NeuralCipher Research overview
The text below is the source article’s original abstract under a verified reuse license. cc by
Drug repurposing is an efficient approach in new treatment development since it leverages previous work from one disease to another. While multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's disease (PD), and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are all neurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) and differ in many clinical and pathological aspects, it is possible that they may share some mechanistic features. We hypothesized that focusing on gene expression in a CNS cell type specific manner might uncover similarities between diseases that could be missed using whole tissue gene expression analyses. We found similarities and differences in gene expression in these three distinct diseases, depending upon cell type. Microglia genes were increased in all three diseases, and gene expression levels were correlated strongly among these three neurodegenerative diseases. In astrocytes and endothelia, upregulation and correlations were observed only between MS and PD, but not AD. Neuronal genes were down-regulated in all three diseases, but correlations of changes of individual genes between diseases were not strong. Oligodendrocyte showed gene expression changes that were not shared among the three diseases. Together these data suggest that treatments targeting microglia are most amenable to drug repurposing in MS, PD, and AD, while treatments targeting other CNS cells must be tailored to each disease.
Scientific assessment
Research question
Assess the question within the original study’s scope.
Methods & sample
Check the source article for study design and sample details.
Key findings
An editorially approved findings summary is not yet published for this record.
Limitations
Generalizability, bias and clinical meaning require separate assessment.
Methods, samples and clinical conclusions are not inferred from bibliographic metadata.