Browsing by Author "Murray, Melissa E."

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    A multiethnic transcriptome for Alzheimer Disease identifies cross‐ancestry and ancestry‐specific expression profiles
    (Wiley, 2025-01-03) Yang, Zikun; Cieza, Basilio; Reyes-Dumeyer, Dolly; Lee, Annie J.; Dugger, Brittany N.; Jin, Lee-Way; Murray, Melissa E.; Dickson, Dennis W.; Pericak-Vance, Margaret A.; Vance, Jeffery M.; Foroud, Tatiana M.; Teich, Andrew F.; Mayeux, Richard; Tosto, Giuseppe; Neurology, School of Medicine
    Background: Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) presents complex molecular heterogeneity, influenced by a variety of factors including heterogeneous phenotypic, genetic, and neuropathologic presentations. Regulation of gene expression mechanisms is a primary interest of investigations aiming to uncover the underlying disease mechanisms and progression. Method: We generated bulk RNA‐sequencing in prefrontal cortex from 565 AD brain samples (non‐Hispanic Whites, n = 399; Hispanics, n = 113; African American, n = 12) across six U.S. brain banks, and conducted differential gene expression and enrichment analyses. We sought to identify cross‐ancestry and ancestry‐specific differentially expressed genes (DEG) and pathways across Braak stages, adjusting for sex, age at death, and RNA quality metrics. We validated our findings using the Religious Orders Study/Memory and Aging Project study (ROS/MAP, n = 1,095). Lastly, we validated top DEG using publically‐available human single‐nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNAseq) data. Result: AD‐known genes VGF (LFC = ‐0.661, padj = 3.78) and ADAMTS2 (padj = 1.21) were consistently differentially expressed across statistical models, ethnic groups, and replicated in ROS/MAP (Figure 1). Genes from the heat shock protein (HSP) family, e.g. HSPB7 (padj = 3.78), were the top DEG, also replicated in ROS/MAP. Ethnic‐stratified analyses prioritized TNFSF14 and SPOCD1 as top DEG in Hispanic samples. Gene set enrichment analysis highlighted several significantly pathways, including “TYROBP causal network in microglia” (WP3945; padj = 1.68) and “Alzheimer Disease” (WP5124; padj = 4.24). snRNAseq validated several DEG, including VGF downregulated in neurons (padj = 1.1). Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the largest diverse transcriptome study for AD in post‐mortem tissue. We identified perturbated genes and pathways resulting in cross‐ethnic and ethnic‐specific findings, ultimately highlighting the importance of diversity in AD investigations.
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    Aging-related tau astrogliopathy (ARTAG): harmonized evaluation strategy
    (Springer, 2016-01) Kovacs, Gabor G.; Ferrer, Isidro; Alafuzoff, Irina; Attems, Johannes; Budka, Herbert; Cairns, Nigel J.; Crary, John F.; Duyckaerts, Charles; Ghetti, Bernardino; Halliday, Glenda M.; Ironside, James W.; Love, Seth; Mackenzie, Ian R.; Munoz, David G.; Murray, Melissa E.; Nelson, Peter T.; Takahashi, Hitoshi; Trojanowski, John Q.; Ansorge, Olaf; Arzberger, Thomas; Baborie, Atik; Beach, Thomas G.; Bieniek, Kevin F.; Bigio, Eileen H.; Bodi, Istvan; Dugger, Brittany N.; Feany, Mel; Gelpi, Ellen; Gentleman, Stephen M.; Giaccone, Giorgio; Hatanpaa, Kimmo J.; Heale, Richard; Hof, Patrick R.; Hofer, Monika; Hortobágyi, Tibor; Jellinger, Kurt; Jicha, Gregory A.; Ince, Paul; Kofler, Julia; Kövari, Enikö; Kril, Jillian J.; Mann, David M.; Matej, Radoslav; McKee, Ann C.; McLean, Catriona; Milenkovic, Ivan; Montine, Thomas J.; Murayama, Shigeo; Lee, Edward B.; Rahimi, Jasmin; Rodriguez, Roberta D.; Rozemüller, Annemieke; Schneider, Julie A.; Schultz, Christian; Seeley, William; Seilhean, Danielle; Smith, Colin; Tagliavini, Fabrizio; Takao, Masaki; Thal, Dietmar Rudolf; Toledo, Jon B.; Tolnay, Markus; Troncoso, Juan C.; Vinters, Harry V.; Weis, Serge; Wharton, Stephen B.; White III, Charles L.; Wisniewski, Thomas; Woulfe, John M.; Yamada, Masahito; Dicks, Dennis W.; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, IU School of Medicine
