RNA silencing of UNC93A and WDR27

In order to investigate the potential effects of a loss of function of UNC93A and WDR27 in four brain cell types (Vascular smooth muscle cells, neurons, and astrocytes), we simultaneously silenced both UNC93A and WDR27 genes using a siRNA approach and performed a high throughput RNA sequencing. Through the differential expression analysis, we observed that VSMCs had the highest numbers of differentially expressed genes (DEG=2231), followed by pericytes(DEG=2091), while astrocytes (DEG=226) and neurons (DEG=191) showed a modest change in gene expression compared with control groups (Fig. 3A), suggesting that mutations promoting a loss of function of the UNC93A and WDR27 genes affect the neurovascular unit of the brain. Pathway analysis of VSMC and pericyte gene signatures identified enrichment for multiple known molecular pathways associated with neurological disorders.
The data derived of the RNA silencing technique is in the file "Raw data DEGs".