Predicting Alzheimer’s disease subtypes and understanding their molecular characteristics in living patients with transcriptomic trajectory profiling

Published in the Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association. Here is a link to the article.

Regenstrief Institute authors: Kun Huang, PhD

This study addresses the challenge of identifying molecular mechanisms in living Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients to support prognosis and precision medicine. Researchers applied an optimal transport-based method to transfer AD subtype labels from ROSMAP monocyte samples to peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples in the ADNI and ANMerge cohorts. Using graph-based transcriptomic mapping, differential expression, pathway analysis, diffusion pseudotime analysis, and survival analysis with real follow-up data, the study examined disease progression and potential prognostic biomarkers. The results confirmed accurate subtype label transfer and revealed that genes and pathways related to neutrophil degranulation, acute immune response, and IL-6 signaling are significantly associated with AD progression. The findings contribute to understanding AD heterogeneity and support the development of personalized treatment strategies.