Human Brain Genes. What do we know about them?
Evgenia Leonova, PhD, MBA
Life Sciences Executive, Entrepreneur, Lecturer, Speaker
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” – Charles Darwin
“Anyway, like I was sayin’, shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. There’s shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That, that’s about it.” – Bubba, Forrest Gump
Brain genes determine our behavior
Scientists use analytical frameworks to calculate statistical similarities in the behavior of humans with other animals. These frameworks help to understand what genomic signatures in particular are responsible for certain behavior patterns.
As it turned out, humans share their behavior patterns and transcriptomic profiles with other animals: vocal learning with songbirds, sociability with bees, and responses to social challenges with mice, fish, and bees. – Jennifer L. Cook et. al – 2023
Monkeys with human brain genes outsmart humans
The most exciting question of all time is how monkeys have evolved into humans. What genes were responsible for humankind’s appearance? According to the studies conducted by Chinese scientists, there is a strong connection between the human MCPH1 gene, or microcephalin, and the size of the brain as well as neuronal maturation time and neural-fiber myelination. Indeed, 11 transgenic rhesus monkeys carrying human copies of MCPH1 demonstrated changes in the brain tissue that are more associated with humans. Moreover, the transgenic monkeys had shown better short-term memory and shorter reaction time compared to humans. And that was not something anyone would expect. – Lei Shi, et. al. – 2019
Psychiatric disorders may be connected to human brain genes
De Klein etc, 2023 used a specific statistical method of analysis – brain expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) and 8,613 RNA-seq samples from all major brain eQTL studies from the European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) to find shared genetic effects between eQTLs and 31 brain-related GWAS traits. Their analyses prioritize probable causal genes and reveal cell type-dependent eQTLs that may be associated with disease risk. The research study focused mainly on depression, schizophrenia, and dementia. – de Klein, et. al. -2023
Human Brain Aging, Metabolism, and Recovering Abilities are connected to Mitochondrial Genes, H3K79 and SIRT6
Mitochondrial activity is responsible for respiratory & energy metabolism in our brains. And according to studies conducted by Van Heesbeen, etc – 2023 and Smirnov, D. et al – 2023, genes, responsible for mitochondrial function in the brain, connected to aging, DNA repair, glucose, and lipid metabolism as well as to neurodegeneration.
SARS-CoV-2 neuroinvasion impacted our brains, in particular prefrontal Cortex Gray Matter
Covid impacted our brains genes via: docking receptor gene BSG, spike protein processing gene CTSB, and viral defense gene LY6E revealed preferential L1-4 expression; several viral defense genes were upregulated in L3; expression levels of INFAR1, FURIN, LY6E, IFITM2, IFITM3, and CTSB were demonstrably mapped to L3-6.?
Limitations of this study include gene dropout inherent to single-cell sequencing and the low brain tissue sample size.?
“Still, the authors maintain that the findings shared here do much to elucidate the spatial activity of genes responsible for the neurobiological change in cases of severe SARS-CoV-2 infection, potentially encouraging β-CoV gene therapy efforts”. – Batchu, S., et. al., 2023
Genes responsible for Executive Functions (EFs) are connected to mental disorders
Executive Functions (EFs) are a set of skills responsible for the cognitive control of emotional states and behavior as well as for information processing required for learning and memory. EFs are connected to psychopathologies, most notably attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder, autism spectrum disorder, anxiety, substance abuse, schizophrenia, and depression. Impairments in EFs also predict criminality and measures of social and human capital. – P.M. Miguel, et. al. – 2023
Sex-Differential Neuroanatomy
As it is statistically proven, males have a higher chance to have certain neurodevelopmental disorders, than females.?
“Although sex differences in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) prevalence rates may be influenced by underrecognition of ASD symptoms in females, studies using a range of case ascertainment methods have consistently reported a higher male-to-female ratio for the disorder” – Leanna M. Hernandez, Ph.D, – 2023
Gene therapy has a high potential in curing degenerative diseases
Gene therapy can cure degenerative disease, in particular, it has shown an ability to cure retinal degenerative disease caused by mutations in the RPE65 gene. Alexandra Brodin – 2020
Healthy Happy HelpFul, by Dr. Evgenia Leonova
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