020

Identification of PIM1 substrates reveals a role for NDRG1 in prostate cancer cellular migration and invasion

PIM1 is an oncogenic serine/threonine kinase that promotes and maintains prostate tumorigenesis. To more fully understand the mechanism by which PIM1 promotes oncogenesis, we performed a chemical genetic screen to identify direct PIM1 substrates in prostate cancer cells. The PIM1 substrates we identified were involved in a variety of oncogenic processes, and included N-Myc Downstream-Regulated Gene 1 (NDRG1), which has reported roles in the suppression of cancer cell invasion and metastasis. NDRG1 is phosphorylated by PIM1 at serine 330 (pS330), and the level of NDRG1 pS330 is associated with high grade compared to low grade prostate tumors. While NDRG1 pS330 is largely cytoplasmic, total NDRG1 is both cytoplasmic and nuclear. Mechanistically, PIM1 phosphorylation of NDRG1 decreases its stability, reducing its interaction with AR, and thereby lowering expression of AR target genes. PIM1-dependent NDRG1 phosphorylation also reduces NDRG1s ability to suppress prostate cancer cell migration and invasion. Our study identifies a novel set of PIM1 substrates in prostate cancer cells using a direct, unbiased chemical genetic screen. It also provides key insights into the mechanisms by which PIM1-mediated phosphorylation of NDRG1 impairs its function, resulting in enhanced cell migration and invasion.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Cerebral atherosclerosis contributes to Alzheimer’s dementia independently of its hallmark amyloid and tau pathologies

Cerebral atherosclerosis is a leading cause of stroke and an important contributor to dementia. However, little is known about its molecular effects on the human brain and how these alterations may contribute to dementia. Here, we investigated these questions using large-scale quantification of over 8300 proteins from 438 post-mortem brains from a discovery and replication cohort. A proteome-wide association study and protein network analysis of cerebral atherosclerosis found 114 proteins and 5 protein co-expression modules associated with cerebral atherosclerosis. Enrichment analysis of these proteins and modules revealed that cerebral atherosclerosis was associated with reductions in synaptic signaling and RNA splicing and increases in oligodendrocyte development and myelination. A subset of these proteins (n=23) and protein modules (n=2) were also associated with Alzheimers disease (AD) dementia, implicating a shared mechanism with AD through decreased synaptic signaling and regulation and increased myelination. Notably, neurofilament light (NEFL) and medium (NEFM) chain proteins were among these 23 proteins, and our data suggest they contribute to AD dementia through cerebral atherosclerosis. Together, our findings offer insights into effects of cerebral atherosclerosis on the human brain proteome, and how cerebral atherosclerosis contributes to dementia risk.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2019

PLD3 is a neuronal lysosomal phospholipase D associated with β-amyloid plaques and cognitive function in Alzheimer’s disease

Phospholipase D3 (PLD3) is a protein of unclear function that structurally resembles other members of the phospholipase D superfamily. A coding variant in this gene confers increased risk for the development of Alzheimers disease (AD), although the magnitude of this effect has been controversial. Because of the potential significance of this obscure protein, we undertook a study to determine whether PLD3 is relevant to memory and cognition in sporadic AD, to observe its distribution in normal human brain and AD-affected brain, to describe its subcellular localization, and to evaluate its molecular function. PLD3 mRNA levels in the human pre-frontal cortex inversely correlated with {beta}-amyloid pathology severity and rate of cognitive decline in 531 participants enrolled in the Religious Orders Study and Rush Memory and Aging Project. PLD3 levels across genetically diverse BXD mouse strains and strains crossed with 5xFAD mice correlated strongly with learning and memory performance in a fear conditioning task. In human neuropathological samples, PLD3 was primarily found within neurons and colocalized with lysosome markers (LAMP2, progranulin, and cathepsins D and B). This colocalization was also present in AD brain with prominent enrichment on lysosomal accumulations within dystrophic neurites surrounding {beta}-amyloid plaques. This pattern of protein distribution was conserved in mouse brain in wild type and the 5xFAD mouse model of cerebral {beta}-amyloidosis. We discovered PLD3 has phospholipase D activity in lysosomes. A coding variant in PLD3 reported to confer AD risk significantly reduced enzymatic activity compared to wild-type PLD3. In summary, this study identified a new functional mammalian phospholipase D isoform which is lysosomal and closely associated with both {beta}-amyloid pathology and cognition.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2019

Deconvolving the contributions of cell-type heterogeneity on cortical gene expression

