Víctor Briz
Senior Scientist at the Carlos III Health Institute, in the area of Environmental Toxicology of the National Center for Environmental Health
These studies represent a significant advance for neuroscience, as they provide an overview of regulatory regions of the genome and gene expression patterns associated with human brain development and neurological disorders. In this way, they help clarify how individual genetic backgrounds, as well as certain genetic variants, contribute to the onset and progression of these disorders.
The combination of computational methods, developmental biology, and cell-level profiling can help unravel the genetic framework of human development and the adult brain. The data provided in these studies could encourage other researchers to employ new ways to analyze, integrate, and model these datasets, and even expand the analysis to other types of data such as epigenetic (chemical modifications on genes that modulate their expression), protein levels, metabolic states, and spatial organization.
Altogether, these three studies underline the importance of considering the influence of biological factors, including cell type and developmental stages, on the regulation of gene expression in the human brain. Thus, these findings highlight the need to consider the influence of neurodevelopment when interpreting genetic data from adult individuals, especially in the case of neurological disorders that originate during gestation. Finally, the ability to link genetic variants to specific cell types can lead to new opportunities for targeted therapies and bring us closer to precision medicine in psychiatry.