Cited by 52Single-cell and spatial transcriptomicsAlzheimer's disease research and treatmentsNeuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms

Cellular dynamics across aged human brains uncover a multicellular cascade leading to Alzheimer’s disease

Open access
Green, Gilad Sahar, Yang, Hyun‐Sik, Fujita, Masashi, Taga, Mariko, Regev, Aviv, Menon, Vilas, Bennett, David A. A, Habib, Naomi +1 more·2023·Alzheimer's & Dementia

Abstract

Background: Recent studies have revealed diverse Alzheimer’s disease (AD)‐associated brain cell states, yet when and how they impact the causal chain leading to AD remains unknown. To reconstruct the dynamics of the brain’s cellular environment along the disease cascade and to distinguish between AD and aging effects, we built a comprehensive cell atlas of the aged prefrontal cortex from 1.64 million single‐nucleus RNA‐seq profiles. Method: We associated glial, vascular and neuronal subpopulations with AD‐related traits for 424 aging individuals, and aligned them along the disease cascade using causal modeling. Further, to model the coordinated dynamics of the entire cellular environment we devised the BEYOND methodology which uncovered two distinct trajectories of brain aging that are defined by distinct sequences of changes in cellular communities. Result: We identified two distinct lipid‐associated microglial subpopulations, one contributed to amyloid‐β proteinopathy while the other mediated the effect of amyloid‐β in accelerating tau proteinopathy, as well as an astrocyte subpopulation that mediated the effect of tau on cognitive decline. The BEYOND method uncovered two possible trajectories of brain aging, each associated with progressive changes in specific cellular communities that end with: (1) AD dementia or (2) alternative brain aging. Conclusion: We provide a cellular foundation for a new perspective of AD pathophysiology that could inform the development of new therapeutic interventions targeting cellular communities, while designing a different clinical management for those individuals on the path to AD or to alternative brain aging.

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Crossref · 10.1002/alz.083212

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  • Sub-populations with high expression of lipid relevant genes are associated with greater Aβ burden in human AD brains.

    “those sub-populations with high expression of lipid relevant genes were also associated with greater Αβ burden in human AD brains.”
  • Subclusters of lipid-associated microglia are enriched in women compared to men.

    “Subclusters of lipid-associated microglia were also enriched in women compared to men,72”

    From Amyloid-β induces lipid droplet-mediated microglial dysfunction via the enzyme DGAT2 in Alzheimer’s disease (2025) · cites this paper as [72]

    The high-resolution cell atlas section (page unavailable) identifies Mic.12 and Mic.13 as lipid-associated microglial subpopulations. The sections on AD-related traits and disease-associated microglia discuss their proportions in relation to pathology and diagnosis, but do not report enrichment in women versus men. Searches for female/male enrichment and sex differences found no passage addressing that comparison. (LLM, conf=0.73)

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Traag, V. A. & Bruggeman, J. Community detection in networks with positive and negative links. Phys. Rev. E 80, 036115 (2009).
  2. Reichardt, J. & Bornholdt, S. Statistical mechanics of community detection. Phys. Rev. E 74, 016110 (2006).

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Authors
Green, G. S., Yang, H., Fujita, M., Taga, M., Regev, A., Menon, V., Bennett, D. A. A., Habib, N., & De Jager, P. L.
Affiliations
  • Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)
  • Broad Institute (US)
  • Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
  • Columbia University Irving Medical Center (US)
  • Rush University Medical Center (US)
  • Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY USA
Corresponding author
Habib, Naomi
Venue
Alzheimer's & Dementia
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2023-12
Volume
19
Issue
S24
ISSN
  • 1552-5260 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-5279
OpenAlex
W4390191939
Cited by
51
References
61
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 10
FWCI
4.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Alzheimer s & Dementia (publishedVersion)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Rush University
  • Israel Science Foundation
  • National Institutes of Health (AG015819)
  • National Institute on Aging (U01AG046152, R01AG015819, U01AG061356, K23AG062750, R01AG066831, RF1AG057473, U01AG072572, P30AG072975)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
Keywords
Alzheimer's disease, brain aging

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