Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in Neurodegenerative Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a devastative neurodegenerative disease with increasing prevalence. Concerningly, its underlying molecular mechanisms are still unclear. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) significantly improves the disease motor symptoms. We studied the effect of DBS on PD gene expression profiles (on blood leukocytes isolated from patient’s peripheral blood samples), using exon and junction microarrays and RNA sequencing. We detected significant reversible changes in both coding genes and microRNAs. Additionally, changes in long non-coding RNAs were detected. In terms of molecular functions, among the changed Gene Ontology (GO) pathways (molecular functions and biological pathways) were alternative splicing, inflammation and immune functions.

Recent evidence demonstrates the power of RNA sequencing for identifying valuable and urgently needed blood biomarkers and advancing both early and accurate detection of neurological diseases—in particular, PD. RNA sequencing technology performs a non-biased, high throughput, probe-independent inspection of expression data and high coverage, which enables both the quantification of global transcript levels and the detection of expressed exons and junctions. However, the analysis of sequencing data frequently presents a bottleneck. Tools for quantification of alternative splicing from sequenced libraries hardly exist at the present time, and methods that support multiple sequencing platforms are especially lacking.

We applied a non-parametric Kolmogorov–Smirnov (KS) test on GO molecular functions and biological processes. Additionally, PD progression can be studied by analyses of microarray data from slow- and fast-progressive patients. Importantly, comparison of the gene expression data to mice models can provide further insights into the disease’s underlying molecular processes. Analysis of microRNAs and long non-coding RNAs can offer further insights.

The importance of developing methods for diagnosis of PD in the blood is the ability to intervene (e.g., Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)/dopamine agents) earlier in this devastative disease process. Further on, we detected changes in 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTPreated mice in similar patterns in several brain regions.

We therefore welcome colleagues to contribute to this Special Issue, sharing their expertise including Alzheimer’s disease, Aging, Machine learning and Parkinson’s disease.

Dr. Lilach Soreq
Guest Editor

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• Machine learning
• Bioinformatics
• Aging
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Alzheimer’s disease
• RNA Sequencing
• Microarrays
• Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS)
• High resolution imaging of stained brain samples/cell counting