Cited by 402Alzheimer's disease research and treatmentsDementia and Cognitive Impairment ResearchBioinformatics and Genomic Networks

A Systems Level Analysis of Transcriptional Changes in Alzheimer's Disease and Normal Aging

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Miller, Jeremy A., Oldham, Michael C., Geschwind, Daniel H.·2008·The Journal of Neuroscience

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder affecting millions of elderly individuals worldwide. Advances in the genetics of AD have led to new levels of understanding and treatment opportunities. Here, we used a systems biology approach based on weighted gene coexpression network analysis to determine transcriptional networks in AD. This method permits a higher order depiction of gene expression relationships and identifies modules of coexpressed genes that are functionally related, rather than producing massive gene lists. Using this framework, we characterized the transcriptional network in AD, identifying 12 distinct modules related to synaptic and metabolic processes, immune response, and white matter, nine of which were related to disease progression. We further examined the association of gene expression changes with progression of AD and normal aging, and were able to compare functional modules of genes defined in both conditions. Two biologically relevant modules were conserved between AD and aging, one related to mitochondrial processes such as energy metabolism, and the other related to synaptic plasticity. We also identified several genes that were central, or hub, genes in both aging and AD, including the highly abundant signaling molecule 14.3.3 ζ (YWHAZ), whose role in AD and aging is uncharacterized. Finally, we found that presenilin 1 (PSEN1) is highly coexpressed with canonical myelin proteins, suggesting a role for PSEN1 in aspects of glial-neuronal interactions related to neurodegenerative processes.

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Crossref · 10.1523/jneurosci.4098-07.2008

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  • Miller and colleagues applied network analysis comparing transcriptomes in normal ageing and Alzheimer disease and found many shared features downregulated in both.

    “Miller and colleagues149 applied network analysis to compare the transcriptome in normal ageing and Alzheimer disease, finding many shared features that were downregulated in Alzheimer disease and normal human ageing149.”
  • Reduced expression of genes involved in mitochondrial energy metabolism may become more pronounced in humans with cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease.

    “Furthermore, reduced expression of genes involved in mitochondrial energy metabolism may become more pronounced in humans with cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease (20–22).”

    From Neural mechanisms of ageing and cognitive decline (2010) · cites this paper as [22]

  • Transcriptome networks in AD brain have been examined, but network changes in the AD brain proteome, including early asymptomatic stages, have not been explored.

    “While transcriptome networks in AD brain have been examined (Miller et al., 2008; Miller et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2013), network changes in the AD brain proteome, including those associated with early asymptomatic stages of disease, have not been explored.”
  • Certain modules of co-expressed proteins enrich with markers of specific brain cell types and likely reflect changes in abundance, activation, and/or phenotype of these cells in AD.

    “Thus, as seen in transcriptome level network analyses (Miller et al., 2008; Oldham et al., 2008a), certain modules of co-expressed proteins enrich with markers of specific brain cell types, and likely reflect changes in the abundance, activation, and/or changing phenotype(s) of these cells in AD.”
  • B-M1 and B-M4, enriched with neuronal markers, were negatively correlated with CERAD and Braak scores.

    “Namely, B-M1 and B-M4, both enriched with neuronal markers (Fig. 2B) and associated with related ontologies, were negatively correlated with CERAD and Braak scores, consistent with loss of synaptic proteins in AD (Terry et al., 1991) and observed in RNA co-expression modules (Miller et al., 2008).”

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Authors
Miller, J. A., Oldham, M. C., & Geschwind, D. H.
Affiliations
University of California, Los Angeles (US)
Venue
The Journal of Neuroscience
Published
2008-02-06
Volume
28
Issue
6
Pages
1410-1420
ISSN
  • 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
  • 1529-2401
OpenAlex
W2011633018
Cited by
385
References
61
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 33 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 37
FWCI
19.14
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute on Aging (F31AG031649, U01AG016976, R01AG026938)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (T32MH073526)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Bioinformatics and Genomic Networks
Keywords
Alzheimer's disease, normal aging, gene co-expression network, transcriptional regulatory networks, weighted gene co-expression network analysis, hub genes, mitochondrial bioenergetics, synaptic plasticity, presenilin 1, myelin proteins, neuron-glia interactions, immune response, white matter, disease progression
MeSH terms
Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Alzheimer Disease, Hippocampus, Humans, Middle Aged, Transcription, Genetic, Gene Expression Profiling, Systems Biology, Presenilin-1

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