New analysis method disentangles molecular changes in human disease.

Understanding molecular changes that occur in human diseases is the key to developing new drugs and therapies. In complex human tissues like brain or blood, however, the presence of heterogeneous cell types, each with a specific function and potentially different involvement in disease, makes this task very challenging. A new computational method can separate the individual contributions of different cell types, acting like a virtual microscope to improve the resolution of molecular analyses.
This novel method, developed at EPFL by Dr. Alexandre Kuhn and Prof. Ruth Luthi-Carter (LNGF - Functional Neurogenomics Laboratory), is described in a new publication in Nature Methods 8:945-7. Applying their method to gene expression changes in the brains of individuals affected by the neurodegenerative disorder Huntington’s disease, Kuhn and colleagues were able to detect changes in all four major brain cell types. In addition to specific changes in neurons, the cells progressively lost as a result of the disease, their analysis revealed involvement of oligodendrocytes, a specialized cell type that supports neuronal function by improving electrical signal transmission. Specific consideration of oligodendrocytes and better delineation of the changes occurring in the different brain cell types is expected to help unravel new molecular mechanisms contributing to neuronal death in this fatal disease.

Alexandre Kuhn et al., Nature Methods 8, 945–947 (2011) doi:10.1038/nmeth.1710