Published in Nature Genetics, Raj and colleagues investigated the alternate splicing of genes as a potential cause of Alzheimer’s progression.
The expression of genes encoded in DNA is responsible for almost the entirety of our body’s functioning. However, the things we need to do—the proteins we need to make and the timing we need to coordinate—require many more genes than we have. One way that cells get around this is by splicing, or cutting, genes differently at different times to make new and different products. Now, new research suggests that cutting genes incorrectly may be responsible for Alzheimer’s progression.
In a new study published in Nature Genetics, Raj and colleagues investigate
The researchers found that there were 53,251 alternate splicing sequences from 16,557 genes in individuals with an Alzheimer’s diagnosis at death. Of these, 82 alternate splicing sequences from67 genes were associated with genes linked to nervous system pathologies, plaque, and other factors tied to Alzheimer’s progression. Importantly, Raj and colleagues found that specific genes are affected in predictable patterns in association with Alzheimer’s
Future work will need to further characterize the mechanism by which
Written by C.I. Villamil
Reference: Raj et al. 2018. Integrative transcriptome analyses of the