Featured Publications
Synergistic effects of common schizophrenia risk variants
Schrode N, Ho SM, Yamamuro K, Dobbyn A, Huckins L, Matos MR, Cheng E, Deans PJM, Flaherty E, Barretto N, Topol A, Alganem K, Abadali S, Gregory J, Hoelzli E, Phatnani H, Singh V, Girish D, Aronow B, Mccullumsmith R, Hoffman GE, Stahl EA, Morishita H, Sklar P, Brennand KJ. Synergistic effects of common schizophrenia risk variants. Nature Genetics 2019, 51: 1475-1485. PMID: 31548722, PMCID: PMC6778520, DOI: 10.1038/s41588-019-0497-5.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMeSH KeywordsChloride ChannelsCRISPR-Cas SystemsFemaleFurinGene EditingGene Expression RegulationGenetic Predisposition to DiseaseGenome-Wide Association StudyHumansInduced Pluripotent Stem CellsMaleMonomeric Clathrin Assembly ProteinsPolymorphism, Single NucleotideQuantitative Trait LociSchizophreniaSNARE ProteinsConceptsExpression quantitative trait lociComplex genetic disorderEQTL genesCommon variantsQuantitative trait lociRisk variantsGene expression differencesPsychiatric disease riskCommon risk variantsPluripotent stem cellsSchizophrenia risk variantsGenetic disordersTrait lociGene perturbationsGenetic approachesExpression differencesGene editingStem cellsGeneralizable phenomenonSynaptic functionGenesVariantsCRISPRLociSpecific effects
2024
Somatic mosaicism in schizophrenia brains reveals prenatal mutational processes
Maury E, Jones A, Seplyarskiy V, Nguyen T, Rosenbluh C, Bae T, Wang Y, Abyzov A, Khoshkhoo S, Chahine Y, Zhao S, Venkatesh S, Root E, Voloudakis G, Roussos P, Network B, Park P, Akbarian S, Brennand K, Reilly S, Lee E, Sunyaev S, Walsh C, Chess A. Somatic mosaicism in schizophrenia brains reveals prenatal mutational processes. Science 2024, 386: 217-224. PMID: 39388546, PMCID: PMC11490355, DOI: 10.1126/science.adq1456.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsTranscription factor binding sitesWhole-genome sequencingOpen chromatinMutational processesSomatic mutationsFactor binding sitesSchizophrenia casesSchizophrenia risk genesSomatic mosaicismSomatic variantsRisk genesG mutationGene expressionGermline mutationsBinding sitesGenesMutationsIncreased somatic mutationsChromatinMosaic somatic mutationsPrenatal neurogenesisContext of schizophreniaBrain neuronsSchizophrenia brainVariantsMassively parallel characterization of regulatory elements in the developing human cortex
Deng C, Whalen S, Steyert M, Ziffra R, Przytycki P, Inoue F, Pereira D, Capauto D, Norton S, Vaccarino F, Pollen A, Nowakowski T, Ahituv N, Pollard K, Akbarian S, Abyzov A, Ahituv N, Arasappan D, Almagro Armenteros J, Beliveau B, Bendl J, Berretta S, Bharadwaj R, Bhattacharya A, Bicks L, Brennand K, Capauto D, Champagne F, Chatterjee T, Chatzinakos C, Chen Y, Chen H, Cheng Y, Cheng L, Chess A, Chien J, Chu Z, Clarke D, Clement A, Collado-Torres L, Cooper G, Crawford G, Dai R, Daskalakis N, Davila-Velderrain J, Deep-Soboslay A, Deng C, DiPietro C, Dracheva S, Drusinsky S, Duan Z, Duong D, Dursun C, Eagles N, Edelstein J, Emani P, Fullard J, Galani K, Galeev T, Gandal M, Gaynor S, Gerstein M, Geschwind D, Girdhar K, Goes F, Greenleaf W, Grundman J, Guo H, Guo Q, Gupta C, Hadas Y, Hallmayer J, Han X, Haroutunian V, Hawken N, He C, Henry E, Hicks S, Ho M, Ho L, Hoffman G, Huang Y, Huuki-Myers L, Hwang A, Hyde T, Iatrou A, Inoue F, Jajoo A, Jensen M, Jiang L, Jin P, Jin T, Jops C, Jourdon A, Kawaguchi R, Kellis M, Khullar S, Kleinman J, Kleopoulos S, Kozlenkov A, Kriegstein A, Kundaje A, Kundu S, Lee C, Lee D, Li J, Li M, Lin X, Liu S, Liu J, Liu J, Liu C, Liu S, Lou S, Loupe J, Lu D, Ma S, Ma L, Margolis M, Mariani J, Martinowich K, Maynard K, Mazariegos S, Meng R, Myers R, Micallef C, Mikhailova T, Ming G, Mohammadi S, Monte E, Montgomery K, Moore