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| Status |
Public on May 08, 2022 |
| Title |
Integrative genomics reveals pathogenic mediator of valproate-induced neurodevelopmental outcomes. |
| Organism |
Rattus norvegicus |
| Experiment type |
Expression profiling by high throughput sequencing
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| Summary |
Prenatal exposure to the anti-seizure drug sodium valproate (VPA) is associated with an increased risk of adverse postnatal neurodevelopmental outcomes, including lowered intellectual ability, autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. In this study, we aimed to clarify the molecular mechanisms underpinning the neurodevelopmental consequences of gestational VPA exposure using integrative genomics. First, we assessed the effect of gestational VPA on fetal brain gene expression using a validated rat model of valproate teratogenicity that mimics the human scenario of chronic oral valproate treatment during pregnancy at doses which are therapeutically relevant to the treatment of epilepsy. Two different rat strains were studied - inbred Genetic Absence Epilepsy Rats from Strasbourg (GAERS), a model of genetic generalized epilepsy, and inbred Non-Epileptic Control (NEC) rats. Female rats were fed standard chow or VPA mixed in standard chow for 2 weeks prior to conception and then mated with same-strain males. In the VPA-exposed rats maternal oral treatment was continued throughout pregnancy. Fetuses were extracted via C-section on gestational day 21 (one day prior to birth) and fetal brains were snap frozen and genome-wide gene expression data generated. We found that gestational VPA exposure via chronic maternal oral dosing was associated with substantial drug-induced differential gene expression in the pup brains, including dysregulated splicing, and observed that this occurred in the absence of evidence for significant neuronal gain or loss. The set of genes down-regulated by VPA in the pup brains were significantly enriched for pathways related to neurodevelopment and synaptic function, and significantly enriched for heritability to human intelligence, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Our results provide a mechanistic link between chronic fetal VPA exposure and adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes mediated by VPA-induced transcriptional dysregulation.
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| Overall design |
Bulk RNA sequencing of brain tissue samples in 30 rat pups from two different strains, inbred Non-Epileptic Controls (NEC) and Genetic Absence Epilepsy Rats from Strasbourg (GAERS). Fourteen samples are VPA-treated and sixteen samples are controls.
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| Contributor(s) |
Feleke R |
| Citation(s) |
36071595 |
| |
| Submission date |
Mar 16, 2022 |
| Last update date |
Dec 08, 2022 |
| Contact name |
Rahel Feleke |
| E-mail(s) |
[email protected]
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| Organization name |
Imperial College
|
| Street address |
Ducane Road
|
| City |
London |
| ZIP/Postal code |
W12 0NN |
| Country |
United Kingdom |
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| Platforms (1) |
| GPL18694 |
Illumina HiSeq 2500 (Rattus norvegicus) |
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| Samples (30)
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| Relations |
| BioProject |
PRJNA816833 |
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