S41467-020-18249-3.Pdf
ARTICLE https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18249-3 OPEN Pharmacologically reversible zonation-dependent endothelial cell transcriptomic changes with neurodegenerative disease associations in the aged brain Lei Zhao1,2,17, Zhongqi Li 1,2,17, Joaquim S. L. Vong2,3,17, Xinyi Chen1,2, Hei-Ming Lai1,2,4,5,6, Leo Y. C. Yan1,2, Junzhe Huang1,2, Samuel K. H. Sy1,2,7, Xiaoyu Tian 8, Yu Huang 8, Ho Yin Edwin Chan5,9, Hon-Cheong So6,8, ✉ ✉ Wai-Lung Ng 10, Yamei Tang11, Wei-Jye Lin12,13, Vincent C. T. Mok1,5,6,14,15 &HoKo 1,2,4,5,6,8,14,16 1234567890():,; The molecular signatures of cells in the brain have been revealed in unprecedented detail, yet the ageing-associated genome-wide expression changes that may contribute to neurovas- cular dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases remain elusive. Here, we report zonation- dependent transcriptomic changes in aged mouse brain endothelial cells (ECs), which pro- minently implicate altered immune/cytokine signaling in ECs of all vascular segments, and functional changes impacting the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and glucose/energy metabolism especially in capillary ECs (capECs). An overrepresentation of Alzheimer disease (AD) GWAS genes is evident among the human orthologs of the differentially expressed genes of aged capECs, while comparative analysis revealed a subset of concordantly downregulated, functionally important genes in human AD brains. Treatment with exenatide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, strongly reverses aged mouse brain EC transcriptomic changes and BBB leakage, with associated attenuation of microglial priming. We thus revealed tran- scriptomic alterations underlying brain EC ageing that are complex yet pharmacologically reversible.
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