Multi-Omic analyses characterize the ceramide/sphingomyelin pathway as a therapeutic target in Alzheimer's disease
Priyanka Baloni, Matthias Arnold, Luna Buitrago, Kwangsik Nho, Herman Moreno, Kevin Huynh, Barbara Brauner, Gregory Louie et al.. Communications biology, 2022-10-08
Topic: Genetics and APOE
Dysregulation of sphingomyelin and ceramide metabolism have been implicated in Alzheimer's disease. Genome-wide and transcriptome-wide association studies have identified various genes and genetic variants in lipid metabolism that are associated with Alzheimer's disease. However, the molecular mechanisms of sphingomyelin and ceramide disruption remain to be determined. We focus on the sphingolipid pathway and carry out multi-omics analyses to identify central and peripheral metabolic changes in Alzheimer's patients, correlating them to imaging features. Our multi-omics approach is based on (a) 2114 human post-mortem brain transcriptomics to identify differentially expressed genes; (b) in silico metabolic flux analysis on context-specific metabolic networks identified differential reaction fluxes; (c) multimodal neuroimaging analysis on 1576 participants to associate genetic variants in sphingomyelin pathway with Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis; (d) plasma metabolomic and lipidomic analysis to identify associations of lipid species with dysregulation in Alzheimer's; and (e) metabolite genome-wide association studies to define receptors within the pathway as a potential drug target. We validate our hypothesis in amyloidogenic APP/PS1 mice and show prolonged exposure to fingolimod alleviated synaptic plasticity and cognitive impairment in mice. Our integrative multi-omics approach identifies potential targets in the sphingomyelin pathway and suggests modulators of S1P metabolism as possible candidates for Alzheimer's disease treatment.
Key findings
- Genome-wide and transcriptome-wide association studies have identified various genes and genetic variants in lipid metabolism that are associated with Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Participants1,576
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 52/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 29 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 52 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Communications biology) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2022 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 3 / 4 | 1,576 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 36209301) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 29 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 29 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 52 out of 100. |
| Total | 52 / 100 | — |
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APA 7th
Baloni, P., Arnold, M., Buitrago, L., Nho, K., Moreno, H., Huynh, K., et al. (2022). Multi-Omic analyses characterize the ceramide/sphingomyelin pathway as a therapeutic target in Alzheimer's disease. Communications biology. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-04011-6
Vancouver
Baloni P, Arnold M, Buitrago L, Nho K, Moreno H, Huynh K, et al. Multi-Omic analyses characterize the ceramide/sphingomyelin pathway as a therapeutic target in Alzheimer's disease. Communications biology. 2022. doi:10.1038/s42003-022-04011-6. PMID: 36209301.
BibTeX
@article{baloni2022-36209301,
author = {Baloni, Priyanka and Arnold, Matthias and Buitrago, Luna and Nho, Kwangsik and Moreno, Herman and Huynh, Kevin and Brauner, Barbara and Louie, Gregory and others},
title = {{Multi-Omic analyses characterize the ceramide/sphingomyelin pathway as a therapeutic target in Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {Communications biology},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.1038/s42003-022-04011-6},
pmid = {36209301},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-04011-6}
}