Biomedical subjects

Alison Goate

Publications and source records attributed to Alison Goate.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2026

Elevated intron retention implicates neuroinflammation in brains of individuals with alcohol use disorder.

Intron retention, a form of alternative RNA splicing, can occur as part of normal gene regulation or result from disruption of the splicing machinery. Retained introns can potentially form double-stranded RNA, activating innate immune sensors and inflammation. This mechanism has been implicated in cancer but has not been studied in neuropsychiatric diseases like alcohol use disorder. We systematically analysed transcriptome-wide intron retention events in post-mortem brain tissue from 142 individuals (66 with alcohol use disorder and 76 controls), encompassing 320 region-specific samples from the superior frontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, central nucleus and basolateral amygdala. Analyses were adjusted for demographic, technical and biological covariates. Validation was performed in alcohol-preferring (P) rats using long-read sequencing. In complementary experiments, immunofluorescent staining was used to detect double-stranded RNA in rat brain tissue, while single-cell RNA-sequencing was performed to test activation of double-stranded RNA-sensing pathways in human brains. Brains from individuals with alcohol use disorder showed significantly higher total intron retention compared with controls, independent of age, with females showing greater increases than males. A total of 368 introns were positively associated with alcohol use disorder, and these introns were significantly longer and had weaker splice acceptor sites compared with non-associated introns. Genes harbouring these intron retention events were enriched in Purkinje neurons, visual cortex neurons and oligodendrocytes. Computational predictions indicated these long introns could form duplex RNA structures. Increased double-stranded RNA was confirmed experimentally in multiple brain regions of alcohol-consuming rats, where it co-localized primarily with neuronal nuclei and dendrites. In individuals with alcohol use disorder, we found that multiple pathways including double-stranded RNA responses, neuroinflammation, interferon and NF-κB signalling, adaptive immunity and apoptosis were activated. In addition, NeuN-positive neuronal counts significantly decreased in both the prefrontal and visual cortices. Furthermore, single-cell analysis demonstrated upregulation of TICAM1, the target of double-stranded RNA sensor TLR3, in oligodendrocytes, as well as widespread activation of downstream inflammatory pathways across glial and neuronal cell types. These findings provide the first evidence that chronic alcohol consumption promotes an overall increase of intron retention in the brain and is associated with the presence of double-stranded RNA. Furthermore, the double-stranded RNA may contribute to neuronal loss and brain pathology by activating a neuroinflammatory response.

alcohol use disorder↗

PubMed2026

Comprehensive adjudication identifies 111 high-confidence loci for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

BACKGROUND: The Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project Gene Verification Committee developed a systematic framework to adjudicate genetic evidence for AD and related dementias, addressing wide variation in association quality. METHODS: Phase 1 established tiered criteria by evaluating 23 nominated loci across study designs. Phase 2 applied this framework to 29 large-scale genome-wide studies published since 2015, tiering 163 unique loci. RESULTS: Phase 1 yielded 17 high-confidence loci (12 linked to specific genes), and Phase 2 identified 111 high-confidence loci/genes with replicated associations across ancestries and convergent single-variant/variant-set evidence. Prioritized loci highlight APP processing, microglial immunity, and lipid metabolism pathways, including genes not captured by existing resources like Agora or Open Targets. Summarized results can be viewed at https://topgenes.niagads.org/. CONCLUSION: This rigorously adjudicated catalog represents the most comprehensive AD/ADRD genetics resource to date, providing a foundation for functional validation and therapeutic discovery with broad applicability to complex diseases.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2025

The curious case of a heterozygous loss-of-function PSEN1 variant associated with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

BACKGROUND: Over 300 mutations in PSEN1 have been identified as causes of early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD). While these include missense mutations and a few insertions, deletions, or duplications, none result in open reading frame shifts, and all alter γ-secretase function to increase the long/short Aβ ratio. METHODS: We identified a novel heterozygous PSEN1 nonsense variant, c.325A > T, in a patient and his father, both presenting with EOAD, resulting in the substitution of lysine 109 with a premature stop codon at position (p.K109*). This produces a truncated 109 amino acid (aa) N-terminal PSEN1 fragment. Functional characterization was performed using overexpression models and a heterozygous mouse model (Psen1K109*/+). RESULTS: In overexpression models, downstream ATGs serve as alternative starting codons, generating a > 37 kDa and a > 27 kDa PSEN1 C-terminal fragment (PSEN1-CTFA and PSEN1-CTFB, respectively) that retain the two catalytic aspartates of γ-secretase. Heterozygous Psen1K109*/+ mice exhibited subtle phenotypic defects, including reduced Pen2 expression and mild APP-CTF accumulation. Notably, aged mice demonstrated significantly increased Psen2 protein expression, potentially contributing to an elevated Aβ42/Aβ38 ratio. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that PSEN1 c.325A > T (p.K109*) is not a complete loss-of-function mutation. However, to what extent and by what mechanism it contributes to EOAD pathogenesis remains unclear. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s44477-025-00004-x.

Alzheimer’s disease↗

PubMed2025

Evaluating the causal effect of mitochondrial dysfunction on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease using Polygenic Risk Scores and Mendelian Randomization.

