Disease Research (CNDR). Written informed consent was obtained from all subjects. The cases used in this study are summarized in Supplemental Table 3. RNA-seq data. All original RNA-seq data were previously deposited in the NCBI's Gene Expression Omnibus database (GEO GSE101689).

SUMMARY We present a consensus atlas of the human brain transcriptome in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), based on meta-analysis of differential gene expression in 2,114 postmortem samples. We discover 30 brain coexpression modules from seven regions as the major source of AD transcriptional perturbations. We next examine overlap with 251 brain differentially expressed gene sets from mouse models of AD and other neurodegenerative disorders. Human-mouse overlaps highlight responses to amyloid versus tau pathology and reveal age- and sex-dependent expression signatures for disease progression. Human coexpression modules enriched for neuronal and/or microglial genes broadly overlap with mouse models of AD, Huntington’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and aging. Other human coexpression modules, including those implicated in proteostasis, are not activated in AD models but rather following other, unexpected genetic manipulations. Our results comprise a cross-species resource, highlighting transcriptional networks altered by human brain pathophysiology and identifying correspondences with mouse models for AD preclinical studies.

BackgroundCellular heterogeneity is present in almost all gene expression profiles. However, transcriptome analysis of tissue specimens often ignores the cellular heterogeneity present in these samples. Standard deconvolution algorithms require prior knowledge of the cell type frequencies within a tissue or their in vitro expression profiles. Furthermore, these algorithms tend to report biased estimations.ResultsHere, we describe a Digital Sorting Algorithm (DSA) for extracting cell-type specific gene expression profiles from mixed tissue samples that is unbiased and does not require prior knowledge of cell type frequencies.ConclusionsThe results suggest that DSA is a specific and sensitivity algorithm in gene expression profile deconvolution and will be useful in studying individual cell types of complex tissues.

The progression of tau pathology in Alzheimer's disease follows a stereotyped pattern, and recent evidence suggests a role of synaptic connections in this process. Astrocytes are well positioned at the neuronal synapse to capture and degrade extracellular tau as it transits the synapse and hence could potentially have the ability to inhibit tau spreading and delay disease progression. Our study shows increased expression and activity of Transcription Factor EB (TFEB), a master regulator of lysosomal biogenesis, in response to tau pathology in both human brains with dementia and transgenic mouse models. Exogenous TFEB expression in primary astrocytes enhances tau fibril uptake and lysosomal activity, while TFEB knockout has the reverse effect. In vivo, induced TFEB expression in astrocytes reduces pathology in the hippocampus of PS19 tauopathy mice, as well as prominently attenuates tau spreading from the ipsilateral to the contralateral hippocampus in a mouse model of tau spreading. Our study suggests that astrocytic TFEB plays a functional role in modulating extracellular tau and the propagation of neuronal tau pathology in tauopathies such as Alzheimer's disease.

Copy number variations have been frequently associated with developmental delay, intellectual disability, and autism spectrum disorders1. MECP2 duplication syndrome is one of the most common genomic rearrangements in males2 and is characterized by autism, intellectual disability, motor dysfunction, anxiety, epilepsy, recurrent respiratory tract infections, and early death3–5. The broad range of deficits caused by methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) overexpression poses a daunting challenge to traditional biochemical pathway-based therapeutic approaches. Accordingly, we sought strategies that directly target MeCP2 and are amenable to translation into clinical therapy. The first question, however, was whether the neurological dysfunction is reversible after symptoms set in. Reversal of phenotypes in adult symptomatic mice has been demonstrated in some models of monogenic loss-of-function neurological disorders6–8, including loss of MeCP2 in Rett syndrome9, indicating that, at least in some cases, the neuroanatomy may remain sufficiently intact so that correction of the molecular dysfunction underlying these disorders can restore healthy physiology. Given the absence of neurodegeneration in MECP2 duplication syndrome, we hypothesized that restoration of normal MeCP2 levels in MECP2 duplication adult mice would rescue their phenotype. Therefore, we first generated and characterized a conditional Mecp2-overexpressing mouse model and showed that correction of MeCP2 levels largely reversed the behavioral, molecular, and electrophysiological deficits. Next, we sought a translational strategy to reduce MeCP2 and turned to antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs). ASOs are small modified nucleic acids that can selectively hybridize with mRNA transcribed from a target gene and silence it10,11, and have been successfully used to correct deficits in different mouse models12–18. We found that ASO treatment induced a broad phenotypic rescue in adult symptomatic transgenic MECP2 duplication mice (MECP2-TG)19,20, and corrected MECP2 levels in lymphoblastoid cells from MECP2 duplication patients in a dose-dependent manner.

One major challenge encountered with interpreting human genetic variants is the limited understanding of the functional impact of genetic alterations on biological processes. Furthermore, there remains an unmet demand for an efficient survey of the wealth of information on human homologs in model organisms across numerous databases. To efficiently assess the large volume of publically available information, it is important to provide a concise summary of the most relevant information in a rapid user-friendly format. To this end, we created MARRVEL (model organism aggregated resources for rare variant exploration). MARRVEL is a publicly available website that integrates information from six human genetic databases and seven model organism databases. For any given variant or gene, MARRVEL displays information from OMIM, ExAC, ClinVar, Geno2MP, DGV, and DECIPHER. Importantly, it curates model organism-specific databases to concurrently display a concise summary regarding the human gene homologs in budding and fission yeast, worm, fly, fish, mouse, and rat on a single webpage. Experiment-based information on tissue expression, protein subcellular localization, biological process, and molecular function for the human gene and homologs in the seven model organisms are arranged into a concise output. Hence, rather than visiting multiple separate databases for variant and gene analysis, users can obtain important information by searching once through MARRVEL. Altogether, MARRVEL dramatically improves efficiency and accessibility to data collection and facilitates analysis of human genes and variants by cross-disciplinary integration of 18 million records available in public databases to facilitate clinical diagnosis and basic research.

zhandong.liu@bcm.edu.

Nuclear receptor corepressor 1 (NCOR1) and NCOR2 (also known as SMRT) regulate gene expression by activating histone deacetylase 3 through their Deacetylase Activation Domain (DAD). We show that mice with DAD knock-in mutations have memory deficits, reduced anxiety levels, and reduced social interactions. Mice with NCOR1/2 depletion specifically in GABAergic neurons (NS-V mice) recapitulated the memory deficits and had reduced GABRA2 expression in lateral hypothalamus GABAergic neurons (LH GABA ). This was associated with LH GABA neuron hyperexcitability and impaired hippocampal long-term potentiation, through a monosynaptic LH GABA to CA3 GABA projection. Optogenetic activation of this projection caused memory deficits, while targeted manipulation of LH GABA or CA3 GABA neuron activity reversed memory deficits in NS-V mice. We describe de novo variants in NCOR1, NCOR2 or HDAC3 in patients with intellectual disability or neurodevelopmental defects. These findings identify a hypothalamus–hippocampus projection that may link endocrine signals with synaptic plasticity through NCOR-mediated regulation of GABA signaling.