    Pathological accumulation of abnormally phosphorylated tau protein in astrocytes is a frequent, but poorly characterized feature of the aging brain. Its etiology is uncertain, but its presence is sufficiently ubiquitous to merit further characterization and classification, which may stimulate clinicopathological studies and research into its pathobiology. This paper aims to harmonize evaluation and nomenclature of aging-related tau astrogliopathy (ARTAG), a term that refers to a morphological spectrum of astroglial pathology detected by tau immunohistochemistry, especially with phosphorylation-dependent and 4R isoform-specific antibodies. ARTAG occurs mainly, but not exclusively, in individuals over 60 years of age. Tau-immunoreactive astrocytes in ARTAG include thorn-shaped astrocytes at the glia limitans and in white matter, as well as solitary or clustered astrocytes with perinuclear cytoplasmic tau immunoreactivity that extends into the astroglial processes as fine fibrillar or granular immunopositivity, typically in gray matter. Various forms of ARTAG may coexist in the same brain and might reflect different pathogenic processes. Based on morphology and anatomical distribution, ARTAG can be distinguished from primary tauopathies, but may be concurrent with primary tauopathies or other disorders. We recommend four steps for evaluation of ARTAG: (1) identification of five types based on the location of either morphologies of tau astrogliopathy: subpial, subependymal, perivascular, white matter, gray matter; (2) documentation of the regional involvement: medial temporal lobe, lobar (frontal, parietal, occipital, lateral temporal), subcortical, brainstem; (3) documentation of the severity of tau astrogliopathy; and (4) description of subregional involvement. Some types of ARTAG may underlie neurological symptoms; however, the clinical significance of ARTAG is currently uncertain and awaits further studies. The goal of this proposal is to raise awareness of astroglial tau pathology in the aged brain, facilitating communication among neuropathologists and researchers, and informing interpretation of clinical biomarkers and imaging studies that focus on tau-related indicators.
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    Amyloid and tau-PET in early-onset AD: Baseline data from the Longitudinal Early-onset Alzheimer's Disease Study (LEADS)
    (Wiley, 2023) Cho, Hanna; Mundada, Nidhi S.; Apostolova, Liana G.; Carrillo, Maria C.; Shankar, Ranjani; Amuiri, Alinda N.; Zeltzer, Ehud; Windon, Charles C.; Soleimani-Meigooni, David N.; Tanner, Jeremy A.; Heath, Courtney Lawhn; Lesman-Segev, Orit H.; Aisen, Paul; Eloyan, Ani; Lee, Hye Sun; Hammers, Dustin B.; Kirby, Kala; Dage, Jeffrey L.; Fagan, Anne; Foroud, Tatiana; Grinberg, Lea T.; Jack, Clifford R.; Kramer, Joel; Kukull, Walter A.; Murray, Melissa E.; Nudelman, Kelly; Toga, Arthur; Vemuri, Prashanthi; Atri, Alireza; Day, Gregory S.; Duara, Ranjan; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Honig, Lawrence S.; Jones, David T.; Masdeu, Joseph; Mendez, Mario; Musiek, Erik; Onyike, Chiadi U.; Riddle, Meghan; Rogalski, Emily J.; Salloway, Stephen; Sha, Sharon; Turner, Raymond Scott; Wingo, Thomas S.; Wolk, David A.; Koeppe, Robert; Iaccarino, Leonardo; Dickerson, Bradford C.; La Joie, Renaud; Rabinovici, Gil D.; LEADS Consortium; Neurology, School of Medicine
    Introduction: We aimed to describe baseline amyloid-beta (Aβ) and tau-positron emission tomograrphy (PET) from Longitudinal Early-onset Alzheimer's Disease Study (LEADS), a prospective multi-site observational study of sporadic early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD). Methods: We analyzed baseline [18F]Florbetaben (Aβ) and [18F]Flortaucipir (tau)-PET from cognitively impaired participants with a clinical diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or AD dementia aged < 65 years. Florbetaben scans were used to distinguish cognitively impaired participants with EOAD (Aβ+) from EOnonAD (Aβ-) based on the combination of visual read by expert reader and image quantification. Results: 243/321 (75.7%) of participants were assigned to the EOAD group based on amyloid-PET; 231 (95.1%) of them were tau-PET positive (A+T+). Tau-PET signal was elevated across cortical regions with a parietal-predominant pattern, and higher burden was observed in younger and female EOAD participants. Discussion: LEADS data emphasizes the importance of biomarkers to enhance diagnostic accuracy in EOAD. The advanced tau-PET binding at baseline might have implications for therapeutic strategies in patients with EOAD. Highlights: 72% of patients with clinical EOAD were positive on both amyloid- and tau-PET. Amyloid-positive patients with EOAD had high tau-PET signal across cortical regions. In EOAD, tau-PET mediated the relationship between amyloid-PET and MMSE. Among EOAD patients, younger onset and female sex were associated with higher tau-PET.
