Cell type-specific mechanism of Setd1a heterozygosity in schizophrenia pathogenesis.

Sci Adv
Authors
Abstract

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a chronic, serious mental disorder. Although more than 200 SCZ-associated genes have been identified, the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we generated a Setd1a (SET domain containing 1A) haploinsufficiency mouse model to understand how this SCZ-associated epigenetic factor affects gene expression in brain regions highly relevant to SCZ. Single-cell RNA sequencing revealed that Setd1a heterozygosity causes highly variable transcriptional adaptations across different cell types in prefrontal cortex (PFC) and striatum. The neurons exhibit the most prominent gene expression changes among the different neuron subtypes in PFC, which correlate with changes in histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation. Many of the genes dysregulated in Setd1a mice are involved in neuron morphogenesis and synaptic function. Consistently, Setd1a mice exhibit certain behavioral features of patients with SCZ. Collectively, our study establishes Setd1a mice as a model for understanding SCZ and uncovers a complex brain region- and cell type-specific dysregulation that potentially underlies SCZ pathogenesis.

Year of Publication
2022
Journal
Sci Adv
Volume
8
Issue
9
Pages
eabm1077
Date Published
2022 Mar 04
ISSN
2375-2548
DOI
10.1126/sciadv.abm1077
PubMed ID
35245111
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