Gerson Chadi
University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine, Brazil
Title: Bioinformatics for Molecular Modeling of human iPS-derived motor neurons reveals pathophysiological mechanisms of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Biography
Biography: Gerson Chadi
Abstract
The detailed mechanisms related to neurodegeneration in eurodegenerative disorders are still unknown. The methodology to study genetic, molecular and cellular events of human neurological diseases is current under development, increasing the expectation the discovery of therapeutic targets that allow effective translation of proposed clinical trials. Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that leads to widespread motor neuron death, general palsy and respiratory failure. We have developed the methodology to allow gene expression modeling of sporadic ALS, the most prevalent form of disease, by employing human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-differentiated motor neurons linked to DAVID Functional Annotation Bioinformatics Microarray Analysis using a whole human genome platform. DAVID analyses of differentially expressed genes identified molecular function/biological process-related genes through Gene Ontology terms, summarized by REVIGO, and also genes related to KEGG signaling pathways. Specific software for Protein Interaction Network Analysis showed the degree of interaction of deregulated gene expression. The overall analysis showed a strong association between mitochondrial function and cellular processes possibly related to motor neuron degeneration. Supported by: FAPESP and CNPq, Brazil.