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    Baseline neuropsychiatric symptoms and psychotropic medication use midway through data collection of the Longitudinal Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease Study (LEADS) cohort
    (Wiley, 2023) Polsinelli, Angelina J.; Wonderlin, Ryan J.; Hammers, Dustin B.; Pena Garcia, Alex; Eloyan, Anii; Taurone, Alexander; Thangarajah, Maryanne; Beckett, Laurel; Gao, Sujuan; Wang, Sophia; Kirby, Kala; Logan, Paige E.; Aisen, Paul; Dage, Jeffrey L.; Foroud, Tatiana; Griffin, Percy; Iaccarino, Leonardo; Kramer, Joel H.; Koeppe, Robert; Kukull, Walter A.; La Joie, Renaud; Mundada, Nidhi S.; Murray, Melissa E.; Nudelman, Kelly; Soleimani-Meigooni, David N.; Rumbaugh, Malia; Toga, Arthur W.; Touroutoglou, Alexandra; Vemuri, Prashanthi; Atri, Alireza; Day, Gregory S.; Duara, Ranjan; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Honig, Lawrence S.; Jones, David T.; Masdeu, Joseph; Mendez, Mario F.; Womack, Kyle; Musiek, Erik; Onyike, Chiadi U.; Riddle, Meghan; Rogalski, Emily; Salloway, Steven; Sha, Sharon J.; Turner, Raymond S.; Wingo, Thomas S.; Wolk, David A.; Carrillo, Maria C.; Dickerson, Bradford C.; Rabinovici, Gil D.; Apostolova, Liana G.; LEADS Consortium; Neurology, School of Medicine
    Introduction: We examined neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) and psychotropic medication use in a large sample of individuals with early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD; onset 40-64 years) at the midway point of data collection for the Longitudinal Early-onset Alzheimer's Disease Study (LEADS). Methods: Baseline NPS (Neuropsychiatric Inventory - Questionnaire; Geriatric Depression Scale) and psychotropic medication use from 282 participants enrolled in LEADS were compared across diagnostic groups - amyloid-positive EOAD (n = 212) and amyloid negative early-onset non-Alzheimer's disease (EOnonAD; n = 70). Results: Affective behaviors were the most common NPS in EOAD at similar frequencies to EOnonAD. Tension and impulse control behaviors were more common in EOnonAD. A minority of participants were using psychotropic medications, and use was higher in EOnonAD. Discussion: Overall NPS burden and psychotropic medication use were higher in EOnonAD than EOAD participants. Future research will investigate moderators and etiological drivers of NPS, and NPS differences in EOAD versus late-onset AD. Keywords: early-onset Alzheimer's disease; early-onset dementia; mild cognitive impairment; neuropharmacology; neuropsychiatric symptoms; psychotropic medications.