J, Moran J, Mukamel E, Nairn A, Nemeroff C, Ni P, Norton S, Nowakowski T, Omberg L, Page S, Park S, Patowary A, Pattni R, Pertea G, Peters M, Phalke N, Pinto D, Pjanic M, Pochareddy S, Pollard K, Pollen A, Pratt H, Przytycki P, Purmann C, Qin Z, Qu P, Quintero D, Raj T, Rajagopalan A, Reach S, Reimonn T, Ressler K, Ross D, Roussos P, Rozowsky J, Ruth M, Ruzicka W, Sanders S, Schneider J, Scuderi S, Sebra R, Sestan N, Seyfried N, Shao Z, Shedd N, Shieh A, Shin J, Skarica M, Snijders C, Song H, State M, Stein J, Steyert M, Subburaju S, Sudhof T, Snyder M, Tao R, Therrien K, Tsai L, Urban A, Vaccarino F, van Bakel H, Vo D, Voloudakis G, Wamsley B, Wang T, Wang S, Wang D, Wang Y, Warrell J, Wei Y, Weimer A, Weinberger D, Wen C, Weng Z, Whalen S, White K, Willsey A, Won H, Wong W, Wu H, Wu F, Wuchty S, Wylie D, Xu S, Yap C, Zeng B, Zhang P, Zhang C, Zhang B, Zhang J, Zhang Y, Zhou X, Ziffra R, Zeier Z, Zintel T. Massively parallel characterization of regulatory elements in the developing human cortex. Science 2024, 384: eadh0559. PMID: 38781390, DOI: 10.1126/science.adh0559.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsGene regulatory elementsRegulatory elementsRegulation of enhancer activityCharacterization of regulatory elementsCis-regulatory activityNeuronal developmentPrimary cellsEnhanced activityGene regulationHuman neuronal developmentNucleotide changesEnhancer sequencesSequence basisUpstream regulatorComprehensive catalogHuman cellsDeveloping cortexSequenceVariantsOrganoidsCellsCerebral organoidsCortexHuman cortexNucleotide
2022
Using Stem Cell Models to Explore the Genetics Underlying Psychiatric Disorders: Linking Risk Variants, Genes, and Biology in Brain Disease
Brennand K. Using Stem Cell Models to Explore the Genetics Underlying Psychiatric Disorders: Linking Risk Variants, Genes, and Biology in Brain Disease. American Journal Of Psychiatry 2022, 179: 322-328. PMID: 35491564, DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.20220235.Commentaries, Editorials and LettersConceptsRisk variantsFunctional genomic studiesCell typesDiverse cell typesPatient-specific variantsStem cell modelGenomic studiesSignificant lociStem cell-based approachesGenetic studiesExciting questionsCell-based approachesEngineering strategiesGenetic profileNovel therapeutic interventionsCell modelPluripotent stem cell-based approachesVariantsComplex interplayGenetic riskCRISPRGenesLociBiologyTherapeutic interventions
2021
Applying stem cells and CRISPR engineering to uncover the etiology of schizophrenia
Michael Deans P, Brennand K. Applying stem cells and CRISPR engineering to uncover the etiology of schizophrenia. Current Opinion In Neurobiology 2021, 69: 193-201. PMID: 34010781, PMCID: PMC8387340, DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2021.04.003.Peer-Reviewed Reviews, Practice Guidelines, Standards, and Consensus StatementsConceptsCell type-specific fashionStem cell biologyType-specific fashionDisease-associated variantsNeural cell typesCommon genetic variantsMore genesCell biologyCRISPR engineeringGene manipulationGene targetsCRISPR technologyMolecular geneticsInvaluable advancesCell typesHiPSC technologyGenetic variantsStem cellsIndividual variantsEtiology of diseasePolygenic disorderVariantsComplex interactionsRecent advancesEtiology of schizophreniaChapter 30 Functional genomics of psychiatric disease risk using genome engineering
Garcia M, Powell S, LaMarca E, Fernando M, Cohen S, Fang G, Akbarian S, Brennand K. Chapter 30 Functional genomics of psychiatric disease risk using genome engineering. 2021, 711-734. DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-823577-5.00021-0.ChaptersRisk variantsDisease-relevant cell typesPsychiatric disease riskPluripotent stem cellsFunctional genomicsGenetic risk architectureGenome engineeringComplex geneticsCRISPR engineeringHiPSC modelsCell typesFunctional explorationStem cellsFunctional impactRisk architecturePossible new avenuesGenetic findingsGenetic screeningNew insightsNovel therapeutic approachesFundamental roleNew avenuesDisease pathophysiologyEpigenomeVariants
