Brain Banks Spur New Frontiers in Neuropsychiatric Research and Strategies for Analysis and Validation
- Author:
Wang LE
1
;
Xia YAN
;
Chen YU
;
Dai RUJIA
;
Qiu WENYING
;
Meng QINGTUAN
;
Kuney LIZ
;
Chen CHAO
Author Information
1. Center for Medical Genetics & Hunan Key Laboratory of Medical Genetics
- Keywords:
Neuropsychiatric disorders;
Brain bank;
Postmortem brain;
Expression quantitative trait loci;
GWAS interpretation
- From:
Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics
2019;17(4):402-414
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Neuropsychiatric disorders affect hundreds of millions of patients and families worldwide. To decode the molecular framework of these diseases, many studies use human postmortem brain samples. These studies reveal brain-specific genetic and epigenetic patterns via highthroughput sequencing technologies. Identifying best practices for the collection of postmortem brain samples, analyzing such large amounts of sequencing data, and interpreting these results are critical to advance neuropsychiatry. We provide an overview of human brain banks worldwide, including progress in China, highlighting some well-known projects using human postmortem brain samples to understand molecular regulation in both normal brains and those with neuropsychiatric disorders. Finally, we discuss future research strategies, as well as state-of-the-art statistical and experimental methods that are drawn upon brain bank resources to improve our understanding of the agents of neuropsychiatric disorders.
