CHD8 regulates neurodevelopmental pathways associated with autism spectrum disorder in neural progenitors
- PMID:25294932
- PMCID: PMC4210312
- DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1405266111
CHD8 regulates neurodevelopmental pathways associated with autism spectrum disorder in neural progenitors
Abstract
Truncating mutations of chromodomain helicase DNA-binding protein 8 (CHD8), and of many other genes with diverse functions, are strong-effect risk factors for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), suggesting multiple mechanisms of pathogenesis. We explored the transcriptional networks that CHD8 regulates in neural progenitor cells (NPCs) by reducing its expression and then integrating transcriptome sequencing (RNA sequencing) with genome-wide CHD8 binding (ChIP sequencing). Suppressing CHD8 to levels comparable with the loss of a single allele caused altered expression of 1,756 genes, 64.9% of which were up-regulated. CHD8 showed widespread binding to chromatin, with 7,324 replicated sites that marked 5,658 genes. Integration of these data suggests that a limited array of direct regulatory effects of CHD8 produced a much larger network of secondary expression changes. Genes indirectly down-regulated (i.e., without CHD8-binding sites) reflect pathways involved in brain development, including synapse formation, neuron differentiation, cell adhesion, and axon guidance, whereas CHD8-bound genes are strongly associated with chromatin modification and transcriptional regulation. Genes associated with ASD were strongly enriched among indirectly down-regulated loci (P < 10(-8)) and CHD8-bound genes (P = 0.0043), which align with previously identified coexpression modules during fetal development. We also find an intriguing enrichment of cancer-related gene sets among CHD8-bound genes (P < 10(-10)). In vivo suppression of chd8 in zebrafish produced macrocephaly comparable to that of humans with inactivating mutations. These data indicate that heterozygous disruption of CHD8 precipitates a network of gene-expression changes involved in neurodevelopmental pathways in which many ASD-associated genes may converge on shared mechanisms of pathogenesis.
Keywords: CHD8; ChIP-seq; NPCs; RNA-seq; autism.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Figures





Similar articles
- CRISPR/Cas9-mediated heterozygous knockout of the autism gene CHD8 and characterization of its transcriptional networks in cerebral organoids derived from iPS cells.Wang P, Mokhtari R, Pedrosa E, Kirschenbaum M, Bayrak C, Zheng D, Lachman HM.Wang P, et al.Mol Autism. 2017 Mar 20;8:11. doi: 10.1186/s13229-017-0124-1. eCollection 2017.Mol Autism. 2017.PMID:28321286Free PMC article.
- The autism-associated chromatin modifier CHD8 regulates other autism risk genes during human neurodevelopment.Cotney J, Muhle RA, Sanders SJ, Liu L, Willsey AJ, Niu W, Liu W, Klei L, Lei J, Yin J, Reilly SK, Tebbenkamp AT, Bichsel C, Pletikos M, Sestan N, Roeder K, State MW, Devlin B, Noonan JP.Cotney J, et al.Nat Commun. 2015 Mar 10;6:6404. doi: 10.1038/ncomms7404.Nat Commun. 2015.PMID:25752243Free PMC article.
- The autism-associated gene chromodomain helicase DNA-binding protein 8 (CHD8) regulates noncoding RNAs and autism-related genes.Wilkinson B, Grepo N, Thompson BL, Kim J, Wang K, Evgrafov OV, Lu W, Knowles JA, Campbell DB.Wilkinson B, et al.Transl Psychiatry. 2015 May 19;5(5):e568. doi: 10.1038/tp.2015.62.Transl Psychiatry. 2015.PMID:25989142Free PMC article.
- Mutations and Modeling of the Chromatin Remodeler CHD8 Define an Emerging Autism Etiology.Barnard RA, Pomaville MB, O'Roak BJ.Barnard RA, et al.Front Neurosci. 2015 Dec 17;9:477. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2015.00477. eCollection 2015.Front Neurosci. 2015.PMID:26733790Free PMC article.Review.
- The Mechanisms of CHD8 in Neurodevelopment and Autism Spectrum Disorders.Weissberg O, Elliott E.Weissberg O, et al.Genes (Basel). 2021 Jul 26;12(8):1133. doi: 10.3390/genes12081133.Genes (Basel). 2021.PMID:34440307Free PMC article.Review.
Cited by
- ATP-Dependent Chromatin Remodeling Complex in the Lineage Specification of Mesenchymal Stem Cells.Du W, Guo D, Du W.Du W, et al.Stem Cells Int. 2020 Sep 9;2020:8839703. doi: 10.1155/2020/8839703. eCollection 2020.Stem Cells Int. 2020.PMID:32963551Free PMC article.Review.
- Genetic mouse models of autism spectrum disorder present subtle heterogenous cardiac abnormalities.Assimopoulos S, Hammill C, Fernandes DJ, Spencer Noakes TL, Zhou YQ, Nutter LMJ, Ellegood J, Anagnostou E, Sled JG, Lerch JP.Assimopoulos S, et al.Autism Res. 2022 Jul;15(7):1189-1208. doi: 10.1002/aur.2728. Epub 2022 Apr 21.Autism Res. 2022.PMID:35445787Free PMC article.
- The CHD Protein, Kismet, is Important for the Recycling of Synaptic Vesicles during Endocytosis.Latcheva NK, Delaney TL, Viveiros JM, Smith RA, Bernard KM, Harsin B, Marenda DR, Liebl FLW.Latcheva NK, et al.Sci Rep. 2019 Dec 18;9(1):19368. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-55900-6.Sci Rep. 2019.PMID:31852969Free PMC article.
- CHD8 mutations increase gliogenesis to enlarge brain size in the nonhuman primate.Li B, Zhao H, Tu Z, Yang W, Han R, Wang L, Luo X, Pan M, Chen X, Zhang J, Xu H, Guo X, Yan S, Yin P, Zhao Z, Liu J, Luo Y, Li Y, Yang Z, Zhang B, Tan Z, Xu H, Jiang T, Jiang YH, Li S, Zhang YQ, Li XJ.Li B, et al.Cell Discov. 2023 Mar 7;9(1):27. doi: 10.1038/s41421-023-00525-3.Cell Discov. 2023.PMID:36878905Free PMC article.
- Abrogation of Stem Loop Binding Protein (Slbp) function leads to a failure of cells to transition from proliferation to differentiation, retinal coloboma and midline axon guidance deficits.Turner KJ, Hoyle J, Valdivia LE, Cerveny KL, Hart W, Mangoli M, Geisler R, Rees M, Houart C, Poole RJ, Wilson SW, Gestri G.Turner KJ, et al.PLoS One. 2019 Jan 29;14(1):e0211073. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211073. eCollection 2019.PLoS One. 2019.PMID:30695021Free PMC article.
References
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
Associated data
- Actions
Related information
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
Medical
Molecular Biology Databases
Miscellaneous