Background pattern of a brain with neural connections

Team Voet

Understanding inherited and acquired genetic variation in Parkinson’s disease through single-cell multi-omics analyses: a unique data resource

2020-Present

We hypothesize that these DNA variants can increase or decrease the activity of key (un)known genes in particular types of cells of the brain and the gut, which in turn increases the risk of developing PD. We will use the expertise of our consortium in analyzing single cells to study the brain and gut from individuals who lived with and without PD. Specifically, gene expression profiling of over 4,500,000 single cells will allow us to discover the genes of which the expression is altered by the DNA variants, and importantly, also in which type of brain and/or gut cells the expression of the gene is disturbed. We will next analyze how these DNA variants change the functioning of these specific cell types, by using our existing models of the fruitfly, and of cultured human nerve and immune gut cells.

Tags
Single-cell eQTL

Leadership

Thierry Voet

Thierry Voet

Lead PI (Core Leadership)

Stein Aerts

Stein Aerts

Co-PI (Core Leadership)

Guy Boeckxstaens

Guy Boeckxstaens

Co-PI (Core Leadership)

Christos Proukakis

Christos Proukakis

Co-PI (Core Leadership)

Bernard Thienpont

Bernard Thienpont

Co-PI (Core Leadership)

Sara Salama

Sara Salama

Project Manager

Project Highlights

Single cell long read whole genome sequencing reveals somatic transposon activity in human brain

The advent of single cell DNA sequencing revealed astonishing dynamics of genomic variability, but failed at characterizing smaller to mid size variants that on the germline level have a profound impact. In this work we discover novel dynamics in three brains utilizing single cell long-read sequencing. This provides key insights...

Contributions

Here is an overview of how this team’s article findings have contributed to the PD field as of June 2025. There are two different categorizations of these contributions – one by impact to the PD community and a second by scientific category.

Impact

Category

Accolades

Members of the team have been recognized for their contributions.

Open Science Champions

Stein Aerts Lab, Thierry Voet, Florian De Rop, Shinjini Mukherjee, Bernard Thienpont

Awards

COSA 2022

Network Spotlights

Sara Salama, Zane Jaunmuktane, Ester Kalef-Ezra

In the News

Updates will be posted when available.

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