Abstract
Background Many neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) develop only later in life, when cells in the nervous system lose their structure or function. In genetic forms of NDs, this late onset phenomenon remains largely unexplained.
Results Analyzing single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) from Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients, we find increased transcriptional heterogeneity in AD excitatory neurons. We hypothesized that transcriptional heterogeneity precedes ND pathologies. To test this idea experimentally, we used juvenile forms (72Q; 180Q) of Huntington’s disease (HD) iPSCs, differentiated them into committed neuronal progenitors, and obtained single cell expression profiles. We show a global increase in gene expression variability in HD. Autophagy genes become more stable, while energy and actin-related genes become more variable in the mutant cells. Knocking-down several differentially-variable genes resulted in increased aggregate formation, a pathology associated with HD. We further validated the increased transcriptional heterogeneity in CHD8+/- cells, a model for autism spectrum disorder.
Conclusions Overall, our results suggest that although NDs develop over time, transcriptional regulation imbalance is present already at very early developmental stages. Therefore, an intervention aimed at this early phenotype may be of high diagnostic value.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
