Biology subjects

Turm, H.

Publications and source records attributed to Turm, H..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

The Quest for a Universal Parkinson's Transcriptomics Signature is Derailed by Inherent Variability between Patients

ObjectiveTo systematically evaluate the reproducibility and clinical utility of published blood mRNA-based gene signatures for classifying PD from healthy controls, and to uncover the pitfalls that limit their performances. MethodsWe validated the classification performance of 13 gene signatures unique for PD (published 2015-2025) using the Parkinsons Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) database. We further validated classification performance on data collected in a prospective clinical trial where demographic and clinical parameters were minimized and environmental confounders were strictly controlled. Sources of gene expression variability were studied by mean pairwise distance analysis. ResultsGene overlap between signatures was low (11/411, 2.7%) but statistically significant (P<0.001) and enriched with genes involved in lipid metabolism. The majority (10/13) of these signatures retained statistical significance when tested on the PPMI dataset, but their classification performance was modest (median AUC 59.7%), substantially lower than originally reported. Classification performance improved when comparing GBA1-associated PD to controls (median AUC 65.4%, P=0.006). A prospective trial (16 PD patients, 14 controls) with rigorous environmental standardization did not improve classification accuracy. Inter-individual expression variability is the dominant limiting factor in classifier performance. Variability was not impacted by long-term levodopa therapy. InterpretationWhile blood transcriptomic signatures unique to PD are reproducible and may elucidate PD pathophysiology, their broad clinical utility remains severely limited by inherent inter-individual variability. Future research should prioritize biomarkers of divergence rather than the pursuit of a universal PD signature.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2020

Egr2 induction in Drd1+ ensembles of the ventrolateral striatum supports the development of cocaine reward

Drug addiction develops due to brain-wide plasticity within neuronal ensembles, mediated by dynamic gene expression. Though the most common approach to identify such ensembles relies on immediate early gene expression, little is known of how the activity of these genes is linked to modified behavior observed following repeated drug exposure. To address this gap, we present a broad-to-specific approach, beginning with a comprehensive investigation of brain-wide cocaine-driven gene expression, through the description of dynamic spatial patterns of gene induction in subregions of the striatum, and finally address functionality of region-specific gene induction in the development of cocaine preference. Our findings reveal differential cell-type specific dynamic transcriptional recruitment patterns within two subdomains of the dorsal striatum following repeated cocaine exposure. Furthermore, we demonstrate that induction of the IEG Egr2 in the ventrolateral striatum, as well as the cells within which it is expressed, are required for the development of cocaine seeking. Impact statementVLS ensembles are dynamically recruited by cocaine experiences to mediate cocaine reward.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2017

Salient Experiences are Represented by Unique Transcriptional Signatures in the Brain

Inducible transcription is essential for consolidation of salient experiences into long-term memory. However, the question of whether inducible transcription relays information representing the identity of the experience being encoded, has not been explored. To this end, we have analyzed transcription across multiple brain regions, induced by a variety of rewarding and aversive experiences. Our results define robust transcriptional signatures uniquely characterizing individual salient experiences. A subset of these induced transcriptional markers suffice for near-perfect decoding of the identity of recent experiences at the level of individual mice. Furthermore, experiences with shared attributes display commonalities in their transcriptional representation, exemplified in the representation of valence, habituation and reinforcement. Taken together, our results demonstrate the existence of a neural transcriptional code that represents the encoding of experiences in the mouse brain. This code is comprised of distinct transcriptional signatures that correlate to the affective attributes of the experiences that are being encoded.

neuroscience↗