INTRODUCTION: Mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn), a measure of mitochondrial genomes per nucleated cell, has an unclear causal relationship with AD and PD. We integrate genetic correlation, Polygenic Risk Scores (PRS), and Mendelian Randomization (MR) to assess whether mtDNAcn influences the risk of AD and PD, and evaluate how study-specific factors in mtDNAcn genome-wide association studies (GWAS) may distort these causal estimates. METHODS: Using GWAS of four mtDNAcn measures, AD, AD/dementia, and PD, we evaluated genetic correlations, generated ancestry-normalized PRS in the AD Genetics Consortium (N=27,383), and applied MR methods including Latent Heritable Confounder MR (LHC-MR). RESULTS: Across the four mtDNAcn GWAS, only one was consistently associated with AD/dementia and PD, with genetic correlations and PRS analysis showing negative correlations and MR indicating that higher mtDNAcn reduced AD/dementia and PD risk. DISCUSSION: Higher blood-based mtDNAcn was causally associated with reduced risk of AD/dementia and PD, with limited evidence to suggest a bidirectional effect.

Alzheimer’s disease↗

PubMed2024

X-chromosome-wide association study for Alzheimer's disease.

Due to methodological reasons, the X-chromosome has not been featured in the major genome-wide association studies on Alzheimer's Disease (AD). To address this and better characterize the genetic landscape of AD, we performed an in-depth X-Chromosome-Wide Association Study (XWAS) in 115,841 AD cases or AD proxy cases, including 52,214 clinically-diagnosed AD cases, and 613,671 controls. We considered three approaches to account for the different X-chromosome inactivation (XCI) states in females, i.e. random XCI, skewed XCI, and escape XCI. We did not detect any genome-wide significant signals (P ≤ 5 × 10-8) but identified seven X-chromosome-wide significant loci (P ≤ 1.6 × 10-6). The index variants were common for the Xp22.32, FRMPD4, DMD and Xq25 loci, and rare for the WNK3, PJA1, and DACH2 loci. Overall, this well-powered XWAS found no genetic risk factors for AD on the non-pseudoautosomal region of the X-chromosome, but it identified suggestive signals warranting further investigations.

Humans↗

PubMed2022

CRISPRi screens in human iPSC-derived astrocytes elucidate regulators of distinct inflammatory reactive states.

Astrocytes become reactive in response to insults to the central nervous system by adopting context-specific cellular signatures and outputs, but a systematic understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms is lacking. In this study, we developed CRISPR interference screening in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived astrocytes coupled to single-cell transcriptomics to systematically interrogate cytokine-induced inflammatory astrocyte reactivity. We found that autocrine-paracrine IL-6 and interferon signaling downstream of canonical NF-κB activation drove two distinct inflammatory reactive signatures, one promoted by STAT3 and the other inhibited by STAT3. These signatures overlapped with those observed in other experimental contexts, including mouse models, and their markers were upregulated in human brains in Alzheimer's disease and hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Furthermore, we validated that markers of these signatures were regulated by STAT3 in vivo using a mouse model of neuroinflammation. These results and the platform that we established have the potential to guide the development of therapeutics to selectively modulate different aspects of inflammatory astrocyte reactivity.

Humans↗

PubMed2012

Clinical and biomarker changes in dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease.

BACKGROUND: The order and magnitude of pathologic processes in Alzheimer's disease are not well understood, partly because the disease develops over many years. Autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease has a predictable age at onset and provides an opportunity to determine the sequence and magnitude of pathologic changes that culminate in symptomatic disease. METHODS: In this prospective, longitudinal study, we analyzed data from 128 participants who underwent baseline clinical and cognitive assessments, brain imaging, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood tests. We used the participant's age at baseline assessment and the parent's age at the onset of symptoms of Alzheimer's disease to calculate the estimated years from expected symptom onset (age of the participant minus parent's age at symptom onset). We conducted cross-sectional analyses of baseline data in relation to estimated years from expected symptom onset in order to determine the relative order and magnitude of pathophysiological changes. RESULTS: Concentrations of amyloid-beta (Aβ)(42) in the CSF appeared to decline 25 years before expected symptom onset. Aβ deposition, as measured by positron-emission tomography with the use of Pittsburgh compound B, was detected 15 years before expected symptom onset. Increased concentrations of tau protein in the CSF and an increase in brain atrophy were detected 15 years before expected symptom onset. Cerebral hypometabolism and impaired episodic memory were observed 10 years before expected symptom onset. Global cognitive impairment, as measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Clinical Dementia Rating scale, was detected 5 years before expected symptom onset, and patients met diagnostic criteria for dementia at an average of 3 years after expected symptom onset. CONCLUSIONS: We found that autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease was associated with a series of pathophysiological changes over decades in CSF biochemical markers of Alzheimer's disease, brain amyloid deposition, and brain metabolism as well as progressive cognitive impairment. Our results require confirmation with the use of longitudinal data and may not apply to patients with sporadic Alzheimer's disease. (Funded by the National Institute on Aging and others; DIAN ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00869817.).

Age of Onset↗