Epigenetic contributions to symptom asymmetry in Parkinson's disease

项目摘要 帕金森病（PD）是一种严重的、不可逆的神经退行性疾病， 症状对于大多数患者（超过85%），运动症状开始于身体的一侧。这种运动不对称 是PD的特征性指标，常作为临床指标用于区分PD与类似综合征。 虽然随着病情的发展，运动症状逐渐变为双侧，但最初的不对称仍然存在 稳定，甚至在疾病晚期也持续存在。PD的偏侧化与疾病发生率有关 非运动症状（包括认知症状）的进展和差异。 帕金森病的症状不对称性是皮质下和皮质神经元的半球差异的直接结果， 功能障碍和损失。尽管PD患者的不对称脑改变很普遍， 尽管存在这些表现，但使一个大脑半球的神经元比另一个大脑半球更脆弱的因素仍然存在， PD最神秘的谜题之一 本研究的目的是确定在神经元分化过程中大脑半球差异的分子特征。 功能障碍和症状不对称。在PD中，神经病理学的发展和进行性的 神经元的丧失涉及基因调节的异常。我们最近发现证据表明 PD神经元的不对称性涉及与转录状态相关的表观遗传标记的差异。我们有 还发现，大脑半球的神经元表观基因组随着年龄的增长而变化，这一过程在大脑中加速。 警局因此，我们提出，基因表观遗传调控的半球差异可能是基因表达的基础。 神经元损伤的不对称性，这反过来又影响症状偏侧化。 该项目涉及表观基因组学和毗邻转录组学和遗传分析的尖端技术 在PD患者和对照组的分离的脑神经元中。我们还确定了老化的影响，进展速度， 和PD病理学对半球不对称发展的影响。我们的项目将定义（i） 帕金森病患者神经元表观基因组的半球不对称性，其对基因表达的影响， 与症状偏侧化的相关性，（ii）随着年龄的增长，表观基因组在半球之间的分歧，以及 (iii)PD神经病理学诱导与半球相关表观遗传和转录变化的能力 体内不对称性。这项工作将确定参与PD不对称神经元功能障碍的基因。 揭示帕金森病中不对称脑改变的机制对于理解帕金森病的发病机制具有重要意义。 PD症状偏侧化的生物学基础。这项工作还提供了基本的洞察程度， 人类大脑半球的分子不对称性。

PROJECT SUMMARY Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a severe, irreversible neurodegenerative disease that involves asymmetric symptoms. For most patients (over 85%) motor symptoms begin on one side of the body. This motor asymmetry is so characteristic of PD that it is often used as a clinical parameter to differentiate PD from similar syndromes. Though motor symptoms gradually become bilateral as the disease progresses, the initial asymmetry remains stable and persists even at advanced disease stages. Lateralization in PD has been linked to rate of disease progression and differences in the presentation of non-motor symptoms, including cognitive symptoms. Symptom asymmetry in PD is the direct result of hemisphere differences in subcortical and cortical neuronal dysfunction and loss. Despite the prevalence of asymmetric brain changes in PD and its importance to clinical manifestations, the factors rendering neurons more vulnerable in one brain hemisphere over the other remain one the most enigmatic puzzles of PD. The goal of this study is to determine the molecular signatures enabling hemisphere differences in neuronal dysfunction and symptom asymmetry in PD. In PD, both the development of neuropathology and the progressive loss of neurons involve abnormalities in gene regulation. We have recently found evidence that hemisphere asymmetry in PD neurons involves differences in epigenetic marks that relate to transcriptional states. We have also found that neuronal epigenomes across hemispheres change with aging, a process that is accelerated in PD. Therefore, we propose that hemisphere differences in epigenetic regulation of genes could underlie the asymmetry in neuronal impairment, which in turn impacts symptom lateralization. This project involves cutting-edge techniques in epigenomics and adjoining transcriptomic and genetic analyses in isolated brain neurons of PD patients and controls. We also determine the impact of aging, rate of progression, and PD pathology on the development of hemisphere asymmetry. Our project will define (i) the extent of hemisphere asymmetry in the epigenome in neurons of PD patients, its effect on gene expression, and its relevance to symptom lateralization, (ii) the divergence of the epigenome across hemispheres with aging, and (iii) the capacity for PD neuropathology to induce epigenetic and transcriptional changes relevant to hemisphere asymmetry in vivo. This work will identify the genes involved in asymmetric neuronal dysfunction in PD. Uncovering the mechanisms involved in asymmetric brain changes in PD is important for understanding the biological basis of symptom lateralization in PD. This work also provides fundamental insight on the degree of molecular asymmetry across hemispheres of the human brain.