Project description:<p>Our current understanding of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) delineates a highly heritable, yet etiologically heterogeneous disease. Forward genetic approaches to find disease associated mutations or common variation have been successful and continue to offer considerable power. Yet, given the accumulating evidence for very significant heterogeneity and environmental influences, complementary approaches to classic forward genetics become necessary. Genetic polymorphism and mutation data to date have identified dozens of causal or contributory variants, yet our preliminary data from autism brain suggest that common molecular pathways are involved in a significant subset of cases. This convergence at the tissue level suggests that other mechanisms, specifically epigenetic changes, combined with genetic background, are contributing to such final common pathways. We further tested this hypothesis by taking a comprehensive and integrative genome-wide approach to assessing brain gene-expression, miRNA levels and the related, causal epigenetic mechanisms in ASD etiology. </p> <p>We performed RNA-seq analyses of four cerebral cortical regions and cerebellum from ASD cases and controls, to assess mRNA, miRNA, and splicing isoform regulation. In parallel, we identified key differences in chromatin state and DNA methylation across multiple brain regions in the same ASD and control individuals used in the expression analyses using ChIP-Seq and MeDIP. We assessed the mechanisms by which changes in DNA methylation, histone modification, and DNA sequence contribute to the observed differences in gene expression. This work, which represents an unprecedented effort to unify these often disparate data (usually produced without integration in mind), delineates potential shared molecular pathways in ASD and the underlying mechanism of these differences at the level of miRNA, the chromatin regulatory apparatus, and DNA methylation.</p> <p>The following substudies are part of the PsychENCODE release at dbGaP and offer additional molecular data: <ul> <li>PsychENCODE: RNA-Sequencing - SRRM4 Splicing Study <a href="study.cgi?study_id=phs000872">phs000872</a></li> <li>PsychENCODE: Global Changes in Patterning, Splicing and lncRNAs <a href="study.cgi?study_id=phs001061">phs001061</a></li> <li>PsychENCODE: Chromatin Contact Map in Fetal Cortical Laminae <a href="study.cgi?study_id=phs001190">phs001190</a></li> <li>PsychENCODE: Epigenetic Dysregulation in Autism Spectrum Disorder <a href="study.cgi?study_id=phs001220">phs001220</a></li> </ul> </p>
Project description:To assess for the potential contribution of dysregulated long non-coding RNA expression in autism pathogenesis, we profiled lncRNAs and mRNAs from post mortem brain tissue from autism patients and age/sex matched controls
Project description:To assess for the potential contribution of dysregulated long non-coding RNA expression in autism pathogenesis, we profiled lncRNAs and mRNAs from post mortem brain tissue from autism patients and age/sex matched controls 4 brain tissue samples from autism patients (2 patients, 1 prefrontal cortex and cerebellum sample from each) were compared to 4 brain tissue samples from non-affected controls (2 patients, 1 prefrontal cortex and cerebellum sample from each)
Project description:Alternative splicing has critical roles in diverse cellular, developmental and pathological processes. However, the full repertoires of factors that control individual splicing events are not known. We describe a CRISPR-based screening strategy for the systematic identification of genes that control 3-27 nt microexons with functions in nervous system development and that are commonly disrupted in autism. Besides known regulators including nSR100/Srrm4, Rbfox and Ptbp1, approximately 200 additional genes impact microexon splicing. These genes are enriched in genetic links to autism. Two of the screen hits, Srsf11 and Rnps1, preferentially regulate Srrm4-dependent microexons relative to other exons. These factors form mutually stabilizing interactions with Srrm4 that bridge upstream intronic enhancer elements and exonic sequences to activate microexon splicing. Our study thus presents a system for the genome-wide definition of splicing regulatory networks and further reveals a mechanism for the recognition of microexons with critical roles in nervous system development and disorders.
Project description:Alternative splicing has critical roles in diverse cellular, developmental and pathological processes. However, the full repertoires of factors that control individual splicing events are not known. We describe a CRISPR-based screening strategy for the systematic identification of genes that control 3-27 nt microexons with functions in nervous system development and that are commonly disrupted in autism. Besides known regulators including nSR100/Srrm4, Rbfox and Ptbp1, approximately 200 additional genes impact microexon splicing. These genes are enriched in genetic links to autism. Two of the screen hits, Srsf11 and Rnps1, preferentially regulate Srrm4-dependent microexons relative to other exons. These factors form mutually stabilizing interactions with Srrm4 that bridge upstream intronic enhancer elements and exonic sequences to activate microexon splicing. Our study thus presents a system for the genome-wide definition of splicing regulatory networks and further reveals a mechanism for the recognition of microexons with critical roles in nervous system development and disorders.
Project description:Alternative splicing has critical roles in diverse cellular, developmental and pathological processes. However, the full repertoires of factors that control individual splicing events are not known. We describe a CRISPR-based screening strategy for the systematic identification of genes that control 3-27 nt microexons with functions in nervous system development and that are commonly disrupted in autism. Besides known regulators including nSR100/Srrm4, Rbfox and Ptbp1, approximately 200 additional genes impact microexon splicing. These genes are enriched in genetic links to autism. Two of the screen hits, Srsf11 and Rnps1, preferentially regulate Srrm4-dependent microexons relative to other exons. These factors form mutually stabilizing interactions with Srrm4 that bridge upstream intronic enhancer elements and exonic sequences to activate microexon splicing. Our study thus presents a system for the genome-wide definition of splicing regulatory networks and further reveals a mechanism for the recognition of microexons with critical roles in nervous system development and disorders.
Project description:Alternative splicing has critical roles in diverse cellular, developmental and pathological processes. However, the full repertoires of factors that control individual splicing events are not known. We describe a CRISPR-based screening strategy for the systematic identification of genes that control 3-27 nt microexons with functions in nervous system development and that are commonly disrupted in autism. Besides known regulators including nSR100/Srrm4, Rbfox and Ptbp1, approximately 200 additional genes impact microexon splicing. These genes are enriched in genetic links to autism. Two of the screen hits, Srsf11 and Rnps1, preferentially regulate Srrm4-dependent microexons relative to other exons. These factors form mutually stabilizing interactions with Srrm4 that bridge upstream intronic enhancer elements and exonic sequences to activate microexon splicing. Our study thus presents a system for the genome-wide definition of splicing regulatory networks and further reveals a mechanism for the recognition of microexons with critical roles in nervous system development and disorders.
Project description:This data set was generated by the UK Brain Expression Consortium and consists of gene expression data generated from post-mortem human brain samples, dissected from 10 brain regions and originating from a large cohort of neurologically and neuropathologically normal individuals. The UK Brain Expression Consortium has generated gene expression data on a large cohort of neurologically and neuropathologically normal individuals in order to better understand gene expression differences across the human brain.