Genetic dependency of Alzheimer's disease-associated genes across cells and tissue types

Sci Rep. 2021 Jun 8;11(1):12107. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-91713-2.

Abstract

Effective treatments targeting disease etiology are urgently needed for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although candidate AD genes have been identified and altering their levels may serve as therapeutic strategies, the consequence of such alterations remain largely unknown. Herein, we analyzed CRISPR knockout/RNAi knockdown screen data for over 700 cell lines and evaluated cellular dependencies of 104 AD-associated genes previously identified by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and gene expression network studies. Multiple genes showed widespread cell dependencies across tissue lineages, suggesting their inhibition may yield off-target effects. Meanwhile, several genes including SPI1, MEF2C, GAB2, ABCC11, ATCG1 were identified as genes of interest since their genetic knockouts specifically affected high-expressing cells whose tissue lineages are relevant to cell types found in AD. Overall, analyses of genetic screen data identified AD-associated genes whose knockout or knockdown selectively affected cell lines of relevant tissue lineages, prioritizing targets for potential AD treatments.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters / genetics
  • Actins / genetics
  • Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / genetics
  • Alzheimer Disease / genetics*
  • Alzheimer Disease / physiopathology*
  • CRISPR-Cas Systems*
  • Cell Lineage
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Regulatory Networks
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease*
  • Genome-Wide Association Study
  • Humans
  • MEF2 Transcription Factors / genetics
  • Microglia / metabolism
  • Nervous System Diseases / genetics
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins / genetics
  • RNA Interference
  • Risk
  • Trans-Activators / genetics

Substances

  • ABCC11 protein, human
  • ACTG1 protein, human
  • ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters
  • Actins
  • Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing
  • GAB2 protein, human
  • MEF2 Transcription Factors
  • MEF2C protein, human
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins
  • Trans-Activators
  • proto-oncogene protein Spi-1

Associated data

  • figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.12280541.v3(14)