The landscape of multiscale transcriptomic networks and key regulators in Parkinson's disease

Nat Commun. 2019 Nov 20;10(1):5234. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-13144-y.

Abstract

Genetic and genomic studies have advanced our knowledge of inherited Parkinson's disease (PD), however, the etiology and pathophysiology of idiopathic PD remain unclear. Herein, we perform a meta-analysis of 8 PD postmortem brain transcriptome studies by employing a multiscale network biology approach to delineate the gene-gene regulatory structures in the substantia nigra and determine key regulators of the PD transcriptomic networks. We identify STMN2, which encodes a stathmin family protein and is down-regulated in PD brains, as a key regulator functionally connected to known PD risk genes. Our network analysis predicts a function of human STMN2 in synaptic trafficking, which is validated in Stmn2-knockdown mouse dopaminergic neurons. Stmn2 reduction in the mouse midbrain causes dopaminergic neuron degeneration, phosphorylated α-synuclein elevation, and locomotor deficits. Our integrative analysis not only begins to elucidate the global landscape of PD transcriptomic networks but also pinpoints potential key regulators of PD pathogenic pathways.

Publication types

  • Meta-Analysis
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Dopaminergic Neurons
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Knockdown Techniques
  • Gene Regulatory Networks / genetics*
  • Humans
  • Locomotion
  • Mice
  • Parkinson Disease / genetics*
  • Phosphorylation
  • Stathmin / genetics*
  • Substantia Nigra / metabolism*
  • Transcriptome
  • alpha-Synuclein / metabolism

Substances

  • STMN2 protein, human
  • Stathmin
  • Stmn2 protein, mouse
  • alpha-Synuclein