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    Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers in the Longitudinal Early-onset Alzheimer's Disease Study
    (Wiley, 2023) Dage, Jeffrey L.; Eloyan, Ani; Thangarajah, Maryanne; Hammers, Dustin B.; Fagan, Anne M.; Gray, Julia D.; Schindler, Suzanne E.; Snoddy, Casey; Nudelman, Kelly N. H.; Faber, Kelley M.; Foroud, Tatiana; Aisen, Paul; Griffin, Percy; Grinberg, Lea T.; Iaccarino, Leonardo; Kirby, Kala; Kramer, Joel; Koeppe, Robert; Kukull, Walter A.; La Joie, Renaud; Mundada, Nidhi S.; Murray, Melissa E.; Rumbaugh, Malia; Soleimani-Meigooni, David N.; Toga, Arthur W.; Touroutoglou, Alexandra; Vemuri, Prashanthi; Atri, Alireza; Beckett, Laurel A.; Day, Gregory S.; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Duara, Ranjan; Honig, Lawrence S.; Jones, David T.; Masdeu, Joseph C.; Mendez, Mario F.; Musiek, Erik; Onyike, Chiadi U.; Riddle, Meghan; Rogalski, Emily; Salloway, Stephen; Sha, Sharon J.; Turner, Raymond S.; Wingo, Thomas S.; Wolk, David A.; Womack, Kyle B.; Carrillo, Maria C.; Dickerson, Bradford C.; Rabinovici, Gil D.; Apostolova, Liana G.; LEADS Consortium; Neurology, School of Medicine
    Introduction: One goal of the Longitudinal Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease Study (LEADS) is to define the fluid biomarker characteristics of early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD). Methods: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of Aβ1-40, Aβ1-42, total tau (tTau), pTau181, VILIP-1, SNAP-25, neurogranin (Ng), neurofilament light chain (NfL), and YKL-40 were measured by immunoassay in 165 LEADS participants. The associations of biomarker concentrations with diagnostic group and standard cognitive tests were evaluated. Results: Biomarkers were correlated with one another. Levels of CSF Aβ42/40, pTau181, tTau, SNAP-25, and Ng in EOAD differed significantly from cognitively normal and early-onset non-AD dementia; NfL, YKL-40, and VILIP-1 did not. Across groups, all biomarkers except SNAP-25 were correlated with cognition. Within the EOAD group, Aβ42/40, NfL, Ng, and SNAP-25 were correlated with at least one cognitive measure. Discussion: This study provides a comprehensive analysis of CSF biomarkers in sporadic EOAD that can inform EOAD clinical trial design.
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    Creating the Pick's disease International Consortium: Association study of MAPT H2 haplotype with risk of Pick's disease
    (medRxiv, 2023-04-24) Valentino, Rebecca R.; Scotton, William J.; Roemer, Shanu F.; Lashley, Tammaryn; Heckman, Michael G.; Shoai, Maryam; Martinez-Carrasco, Alejandro; Tamvaka, Nicole; Walton, Ronald L.; Baker, Matthew C.; Macpherson, Hannah L.; Real, Raquel; Soto-Beasley, Alexandra I.; Mok, Kin; Revesz, Tamas; Warner, Thomas T.; Jaunmuktane, Zane; Boeve, Bradley F.; Christopher, Elizabeth A.; DeTure, Michael; Duara, Ranjan; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Josephs, Keith A.; Knopman, David S.; Koga, Shunsuke; Murray, Melissa E.; Lyons, Kelly E.; Pahwa, Rajesh; Parisi, Joseph E.; Petersen, Ronald C.; Whitwell, Jennifer; Grinberg, Lea T.; Miller, Bruce; Schlereth, Athena; Seeley, William W.; Spina, Salvatore; Grossman, Murray; Irwin, David J.; Lee, Edward B.; Suh, EunRan; Trojanowski, John Q.; Van Deerlin, Vivianna M.; Wolk, David A.; Connors, Theresa R.; Dooley, Patrick M.; Frosch, Matthew P.; Oakley, Derek H.; Aldecoa, Iban; Balasa, Mircea; Gelpi, Ellen; Borrego-Écija, Sergi; de Eugenio Huélamo, Rosa Maria; Gascon-Bayarri, Jordi; Sánchez-Valle, Raquel; Sanz-Cartagena, Pilar; Piñol-Ripoll, Gerard; Molina-Porcel, Laura; Bigio, Eileen H.; Flanagan, Margaret E.; Gefen, Tamar; Rogalski, Emily J.; Weintraub, Sandra; Redding-Ochoa, Javier; Chang, Koping; Troncoso, Juan C.; Prokop, Stefan; Newell, Kathy L.; Ghetti, Bernardino; Jones, Matthew; Richardson, Anna; Robinson, Andrew C.; Roncaroli, Federico; Snowden, Julie; Allinson, Kieren; Green, Oliver; Rowe, James B.; Singh, Poonam; Beach, Thomas G.; Serrano, Geidy E.; Flowers, Xena E.; Goldman, James E.; Heaps, Allison C.; Leskinen, Sandra P.; Teich, Andrew F.; Black, Sandra E.; Keith, Julia L.; Masellis, Mario; Bodi, Istvan; King, Andrew; Sarraj, Safa-Al; Troakes, Claire; Halliday, Glenda M.; Hodges, John R.; Kril, Jillian J.; Kwok, John B.; Piguet, Olivier; Gearing, Marla; Arzberger, Thomas; Roeber, Sigrun; Attems, Johannes; Morris, Christopher M.; Thomas, Alan J.; Evers, Bret M.; White, Charles L.; Mechawar, Naguib; Sieben, Anne A.; Cras, Patrick P.; De Vil, Bart B.; De Deyn, Peter Paul P. P.; Duyckaerts, Charles; Le Ber, Isabelle; Seihean, Danielle; Turbant-Leclere, Sabrina; MacKenzie, Ian R.; McLean, Catriona; Cykowski, Matthew D.; Ervin, John F.; Wang, Shih-Hsiu J.; Graff, Caroline; Nennesmo, Inger; Nagra, Rashed M.; Riehl, James; Kovacs, Gabor G.; Giaccone, Giorgio; Nacmias, Benedetta; Neumann, Manuela; Ang, Lee-Cyn; Finger, Elizabeth C.; Blauwendraat, Cornelis; Nalls, Mike