2020
Parsing the Functional Impact of Noncoding Genetic Variants in the Brain Epigenome
Powell SK, O'Shea C, Brennand KJ, Akbarian S. Parsing the Functional Impact of Noncoding Genetic Variants in the Brain Epigenome. Biological Psychiatry 2020, 89: 65-75. PMID: 33131715, PMCID: PMC7718420, DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.06.033.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsGenetic variantsDisease-associated genetic variationProtein-coding lociRisk-associated genetic variantsGene regulatory lociThousands of variantsFunctional impactRare genetic variantsEpigenomic mappingRegulatory lociBrain epigenomeGenetic variationDNA sequencesNoncoding variantsGene expressionIntegrative analysisEpigenomic architectureMolecular pathwaysPsychiatric geneticsFunctional readoutRisk variantsLociVariantsHighlight findingsEpigenomeIntegration of CRISPR-engineering and hiPSC-based models of psychiatric genomics
Matos MR, Ho SM, Schrode N, Brennand KJ. Integration of CRISPR-engineering and hiPSC-based models of psychiatric genomics. Molecular And Cellular Neuroscience 2020, 107: 103532. PMID: 32712198, PMCID: PMC7484226, DOI: 10.1016/j.mcn.2020.103532.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsPenetrant rare variantsDisease-associated variantsNeuronal cell typesPluripotent stem cellsGenomic engineeringFunctional characterizationComplex geneticsCRISPR engineeringCRISPR technologyIsogenic comparisonsPsychiatric genomicsCell typesGenetic variantsStem cellsIndividual variantsCommon variantsPolygenic disorderRare variantsVariantsComplex interplayGenomicsGenetic riskPleiotropyCRISPRGeneticsModeling the complex genetic architectures of brain disease
Fernando MB, Ahfeldt T, Brennand KJ. Modeling the complex genetic architectures of brain disease. Nature Genetics 2020, 52: 363-369. PMID: 32203467, PMCID: PMC7909729, DOI: 10.1038/s41588-020-0596-3.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsGenetic architectureComplex genetic architectureFunctional validation studiesRelevant disease biologyIntersection of genomicsComplex genetic diseasesCombination of genesPluripotent stem cellsGene perturbationsIsogenic comparisonsMolecular mechanismsPhenotypic drug discoveryCell typesGenetic diseasesFunctional consequencesGenetic backgroundRisk variantsStem cellsCRISPRDisease biologyDrug discoveryRare variantsConfer riskGenetic diagnosisVariants
2019
CRISPR-based functional evaluation of schizophrenia risk variants
Rajarajan P, Flaherty E, Akbarian S, Brennand KJ. CRISPR-based functional evaluation of schizophrenia risk variants. Schizophrenia Research 2019, 217: 26-36. PMID: 31277978, PMCID: PMC6939156, DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2019.06.017.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsSchizophrenia-associated variantsPluripotent stem cellsCRISPR genome engineeringSchizophrenia risk variantsCellular functionsGenome engineeringGenomic studiesSchizophrenia lociList of variantsGene expressionPatient-specific humanGenotype dataRisk variantsStem cellsFunctional impactCommon variantsCRISPRPost-mortem brain tissueRecent findingsVariantsNeuropsychiatric diseasesPoint of convergenceGenetic riskLociSpecific effects
2017
Mapping regulatory variants in hiPSC models
Hoffman GE, Brennand KJ. Mapping regulatory variants in hiPSC models. Nature Genetics 2017, 50: 1-2. PMID: 29273803, DOI: 10.1038/s41588-017-0017-4.Peer-Reviewed Original Research