2023
Eating disorders: are gut microbiota to blame?
Xu J, Carroll I, Huckins L. Eating disorders: are gut microbiota to blame? Trends In Molecular Medicine 2023, 30: 317-320. PMID: 38040602, PMCID: PMC11009075, DOI: 10.1016/j.molmed.2023.11.007.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchGenetically Regulated Gene Expression in the Brain Associated With Chronic Pain: Relationships With Clinical Traits and Potential for Drug Repurposing
Johnston K, Cote A, Hicks E, Johnson J, Huckins L. Genetically Regulated Gene Expression in the Brain Associated With Chronic Pain: Relationships With Clinical Traits and Potential for Drug Repurposing. Biological Psychiatry 2023, 95: 745-761. PMID: 37678542, PMCID: PMC10924073, DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.08.023.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsGenetically regulated gene expressionMultisite chronic painGene-tissue associationsMean pain scoreUnique genesChronic painAssociation studiesS-PrediXcanGene expressionPain scoresTranscriptome-wide association studyPhenome-wide association studyCardiac dysrhythmiasMetabolic syndromeGenome-wide association studiesAssociated with cardiac dysrhythmiasDrug targetsGenotype-phenotype gapChronic pain developmentAssociation study resultsGene expression changesJoint/ligament sprainsDirection of effectTranscriptome imputationPain traitsTranscriptional signatures of heroin intake and relapse throughout the brain reward circuitry in male mice
Browne C, Futamura R, Minier-Toribio A, Hicks E, Ramakrishnan A, Martínez-Rivera F, Estill M, Godino A, Parise E, Torres-Berrío A, Cunningham A, Hamilton P, Walker D, Huckins L, Hurd Y, Shen L, Nestler E. Transcriptional signatures of heroin intake and relapse throughout the brain reward circuitry in male mice. Science Advances 2023, 9: eadg8558. PMID: 37294757, PMCID: PMC10256172, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg8558.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsOpioid use disorderHeroin intakeContext-induced drug-seekingBrain reward circuitryHeroin self-administrationRNA-seqDrug seekingReward circuitryGenome-wide association study dataSelf-administrationHeroin exposureDrug-takingIntegration of RNA-seq dataUse disorderPatterns of transcriptional regulationRNA-seq dataBehavioral outcomesMale miceMolecular changesTranscriptional regulationRegion-specificGene candidatesRNA sequencingHeroinBioinformatics analysisIntegrating genetics and transcriptomics to study major depressive disorder: a conceptual framework, bioinformatic approaches, and recent findings
Hicks E, Seah C, Cote A, Marchese S, Brennand K, Nestler E, Girgenti M, Huckins L. Integrating genetics and transcriptomics to study major depressive disorder: a conceptual framework, bioinformatic approaches, and recent findings. Translational Psychiatry 2023, 13: 129. PMID: 37076454, PMCID: PMC10115809, DOI: 10.1038/s41398-023-02412-7.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsBioinformatics approachTranscriptomic dataBrain transcriptomeGenome-wide analysisDynamic transcriptional landscapeBrain gene expression dataGene expression dataTranscriptional landscapeTranscriptomic studiesIntegrating GeneticExpression dataPhenotypic signaturesGenomic driversTranscriptomeMajor depressive disorderValuable resourceRecent findingsEnvironmental influencesTranscriptomicsDepressive disorderGeneticsMultiple approachesPathophysiology of depressionSignaturesDysregulation
2020
Massively parallel techniques for cataloguing the regulome of the human brain
Townsley KG, Brennand KJ, Huckins LM. Massively parallel techniques for cataloguing the regulome of the human brain. Nature Neuroscience 2020, 23: 1509-1521. PMID: 33199899, PMCID: PMC8018778, DOI: 10.1038/s41593-020-00740-1.Peer-Reviewed Reviews, Practice Guidelines, Standards, and Consensus StatementsConceptsRegulatory elementsTarget genesParallel reporter assaysPutative regulatory elementsNon-coding regionsDisease-associated lociSpecific expression patternsCandidate risk lociPluripotent stem cellsHigh-throughput assaysRelevant molecular pathwaysTranscriptional responseRegulatory architectureRisk lociExpression patternsReporter assaysComplex brain disordersMolecular pathwaysRegulomeStem cellsRisk architectureGenetic riskGenesLociGenetic diagnosis
2019
Gene expression imputation across multiple brain regions provides insights into schizophrenia risk
Huckins LM, Dobbyn A, Ruderfer DM, Hoffman G, Wang W, Pardiñas AF, Rajagopal VM, Als TD, T. Nguyen H, Girdhar K, Boocock J, Roussos P, Fromer M, Kramer R, Domenici E, Gamazon ER, Purcell S, Demontis D, Børglum A, Walters J, O’Donovan M, Sullivan P, Owen M, Devlin B, Sieberts S, Cox N, Im H, Sklar P, Stahl E. Gene expression imputation across multiple brain regions provides insights into schizophrenia risk. Nature Genetics 2019, 51: 659-674. PMID: 30911161, PMCID: PMC7034316, DOI: 10.1038/s41588-019-0364-4.Peer-Reviewed Original Research