Page 26 - Read Online
P. 26

Page 12                                                                                 Donskov et al. J Transl Genet Genom 2021;5:136-62     https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/jtgg.2021.12



                                                                                                                                           SMARCD1 (SZ),      ARID1B
                                                                                                                                           BCL7A (SZ), NRIP1   (ASD),
                                                                                                                                           (SZ)               SMARCC2
                                                                                                                                                              (ASD)
                              3C      Progesterone receptor  NR3C3   PGR                                                                   EP300              NCOA1         NCOR2  NCOR2 (cocaine    MDD
                                                                                                                                           (CD/SZ/MDD),       (ASD)         (SZ)    dependence),
                                                                                                                                           SRA1 (SZ), NRIP1                         TBL1Y (ASD),
                                                                                                                                           (SZ)                                     TBL1Y (ASD)
                              4A      Nerve growth factor 1B  NR4A1  NGFI-B                                                                EP300              NCOA1
                                                                                                                                           (CD/SZ/MDD)        (ASD)
                              4A      Neuron-derived orphan   NR4A3  NOR-1                                                                 EP300
                                      receptor-1                                                                                           (CD/SZ/MDD)
                              4A      Nurr-related factor 1  NR4A2   NURR1      MDD
                              5A      Steroidogenic factor-1  NR5A1  SF1                                                                                      NCOA1
                                                                                                                                                              (ASD)
                              6A      Liver receptor homolog-1 NR5A2  LRH1                              General cognitive ability, nicotine   EP300           NCOA1
                                                                                                        dependence                         (CD/SZ/MDD)        (ASD)


                              NTC: NR transcriptomic complex; ASD: autism spectrum disorder; CD: cross-disorder; SZ: schizophrenia; MDD: major depressive disorder; BPD: bipolar disorder.



                              Supplementary Table 6 for a list of well-documented interactions), but the biological relevance of these interactions in the brain depends on their co-
                              expression in the same structures and individual brain cells. Hence, we assessed single cell expression characteristics of NTC genes and identified gene sets that
                              are specific to individual brain cell types . Overall, 23% of NRs and 13% of NR coregulators are exclusively expressed in specific brain cell types
                                                                                [95]
                              [Supplementary Figure 4 and Supplementary Table 8]. For the NRs, these include: PPARA and RORA (astrocytes); NGFIB, PGR, and PPARD (endothelia);
                              NURR1 and PPARG (microglia); ESR1 and THRB (neurons); and DAX1 (oligodendrocytes).



                              Next, we clustered NTC genes based on co-expression characteristics in the developing human brain [Figure 4]. This revealed eight distinct larger co-
                              expression clusters each characterized by peak expression in specific developmental stages or tissues. While the majority of NR encoding genes peak
                              postnatally (Figure 4 and Supplementary Table 8; Clusters 1-6), a subset (NURR1, NOR-1, NR5A2, TR4, COUP-TF1, COUP-TF2, RORB, THRA, RARA, and

                              ESR2) peak at the earliest stage of development (Figure 4 and Supplementary Table 8; Cluster 7). Within this group, COUP-TF1 and -2 are particularly
                              abundantly expressed in the amygdala, while NOR-1 expression peaks in the hippocampus [Figure 4]. Interestingly, the cluster of NTC genes peaking
                              prenatally hosts the highest density of genes in PD GWS loci and ~80% of RCV harboring NTC genes associated with the early onset PD, ASD. It is also
                              interesting that a cluster of 23 NTC genes is predominantly expressed in striatal tissue, with a subset displaying very high expression in prenatal striatal tissue.

                              This striatal-dominant cluster includes the NR encoding genes RARB, RXRG, and SF1, as well as FOXP1 identified in both SZ MWAS and ASD WES (Figure 4
                              and Supplementary Table 8; Cluster 4). A third cluster with peak expression in the cerebellum houses nine NR encoding genes (ESRRA, NR2F6, RARG, RORC,
                              RXRB, SHP, ESRRG, RORA, and ESRRB), of which the CD GWS RORA along with ESRRA and ESRRG display particularly high expression in the prenatal
   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31