Epigenetic dysregulation of transposable elements in cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease

Growing evidence implicates transposable elements (TEs) in aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD). To evaluate potential transcriptional and epigenetic differences related to TE expression in this context, we generated whole blood total RNA-seq, and peripheral blood cell whole-genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS), and transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing (ATAC-seq) on samples from healthy middle-aged/older adults, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and AD patients. Overall design: Total RNA-seq was performed on whole blood from 45 older adults including healthy, asymptomatic middle-aged/older adults (ASM, n = 11), older asymptomatic adults (ASO, n = 14), symptomatic older adults with MCI (n = 10), and older adults with AD dementia (n = 10). WGBS and ATAC-seq data were generated using buffy coat samples from these same subjects.

越来越多的证据表明，转座因子（transposable elements, TEs）与衰老及阿尔茨海默病（Alzheimer's disease, AD）密切相关。为评估该研究背景下与转座因子表达相关的潜在转录与表观遗传差异，我们针对健康中老年成年人、轻度认知障碍（MCI）患者及阿尔茨海默病患者的样本，开展了全血总RNA测序、外周血细胞全基因组亚硫酸氢盐测序（WGBS）以及转座酶可及性染色质测序（ATAC-seq）。
总体实验设计：本研究对45名老年成年人的全血样本进行总RNA测序，受试人群包括健康无症状中老年成年人（ASM，n=11）、老年无症状成年人（ASO，n=14）、伴有轻度认知障碍的有症状老年成年人（n=10）以及阿尔茨海默病痴呆老年成年人（n=10）。我们使用来自同一批受试者的血沉棕黄层样本，生成了WGBS与ATAC-seq测序数据。