Complexity of cell-type composition has created much skepticism surrounding the interpretation of brain bulk-tissue transcriptomic studies. We generated paired tissue genome-wide gene expression data and immunohistochemistry data, enabling us to assess statistical methods for modeling and estimating cellular heterogeneity in the brain. We demonstrate that several algorithms that rely on single-cell and cell-sorted data to define cell marker gene sets yield accurate relative and absolute estimates of constituent cell-type proportions.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

Neuropathological correlates and genetic architecture of microglial activation in elderly human brain

Microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, have important roles in brain health. However, little is known about the regulation and consequences of microglial activation in the aging human brain. We assessed the effect of microglial activation in the aging human brain by calculating the proportion of activated microglia (PAM), based on morphologically defined stages of activation in four regions sampled postmortem from up to 225 elderly individuals. We found that cortical and not subcortical PAM measures were strongly associated with {beta}-amyloid, tau-related neuropathology, and rates of cognitive decline. Effect sizes for PAM measures are substantial, comparable to that of APOE {varepsilon}4, the strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimers disease. Mediation modeling suggests that PAM accelerates accumulation of tau pathology leading to cognitive decline, supporting an upstream role for microglial activation in Alzheimers disease. Genome-wide analyses identified a common variant (rs2997325) influencing cortical PAM that also affected in vivo microglial activation measured by positron emission tomography using [11C]-PBR28 in an independent cohort. Finally, we identify overlaps of PAMs genetic architecture with those of Alzheimers disease, educational attainment, and several other traits.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2018

A single cell-based atlas of human microglial states reveals associations with neurological disorders and histopathological features of the aging brain

Recent studies of bulk microglia have provided insights into the role of this immune cell type in central nervous system development, homeostasis and dysfunction. Nonetheless, our understanding of the diversity of human microglial cell states remains limited; microglia are highly plastic and have multiple different roles, making the extent of phenotypic heterogeneity a central question, especially in light of the development of therapies targeting this cell type. Here, we investigated the population structure of human microglia by single-cell RNA-sequencing. Using surgical- and autopsy-derived cortical brain samples, we identified 14 human microglial subpopulations and noted substantial intra- and inter-individual heterogeneity. These putative subpopulations display divergent associations with Alzheimers disease, multiple sclerosis, and other diseases. Several states show enrichment for genes found in disease-associated mouse microglial states, suggesting additional diversity among human microglia. Overall, human microglia appear to exist in different functional states with varying levels of involvement in different brain pathologies.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

Epigenome-wide study uncovers tau pathology-driven changes of chromatin organization in the aging human brain

Accumulation of tau and amyloid-{beta} are two pathologic hallmarks of Alzheimers disease (AD). Here, we conducted an epigenome-wide association study using the H3K9 acetylation (H3K9Ac) mark in 669 aged human prefrontal cortices: in contrast to amyloid-{beta}, tau protein burden had a broad effect on the epigenome, affecting 5,590 out of 26,384 H3K9Ac domains. Tau-related alterations aggregated in large genomic segments reflecting spatial chromatin organization, and the magnitude of these effects correlated with the segments nuclear lamina association. We confirmed the functional relevance of these chromatin changes by demonstrating (1) consistent transcriptional changes in three independent datasets and (2) similar findings in two AD mouse models. Finally, we found that tau overexpression in iPSC-derived neurons disrupted chromatin organization and that these effects could be blocked by a small molecule predicted to reverse the tau effect. Thus, we report large-scale tau-driven chromatin rearrangements in the aging human brain that may be reversible with HSP90 inhibitors.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

A multi-omic atlas of the human frontal cortex for aging and Alzheimer's disease research

We initiated the systematic profiling of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex obtained from a subset of autopsied individuals enrolled in the Religious Orders Study (ROS) or the Rush Memory and Aging Project (MAP), which are jointly designed and belong to a very few prospective studies of aging and dementia with detailed, longitudinal cognitive phenotyping during life and a quantitative, structured neuropathologic examination after death for >3,322 subjects. Here, we outline the first generation of data including genome-wide genotypes (n=2,090), whole genome sequencing (n=1,179), DNA methylation (n=740), chromatin immunoprecipitation with sequencing using an anti-Histone 3 Lysine 9 acetylation (H3K9Ac) antibody (n=712), RNA sequencing (n=638), and miRNA profile (n=702). Generation of other omic data including ATACseq, proteomic and metabolomics profiles is ongoing. Thanks to its prospective design and recruitment of older, non-demented individuals, these data can be repurposed to investigate a large number of syndromic and quantitative neuroscience phenotypes. The many subjects that are cognitively non-impaired at death also offer insights into the biology of the human brain in older non-impaired individuals.

cell biology↗