A.; Singleton, Andrew B.; Vitale, Dan; Cunha, Cristina; Carvalho, Agostinho; Wszolek, Zbigniew K.; Morris, Huw R.; Rademakers, Rosa; Hardy, John A.; Dickson, Dennis W.; Rohrer, Jonathan D.; Ross, Owen A.; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: Pick's disease (PiD) is a rare and predominantly sporadic form of frontotemporal dementia that is classified as a primary tauopathy. PiD is pathologically defined by argyrophilic inclusion Pick bodies and ballooned neurons in the frontal and temporal brain lobes. PiD is characterised by the presence of Pick bodies which are formed from aggregated, hyperphosphorylated, 3-repeat tau proteins, encoded by the MAPT gene. The MAPT H2 haplotype has consistently been associated with a decreased disease risk of the 4-repeat tauopathies of progressive supranuclear palsy and corticobasal degeneration, however its role in susceptibility to PiD is unclear. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the association between MAPT H2 and risk of PiD. Methods: We established the Pick's disease International Consortium (PIC) and collected 338 (60.7% male) pathologically confirmed PiD brains from 39 sites worldwide. 1,312 neurologically healthy clinical controls were recruited from Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, FL (N=881) or Rochester, MN (N=431). For the primary analysis, subjects were directly genotyped for MAPT H1-H2 haplotype-defining variant rs8070723. In secondary analysis, we genotyped and constructed the six-variant MAPT H1 subhaplotypes (rs1467967, rs242557, rs3785883, rs2471738, rs8070723, and rs7521). Findings: Our primary analysis found that the MAPT H2 haplotype was associated with increased risk of PiD (OR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.12-1.64 P=0.002). In secondary analysis involving H1 subhaplotypes, a protective association with PiD was observed for the H1f haplotype (0.0% vs. 1.2%, P=0.049), with a similar trend noted for H1b (OR: 0.76, 95% CI: 0.58-1.00, P=0.051). The 4-repeat tauopathy risk haplotype MAPT H1c was not associated with PiD susceptibility (OR: 0.93, 95% CI: 0.70-1.25, P=0.65). Interpretation: The PIC represents the first opportunity to perform relatively large-scale studies to enhance our understanding of the pathobiology of PiD. This study demonstrates that in contrast to its protective role in 4R tauopathies, the MAPT H2 haplotype is associated with an increased risk of PiD. This finding is critical in directing isoform-related therapeutics for tauopathies.
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    Demographic, clinical, biomarker, and neuropathological correlates of posterior cortical atrophy: an international cohort study and individual participant data meta-analysis
    (Elsevier, 2024) Chapleau, Marianne; La Joie, Renaud; Yong, Keir; Agosta, Federica; Allen, Isabel Elaine; Apostolova, Liana; Best, John; Boon, Baayla D. C.; Crutch, Sebastian; Filippi, Massimo; Fumagalli, Giorgio Giulio; Galimberti, Daniela; Graff-Radford, Jonathan; Grinberg, Lea T.; Irwin, David J.; Josephs, Keith A.; Mendez, Mario F.; Mendez, Patricio Chrem; Migliaccio, Raffaella; Miller, Zachary A.; Montembeault, Maxime; Murray, Melissa E.; Nemes, Sára; Pelak, Victoria; Perani, Daniela; Phillips, Jeffrey; Pijnenburg, Yolande; Rogalski, Emily; Schott, Jonathan M.; Seeley, William; Sullivan, A. Campbell; Spina, Salvatore; Tanner, Jeremy; Walker, Jamie; Whitwell, Jennifer L.; Wolk, David A.; Ossenkoppele, Rik; Rabinovici, Gil D.; PCA International Work Group; Neurology, School of Medicine
    Background: Posterior cortical atrophy is a rare syndrome characterised by early, prominent, and progressive impairment in visuoperceptual and visuospatial processing. The disorder has been associated with underlying neuropathological features of Alzheimer's disease, but large-scale biomarker and neuropathological studies are scarce. We aimed to describe demographic, clinical, biomarker, and neuropathological correlates of posterior cortical atrophy in a large international cohort. Methods: We searched PubMed between database inception and Aug 1, 2021, for all published research studies on posterior cortical atrophy and related terms. We identified research centres from these studies and requested deidentified, individual participant data (published and unpublished) that had been obtained at the first diagnostic visit from the corresponding authors of the studies or heads of the research centres. Inclusion criteria were a clinical diagnosis of posterior cortical atrophy as defined by the local centre and availability of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers (PET or CSF), or a diagnosis made at autopsy. Not all individuals with posterior cortical atrophy fulfilled consensus criteria, being diagnosed using centre-specific procedures or before development of consensus criteria. We obtained demographic, clinical, biofluid, neuroimaging, and neuropathological data. Mean values