Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
Research Center of Clinical Medical Imaging, Hefei, Anhui Province, China.
Hum Brain Mapp. 2022 Dec 15;43(18):5562-5578. doi: 10.1002/hbm.26031. Epub 2022 Jul 27.
The human sensorimotor cortex has multiple subregions showing functional commonalities and differences, likely attributable to their connectivity profiles. However, the molecular substrates underlying such connectivity profiles are unclear. Here, transcriptome-neuroimaging spatial correlation analyses were performed between transcriptomic data from the Allen human brain atlas and resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of 24 fine-grained sensorimotor subregions from 793 healthy subjects. Results showed that rsFC of six sensorimotor subregions were associated with expression measures of six gene sets that were specifically expressed in brain tissue. These sensorimotor subregions could be classified into the polygenic- and oligogenic-modulated subregions, whose rsFC were related to gene sets diverging on their numbers (hundreds vs. dozens) and functional characteristics. First, the former were specifically expressed in multiple types of neurons and immune cells, yet the latter were not specifically expressed in any cortical cell types. Second, the former were preferentially expressed during the middle and late stages of cortical development, while the latter showed no preferential expression during any stages. Third, the former were prone to be enriched for general biological functions and pathways, but the latter for specialized biological functions and pathways. Fourth, the former were enriched for neuropsychiatric disorders, whereas this enrichment was absent for the latter. Finally, although the identified genes were commonly associated with sensorimotor behavioral processes, the polygenic-modulated subregions associated genes were additionally related to vision and dementia. These findings may advance our understanding of the functional homogeneity and heterogeneity of the human sensorimotor cortex from the perspective of underlying genetic architecture.
人类感觉运动皮层有多个亚区，具有功能上的共性和差异，这可能归因于它们的连接模式。然而，这种连接模式的分子基础尚不清楚。在这里，对 Allen 人类大脑图谱的转录组数据和 793 名健康受试者的 24 个精细感觉运动亚区的静息状态功能连接(rsFC)进行了转录组-神经影像学空间相关分析。结果表明，六个感觉运动亚区的 rsFC 与六个基因集的表达测量值相关，这些基因集特异性地在脑组织中表达。这些感觉运动亚区可以分为多基因和寡基因调节的亚区，它们的 rsFC 与基因集的数量(数百与数十)和功能特征有关。首先，前者特异性地表达在多种神经元和免疫细胞中，而后者则没有特异性地表达在任何皮层细胞类型中。其次，前者在皮质发育的中期和晚期优先表达，而后者在任何阶段都没有优先表达。第三，前者更倾向于富含一般的生物学功能和途径，而后者则更倾向于专门的生物学功能和途径。第四，前者富集了神经精神障碍，而后者则没有这种富集。最后，虽然鉴定出的基因通常与感觉运动行为过程有关，但多基因调节的亚区相关基因还与视觉和痴呆有关。这些发现可能从潜在的遗传结构角度推进我们对人类感觉运动皮层功能同质性和异质性的理解。
