Cited by 439Alzheimer's disease research and treatmentsSingle-cell and spatial transcriptomicsNeuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms

Astrocytes and oligodendrocytes undergo subtype-specific transcriptional changes in Alzheimer’s disease.

Open access
Sadick, Jessica S., O’Dea, Michael R., Hasel, Philip, Dykstra, Taitea, Faustin, Arline, Liddelow, Shane A.·2022·Neuron

Abstract

Resolving glial contributions to Alzheimer's disease (AD) is necessary because changes in neuronal function, such as reduced synaptic density, altered electrophysiological properties, and degeneration, are not entirely cell autonomous. To improve understanding of transcriptomic heterogeneity in glia during AD, we used single-nuclei RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) to characterize astrocytes and oligodendrocytes from apolipoprotein (APOE) Ɛ2/3 human AD and age- and genotype-matched non-symptomatic (NS) brains. We enriched astrocytes before sequencing and characterized pathology from the same location as the sequenced material. We characterized baseline heterogeneity in both astrocytes and oligodendrocytes and identified global and subtype-specific transcriptomic changes between AD and NS astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. We also took advantage of recent human and mouse spatial transcriptomics resources to localize heterogeneous astrocyte subtypes to specific regions in the healthy and inflamed brain. Finally, we integrated our data with published AD snRNA-seq datasets, highlighting the power of combining datasets to resolve previously unidentifiable astrocyte subpopulations.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.neuron.2022.03.008

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107 of 107 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Transcriptomic studies have shown changes in microglia, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes in human Alzheimer's disease tissue.

    “Recently, transcriptomic studies have shown changes not only in microglia and astrocytes but also in oligodendrocytes, the myelinating cells of the central nervous system, in both human AD tissue [5,6]”

    From Selective suppression of oligodendrocyte-derived amyloid beta rescues neuronal dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease (2024) · cites this paper as [6]

    The Abstract and Introduction report transcriptomic changes in astrocytes and oligodendrocytes from human AD tissue. This paper does not report corresponding changes in microglia, so it supports only part of the claim attributed to the joint citation. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • This astrocyte subcluster was enriched for genes involved in extracellular matrix organization, metabolic support, and inflammatory modulation.

    “This subcluster was enriched for genes involved in extracellular matrix organization [102, 135, 136], metabolic support [135, 137], and inflammatory modulation [138–141].”

    From Tau Ablation Rewires Brain Cell Programs in Health and Restores Function in Disease (2026) · cites this paper as [102]

    In Results, under “Transcriptionally distinct astrocyte subtypes are independent of disease state” (page unavailable), the paper reports extracellular-matrix-related transcripts in astrocyte clusters 2 and 5. Under “Astrocytes have both putative gain and loss of function in Alzheimer’s disease” (page unavailable), it reports lipid-storage and fatty-acid-oxidation pathways in cluster 5, but does not establish that this cluster provides metabolic support. The cited source is attached to the extracellular-matrix and metabolic-support portions of the sentence, not the separately cited inflammatory-modulation portion. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The snRNA-seq dataset contains over 100,000 astrocyte nuclei in each brain region with ≈6,000 average total reads and ≈2,500 average total genes detected, which is orders of magnitude higher than previous studies.

    “resulting in over 100,000 astrocyte nuclei in each brain region with ≈6,000 average total number of reads and ≈2,500 average total number of genes detected, which is orders of magnitude higher than previous studies9–15”

    From Astrocyte transcriptomic changes along the spatiotemporal progression of Alzheimer’s disease (2024) · cites this paper as [14]

    The Results section reports that Sadick et al. captured 41,340 astrocyte nuclei across their final donor cohort, supporting its use as a comparison with a larger dataset. It does not establish that more than 100,000 nuclei per brain region is orders of magnitude higher than its dataset. The STAR METHODS section gives median counts and detected features for all nuclei, not the citing sentence’s average reads and genes for astrocytes. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The exhausted phase may have confounded previous studies that compared only control and severe AD donors or grouped late- and end-stage donors (Braak stage V/VI) together.

    “may have confounded previous studies that compared only control and severe AD donors or grouped late- and end-stage donors (Braak stage V/VI) together9–15”

    From Astrocyte transcriptomic changes along the spatiotemporal progression of Alzheimer’s disease (2024) · cites this paper as [14]

    The Results section (‘Defining a well-controlled patient cohort’; page unavailable) says the paper compared non-symptomatic donors with AD donors and classified the latter as having moderate or severe pathology. It does not say the comparison included only severe AD donors, document a Braak V/VI grouping, or identify an ‘exhausted phase’ as a confounder. The possible confounding is the citing authors’ speculation, but the specific description of this study’s donor groups is only partly supported. (LLM, conf=0.81)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • A snRNA-seq study in human AD reported downregulation of synaptic cell adhesion-related gene expression and enrichment terms in an oligodendrocyte cluster.

    “A snRNA‐seq study in human AD also reported downregulation of synaptic cell adhesion–related gene expression and enrichment terms in an oligodendrocyte cluster. 65 , 66”

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Authors
Sadick, J. S., O’Dea, M. R., Hasel, P., Dykstra, T., Faustin, A., & Liddelow, S. A.
Affiliations
  • New York University (US)
  • NYU Langone Health (US)
Corresponding author
Liddelow, Shane A.
Venue
Neuron
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2022-06
Volume
110
Issue
11
Pages
1788-1805.e10
ISSN
0896-6273 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4225491855
Cited by
415
References
106
Citations by year
2026: 89 · 2025: 93 · 2024: 103 · 2023: 90 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 1 · 2012: 1
FWCI
53.81
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Neuron (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
  • NIH (T32AG052909)
  • Cure Alzheimer's Fund
  • Rhode Island Hospital
  • Blas Frangione Foundation
  • University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
  • Presbyterian Historical Society (P30 AG08051)
  • School of Medicine, New York University
  • Stanford Genome Technology Center
  • Alzheimer's Association
  • Alzheimer’s Research UK
  • Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Pittsburgh
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
Keywords
Alzheimer's disease, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, glial heterogeneity, astrocyte subtypes, single-nucleus RNA sequencing, transcriptomic changes, neuroinflammation, spatial transcriptomics, data integration
MeSH terms
Alzheimer Disease, Animals, Astrocytes, Humans, Neuroglia, Oligodendroglia, RNA, Small Nuclear, Mice, Transcriptome

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