Dataset Information

Increased DNA Copy Number Variation Mosaicism in Elderly Human Brain.

ABSTRACT: Aging is a complex process strongly determined by genetics. Previous reports have shown that the genome of neuronal cells displays somatic genomic mosaicism including DNA copy number variations (CNVs). CNVs represent a significant source of genetic variation in the human genome and have been implicated in several disorders and complex traits, representing a potential mechanism that contributes to neuronal diversity and the etiology of several neurological diseases and provides new insights into the normal, complex functions of the brain. Nonetheless, the features of somatic CNV mosaicism in nondiseased elderly brains have not been investigated. In the present study, we demonstrate a highly significant increase in the number of CNVs in nondiseased elderly brains compared to the blood. In two neural tissues isolated from paired postmortem samples (same individuals), we found a significant increase in the frequency of deletions in both brain areas, namely, the frontal cortex and cerebellum. Also, deletions were found to be significantly larger when present only in the cerebellum. The sizes of the variants described here were in the 150-760?kb range, and importantly, nearly all of them were present in the Database of Genomic Variants (common variants). Nearly all evidence of genome structural variation in human brains comes from studies detecting changes in single cells which were interpreted as derived from independent, isolated mutational events. The observations based on array-CGH analysis indicate the existence of an extensive clonal mosaicism of CNVs within and between the human brains revealing a different type of variation that had not been previously characterized.

SUBMITTER: Villela D

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6046114 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Increased DNA Copy Number Variation Mosaicism in Elderly Human Brain.

Villela Darine D Suemoto Claudia K CK Suemoto Claudia K CK Leite Renata R Pasqualucci Carlos Augusto CA Grinberg Lea T LT Pearson Peter P Rosenberg Carla C

Neural plasticity 20180628

Aging is a complex process strongly determined by genetics. Previous reports have shown that the genome of neuronal cells displays somatic genomic mosaicism including DNA copy number variations (CNVs). CNVs represent a significant source of genetic variation in the human genome and have been implicated in several disorders and complex traits, representing a potential mechanism that contributes to neuronal diversity and the etiology of several neurological diseases and provides new insights into ...[more]

PMID: 30050570

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Project description:Somatic mosaicism denotes the presence of genetically distinct populations of somatic cells in one individual who has developed from a single fertilised oocyte. Mosaicism may result from a mutation that occurs during postzygotic development and is propagated to only a subset of the adult cells. Our aim was to investigate both somatic mosaicism for copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity (cn-LOH) events and DNA copy number variations (CNVs) in fully differentiated tissues.We studied panels of tissue samples (11-12 tissues per individual) from four autopsy subjects using high-resolution Illumina HumanOmniExpress-12 BeadChips to reveal the presence of possible intra-individual tissue-specific cn-LOH and CNV patterns. We detected five mosaic cn-LOH regions >5 Mb in some tissue samples in three out of four individuals. We also detected three CNVs that affected only a portion of the tissues studied in one out of four individuals. These three somatic CNVs range from 123 to 796 kb and are also found in the general population. An attempt was made to explain the succession of genomic events that led to the observed somatic genetic mosaicism under the assumption that the specific mosaic patterns of CNV and cn-LOH changes reflect their formation during the postzygotic embryonic development of germinal layers and organ systems.Our results give further support to the idea that somatic mosaicism for CNVs, and also cn-LOHs, is a common phenomenon in phenotypically normal humans. Thus, the examination of only a single tissue might not provide enough information to diagnose potentially deleterious CNVs within an individual. During routine CNV and cn-LOH analysis, DNA derived from a buccal swab can be used in addition to blood DNA to get information about the CNV/cn-LOH content in tissues of both mesodermal and ectodermal origin. Currently, the real frequency and possible phenotypic consequences of both CNVs and cn-LOHs that display somatic mosaicism remain largely unknown. To answer these questions, future studies should involve larger cohorts of individuals and a range of tissues.

Project description:Genetic variation is responsible for the generation of phenotypic diversity, including susceptibility to disease. Two major types of variation are known: single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and a more recently discovered structural variation, involving changes in copy number (CNVs) of kilobase- to megabase-sized chromosomal segments. Variation caused by CNVs has exceeded the amount of SNP-based differences expected to exist between two unrelated humans. Furthermore, many CNVs have been associated with disease predisposition. It is unknown whether CNVs arise in somatic cells, but it is, however, generally assumed that normal cells are genetically identical. Here we show that CNVs are frequent in healthy somatic cells of adult humans. We tested 34 tissue samples from three subjects and, having analyzed for each tissue <10-6 of all cells expected in an adult human, we observed at least six CNVs, affecting a single organ or one or more tissues of the same subject. The CNVs ranged from 82-176 kb, often encompassing known genes, potentially affecting gene function. Our results point to a paradigm shift in the genetics of somatic cells and indicate that humans are commonly affected by somatic mosaicism for stochastic CNVs, which occur in a substantial fraction of cells. A considerable number of phenotypes and diseases affecting humans are a consequence of a somatic process. Thus, our conclusions will be important for the delineation of genetic factors behind these phenotypes. Consequently, biobanks should consider sampling multiple tissues in order to better address mosaicism in the studies of somatic disorders. Furthermore, forensic medicine laboratories should be sensitized to the issue of underestimated frequency of somatic CNV mosaicism. Keywords: copy number variation (CNV), phenotype diversity, somatic cells 31 experiments; each experiment consists of two hybridizations, i.e. regular and dye-swap (62 hybridizations in total); cerebellum from corresponding subject was used as a reference; additionally 12 control self-self hybridizations are included (cerrebellum vs self)

Dataset Information

Increased DNA Copy Number Variation Mosaicism in Elderly Human Brain.

Publications

Increased DNA Copy Number Variation Mosaicism in Elderly Human Brain.

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