Ward Thomas R, Qu Ping-Ping, Leung Louis C, Zhou Bo, Muench Kristin L, Khechaduri Arineh, Plastini Melanie J, Charlton Carol A, Pattni Reenal, Ho Steve, Ho Marcus, Huang Yiling, Zhou Patrick, Hallmayer Joachim F, Mourrain Philippe, Palmer Theo D, Zhang Xianglong, Urban Alexander E
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
Eur J Hum Genet. 2025 May 15. doi: 10.1038/s41431-025-01856-3.
Copy number variants (CNVs), either deletions or duplications, at the 16p11.2 locus in the human genome are known to increase the risk for autism spectrum disorders (ASD), schizophrenia, and several other developmental conditions. Here, we investigate the global effects on gene expression and DNA methylation using an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) to induced neuron (iN) cell model system derived from 16p11.2 CNV patients and controls. This approach revealed genome-wide and cell-type specific alterations to both gene expression and DNA methylation patterns and also yielded specific leads on genes potentially contributing to some of the phenotypes in 16p11.2 patients. There is global reprogramming of both the transcriptome and the DNA methylome. We observe sets of differentially expressed genes and differentially methylated regions, respectively, that are localized genome wide and that are shared, and with changes in the same direction, between the deletion and duplication genotypes. The gene PCSK9 is identified as a possible contributing factor to symptoms seen in carriers of the 16p11.2 CNVs. The protocadherin (PCDH) gene family is found to have altered DNA methylation patterns in the CNV patient samples. The iPSC lines used for this study are available through a repository as a resource for research into the molecular etiology of the clinical phenotypes of 16p11.2 CNVs and into that of neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders in general.
已知人类基因组16p11.2位点的拷贝数变异(CNV),即缺失或重复,会增加患自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)、精神分裂症和其他几种发育疾病的风险。在此,我们使用源自16p11.2 CNV患者和对照的诱导多能干细胞(iPSC)到诱导神经元(iN)细胞模型系统,研究其对基因表达和DNA甲基化的全局影响。这种方法揭示了全基因组和细胞类型特异性的基因表达和DNA甲基化模式改变,还产生了可能导致16p11.2患者某些表型的特定基因线索。转录组和DNA甲基化组都存在全局重编程。我们分别观察到全基因组定位的差异表达基因集和差异甲基化区域集,它们在缺失和重复基因型之间是共享的,并且变化方向相同。基因PCSK9被确定为16p11.2 CNV携带者所见症状的一个可能促成因素。原钙黏蛋白(PCDH)基因家族在CNV患者样本中发现DNA甲基化模式发生改变。本研究中使用的iPSC系可通过一个储存库获取,作为研究16p11.2 CNV临床表型的分子病因以及一般神经精神和神经发育障碍分子病因的资源。