for continuous variables were combined using the inverse variance meta-analysis method; only research centres with more than one participant for a variable were included. Pooled proportions were calculated for binary variables using a restricted maximum likelihood model. Heterogeneity was quantified using I2. Findings: We identified 55 research centres from 1353 papers, with 29 centres responding to our request. An additional seven centres were recruited by advertising via the Alzheimer's Association. We obtained data for 1092 individuals who were evaluated at 36 research centres in 16 countries, the other sites having not responded to our initial invitation to participate to the study. Mean age at symptom onset was 59·4 years (95% CI 58·9-59·8; I2=77%), 60% (56-64; I2=35%) were women, and 80% (72-89; I2=98%) presented with posterior cortical atrophy pure syndrome. Amyloid β in CSF (536 participants from 28 centres) was positive in 81% (95% CI 75-87; I2=78%), whereas phosphorylated tau in CSF (503 participants from 29 centres) was positive in 65% (56-75; I2=87%). Amyloid-PET (299 participants from 24 centres) was positive in 94% (95% CI 90-97; I2=15%), whereas tau-PET (170 participants from 13 centres) was positive in 97% (93-100; I2=12%). At autopsy (145 participants from 13 centres), the most frequent neuropathological diagnosis was Alzheimer's disease (94%, 95% CI 90-97; I2=0%), with common co-pathologies of cerebral amyloid angiopathy (71%, 54-88; I2=89%), Lewy body disease (44%, 25-62; I2=77%), and cerebrovascular injury (42%, 24-60; I2=88%). Interpretation: These data indicate that posterior cortical atrophy typically presents as a pure, young-onset dementia syndrome that is highly specific for underlying Alzheimer's disease pathology. Further work is needed to understand what drives cognitive vulnerability and progression rates by investigating the contribution of sex, genetics, premorbid cognitive strengths and weaknesses, and brain network integrity.
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    Dissociable spatial topography of cortical atrophy in early‐onset and late‐onset Alzheimer's disease: A head‐to‐head comparison of the LEADS and ADNI cohorts
    (Wiley, 2025) Katsumi, Yuta; Touroutoglou, Alexandra; Brickhouse, Michael; Eloyan, Ani; Eckbo, Ryan; Zaitsev, Alexander; La Joie, Renaud; Lagarde, Julien; Schonhaut, Daniel; Thangarajah, Maryanne; Taurone, Alexander; Vemuri, Prashanthi; Jack, Clifford R., Jr.; Dage, Jeffrey L.; Nudelman, Kelly N. H.; Foroud, Tatiana; Hammers, Dustin B.; Ghetti, Bernardino; Murray, Melissa E.; Newell, Kathy L.; Polsinelli, Angelina J.; Aisen, Paul; Reman, Rema; Beckett, Laurel; Kramer, Joel H.; Atri, Alireza; Day, Gregory S.; Duara, Ranjan; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Grant, Ian M.; Honig, Lawrence S.; Johnson, Erik C. B.; Jones, David T.; Masdeu, Joseph C.; Mendez, Mario F.; Musiek, Erik; Onyike, Chiadi U.; Riddle, Meghan; Rogalski, Emily; Salloway, Stephen; Sha, Sharon; Turner, R. Scott; Wingo, Thomas S.; Wolk, David A.; Womack, Kyle; Carrillo, Maria C.; Rabinovici, Gil D.; Apostolova, Liana G.; Dickerson, Bradford C.; LEADS Consortium for the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative; Neurology, School of Medicine
    Introduction: Early-onset and late-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD and LOAD, respectively) have distinct clinical manifestations, with prior work based on small samples suggesting unique patterns of neurodegeneration. The current study performed a head-to-head comparison of cortical atrophy in EOAD and LOAD, using two large and well-characterized cohorts (LEADS and ADNI). Methods: We analyzed brain structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data acquired from 377 sporadic EOAD patients and 317 sporadicLOAD patients who were amyloid positive and had mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild dementia (i.e., early-stage AD), along with cognitively unimpaired participants. Results: After controlling for the level of cognitive impairment, we found a double dissociation between AD clinical phenotype and localization/magnitude of atrophy, characterized by predominant neocortical involvement in EOAD and more focal anterior medial temporal involvement in LOAD. Discussion: Our findings point to the clinical utility of MRI-based biomarkers of atrophy in differentiating between EOAD and LOAD, which may be useful for diagnosis, prognostication, and treatment. Highlights: Early-onset Alzheimer's disease (EOAD) and late-onset AD (LOAD) patients showed distinct and overlapping cortical atrophy patterns. EOAD patients showed prominent atrophy in widespread neocortical regions. LOAD patients showed prominent atrophy in the anterior medial temporal lobe. Regional atrophy was correlated with the severity of global cognitive impairment. Results were comparable when the sample was stratified for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia.
