Comparative mapping of single-cell transcriptomic landscapes in neurodegenerative diseases
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INTRODUCTION
Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and Parkinson’s disease (PD) represent a spectrum of neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs). Here, we performed the first direct comparison of their transcriptomic landscapes.
METHODS
We profiled the whole transcriptomes of NDD cortical tissue by snRNA-seq. We used computational analyses to identify common and distinct differentially expressed genes (DEGs), biological pathways, vulnerable and disease-driver cell subtypes, and alteration in cell-to-cell interactions.
RESULTS
The same vulnerable inhibitory neuron subtype was depleted in both AD and DLB. Potentially disease-driving neuronal cell subtypes were present in both PD and DLB. Cell-cell communication was predicted to be increased in AD but decreased in DLB and PD. DEGs were most commonly shared across NDDs within inhibitory neuron subtypes. Overall, we observed the greatest transcriptomic divergence between AD and PD, while DLB exhibited an intermediate transcriptomic signature.
DISCUSSION
These results help explain the clinicopathological spectrum of this group of NDDs and provide unique insights into the shared and distinct molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of NDDs.
