Topoisomerase I inhibition leads to length-dependent gene expression changes in human primary astrocytes

• Main Authors: Akira Gokoolparsadh, Zhiming Fang, Nady Braidy, Irina Voineagu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2017-03-01
• Series: Genomics Data
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213596016301805

Topoisomerase I is required for the proper expression of long genes (>100 kb) in mouse and human cortical neurons, including many candidate genes for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) [1]. Given the important role of astrocytes in brain development [2], we investigated whether long genes, including autism susceptibility genes, also require topoisomerase I expression in human primary astrocytes. We carried genome-wide expression profiling of cultured human primary astrocytes following treatment with the topoisomerase I inhibitor Topotecan, using Illumina microarrays. We identified several thousands of differentially expressed genes and confirmed that topoisomerase I inhibition affects gene expression in human primary astrocytes in a length-dependent manner. We also identified over 20 ASD-associated genes that show topoisomerase-dependent gene expression in human primary astrocytes but have not been previously reported as topoisomerase-I-dependent in neurons. The microarray data have been deposited in NCBI GEO (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/) under accession number GSE90052.