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    Genome-wide analyses as part of the international FTLD-TDP whole-genome sequencing consortium reveals novel disease risk factors and increases support for immune dysfunction in FTLD
    (Springer, 2019-02-09) Pottier, Cyril; Ren, Yingxue; Perkerson, Ralph B.; Baker, Matt; Jenkins, Gregory D.; van Blitterswijk, Marka; DeJesus-Hernandez, Mariely; van Rooij, Jeroen G. J.; Murray, Melissa E.; Christopher, Elizabeth; McDonnell, Shannon K.; Fogarty, Zachary; Batzler, Anthony; Tian, Shulan; Vicente, Cristina T.; Matchett, Billie; Karydas, Anna M.; Hsiung, Ging-Yuek Robin; Seelaar, Harro; Mol, Merel O.; Finger, Elizabeth C.; Graff, Caroline; Öijerstedt, Linn; Neumann, Manuela; Heutink, Peter; Synofzik, Matthis; Matthis, Carlo; Prudlo, Johannes; Rizzu, Patrizia; Simon-Sanchez, Javier; Edbauer, Dieter; Roeber, Sigrun; Diehl-Schmid, Janine; Evers, Bret M.; King, Andrew; Mesulam, M. Marsel; Weintraub, Sandra; Geula, Changiz; Bieniek, Kevin F.; Petrucelli, Leonard; Ahern, Geoffrey L.; Reiman, Eric M.; Woodruff, Bryan K.; Caselli, Richard J.; Huey, Edward D.; Farlow, Martin R.; Grafman, Jordan; Mead, Simon; Grinberg, Lea T.; Spina, Salvatore; Grossman, Murray; Irwin, David J.; Lee, Edward B.; Suh, EunRan; Snowden, Julie; Mann, David; Ertekin-Taner, Nilufer; Uitti, Ryan J.; Wszolek, Zbigniew K.; Josephs, Keith A.; Parisi, Joseph E.; Knopman, David S.; Petersen, Ronald C.; Hodges, John R.; Piguet, Olivier; Geier, Ethan G.; Yokoyama, Jennifer S.; Rissman, Robert A.; Rogaeva, Ekaterina; Keith, Julia; Zinman, Lorne; Tartaglia, Maria Carmela; Cairns, Nigel J.; Cruchaga, Carlos; Ghetti, Bernardino; Kofler, Julia; Lopez, Oscar L.; Beach, Thomas G.; Arzberger, Thomas; Herms, Jochen; Honig, Lawrence S.; Vonsattel, Jean Paul; Halliday, Glenda M.; Kwok, John B.; White, Charles L.; Gearing, Marla; Glass, Jonathan; Rollinson, Sara; Pickering-Brown, Stuart; Rohrer, Jonathan D.; Trojanowski, John Q.; Van Deerlin, Vivianna; Bigio, Eileen H.; Troakes, Claire; Al-Sarraj, Safa; Asmann, Yan; Miller, Bruce L.; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Boeve, Bradley F.; Seeley, William W.; Mackenzie, Ian R. A.; van Swieten, John C.; Dickson, Dennis W.; Biernacka, Joanna M.; Rademakers, Rosa; Neurology, School of Medicine
    Frontotemporal lobar degeneration with neuronal inclusions of the TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (FTLD-TDP) represents the most common pathological subtype of FTLD. We established the international FTLD-TDP whole genome sequencing consortium to thoroughly characterize the known genetic causes of FTLD-TDP and identify novel genetic risk factors. Through the study of 1,131 unrelated Caucasian patients, we estimated that C9orf72 repeat expansions and GRN loss-of-function mutations account for 25.5% and 13.9% of FTLD-TDP patients, respectively. Mutations in TBK1 (1.5%) and other known FTLD genes (1.4%) were rare, and the disease in 57.7% of FTLD-TDP patients was unexplained by the known FTLD genes. To unravel the contribution of common genetic factors to the FTLD-TDP etiology in these patients, we conducted a two-stage association study comprising the analysis of whole-genome sequencing data from 517 FTLD-TDP patients and 838 controls, followed by targeted genotyping of the most associated genomic loci in 119 additional FTLD-TDP patients and 1653 controls. We identified three genome-wide significant FTLD-TDP risk loci: one new locus at chromosome 7q36 within the DPP6 gene led by rs118113626 (pvalue=4.82e-08, OR=2.12), and two known loci: UNC13A, led by rs1297319 (pvalue=1.27e-08, OR=1.50) and HLA-DQA2 led by rs17219281 (pvalue=3.22e-08, OR=1.98). While HLA represents a locus previously implicated in clinical FTLD and related neurodegenerative disorders, the association signal in our study is independent from previously reported associations. Through inspection of our whole genome sequence data for genes with an excess of rare loss-of-function variants in FTLD-TDP patients (n≥3) as compared to controls (n=0), we further discovered a possible role for genes functioning within the TBK1-related immune pathway (e.g. DHX58, TRIM21, IRF7) in the genetic etiology of FTLD-TDP. Together, our study based on the largest cohort of unrelated FTLD-TDP patients assembled to date provides a comprehensive view of the genetic landscape of FTLD-TDP, nominates novel FTLD-TDP risk loci, and strongly implicates the immune pathway in FTLD-TDP pathogenesis.
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    Genome-wide association study of brain biochemical phenotypes reveals distinct genetic architecture of Alzheimer's disease related proteins
    (BMC, 2023-01-07) Oatman, Stephanie R.; Reddy, Joseph S.; Quicksall, Zachary; Carrasquillo, Minerva M.; Wang, Xue; Liu, Chia‑Chen; Yamazaki, Yu; Nguyen, Thuy T.; Malphrus, Kimberly; Heckman, Michael; Biswas, Kristi; Nho, Kwangsik; Baker, Matthew; Martens, Yuka A.; Zhao, Na; Kim, Jun Pyo; Risacher, Shannon L.; Rademakers, Rosa; Saykin, Andrew J.; DeTure, Michael; Murray, Melissa E.; Kanekiyo, Takahisa; Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative; Dickson, Dennis W.; Bu, Guojun; Allen, Mariet; Ertekin‑Taner, Nilüfer; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of Medicine
    Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is neuropathologically characterized by amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. The main protein components of these hallmarks include Aβ40, Aβ42, tau, phosphor-tau, and APOE. We hypothesize that genetic variants influence the levels and solubility of these AD-related proteins in the brain; identifying these may provide key insights into disease pathogenesis. Methods: Genome-wide genotypes were collected from 441 AD cases, imputed to the haplotype reference consortium (HRC) panel, and filtered for quality and frequency. Temporal cortex levels of five AD-related proteins from three fractions, buffer-soluble (TBS), detergent-soluble (Triton-X = TX), and insoluble (Formic acid = FA), were available for these same individuals. Variants were tested for association with each quantitative biochemical measure using linear regression, and GSA-SNP2 was used to identify enriched Gene Ontology (GO) terms. Implicated variants and genes were further assessed for association with other relevant variables. Results: We identified genome-wide significant associations at seven novel loci and the APOE locus. Genes and variants at these loci also associate with multiple AD-related measures, regulate gene expression, have cell-type specific enrichment, and roles in brain health and other neuropsychiatric diseases. Pathway analysis identified significant enrichment of shared and distinct biological pathways. Conclusions: Although all biochemical measures tested reflect proteins core to AD pathology, our results strongly suggest that each have unique genetic architecture and biological pathways that influence their specific biochemical states in the brain. Our novel approach of deep brain biochemical endophenotype GWAS has implications for pathophysiology of proteostasis in AD that can guide therapeutic discovery efforts focused on these proteins.