Epigenetic regulators are preferentially coordinated with protocadherin gene expression across the human brain: a genome-wide co-expression analysis.
The 13 matches
- [1] § Materials and methods › Replication and sensitivity analyses ↔ 02_genomewide_screen.py, lines 17–86 · score 0.81 · Cross region rank, Spearman rank correlation, genome wide screen, nucleus accumbens, hippocampus, putamen
- [2] § Materials and methods › Co-expression and enrichment analysis ↔ 02_genomewide_screen.py, lines 1–15 · score 0.76 · genome wide co, brain expressed gene, nucleus accumbens, PCDH coordination score, hippocampus, putamen
- [3] § Materials and methods › Methylation-level analysis ↔ 07_methylation_analysis.py, lines 16–44 · score 0.72 · probes mapping, DNMT genes, pairwise correlations, methylation, GSE131706, PCDH
- [4] § Materials and methods › Confound adjustment ↔ 08_sensitivity_analyses.py, lines 24–147 · score 0.65 · GTEx subject, PCDH coordination score, regressing, age, sex, residualize
- [5] § Materials and methods › Co-expression and enrichment analysis ↔ utils.py, lines 161–195 · score 0.64 · Odds ratios, Enrichment statistics, PCDH coordinated genes, epigenetic regulator, threshold, scores
- [6] § Results › Genome-wide screen identifies epigenetic regulators as top PCDH-coordinated genes in BA9 ↔ 02_genomewide_screen.py, lines 1–15 · score 0.62 · genome wide co, brain expressed genes, PCDH coordination scores, epigenetic regulators, BA9, ranked
- [7] § Results › Protocadherin co-expression is a consistent feature of human brain regions ↔ 06_tissue_enrichment.py, lines 15–71 · score 0.62 · blood ratio, tissue enrichment, PCDH co expression, grand, Pearson, GTEx
- [8] § Results › Multi-region replication of enrichment ↔ 02_genomewide_screen.py, lines 17–86 · score 0.61 · nucleus accumbens, Epigenetic gene rankings, genome wide, hippocampus, putamen, Spearman
- [9] § Results › Cross-dataset replication and preservation across conditions ↔ 07_methylation_analysis.py, lines 16–44 · score 0.58 · probes mapping, DNMT genes, Methylation, GSE131706, clustered, protocadherin
- [10] § Materials and methods › Replication and sensitivity analyses ↔ 05_condition_comparisons.py, lines 1–13 · score 0.56 · bipolar disorder, PCDH co expression, schizophrenia, psychiatric, GSE80655
- [11] § Materials and methods › Confound adjustment ↔ 03_celltype_deconvolution.py, lines 1–13 · score 0.55 · PCDH coordination score, partial correlation, recomputation, deconvolution, NNLS, Cell
- [12] § Results › Cross-dataset replication and preservation across conditions ↔ utils.py, lines 31–46 · score 0.52 · anterior cingulate, frontal cortex, nucleus accumbens
- [13] § Results › Robustness to cell-type composition and donor covariates ↔ 08_sensitivity_analyses.py, lines 1–22 · score 0.50 · donor age, sex, Adjustment, covariation, RNA, enrichment
Paper
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The authors' code
Python · 90 lines · 3.5 KB · MIT · 4 matches
- """
- 02_genomewide_screen.py
- Genome-wide co-expression screen and epigenetic regulator enrichment (Table 2, Figure 1).
- Ranks all brain-expressed genes by PCDH coordination score in GTEx BA9.
- Tests enrichment of epigenetic regulators in top 5%.
- Replicates in putamen, hippocampus, and nucleus accumbens.
- Harbert D. (2026) BMC Genomics
- """
- import sys, os
- sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(__file__))
- from utils import *
- import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
- def main():
- ensure_dirs()
- cache_dir = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(RESULTS_DIR), 'cache')
- os.makedirs(cache_dir, exist_ok=True)
- tpm_path = download_if_needed(GTEX_TPM_URL, os.path.join(cache_dir, 'GTEx_gene_tpm.gct.gz'))
- annot_path = download_if_needed(GTEX_SAMPLE_URL, os.path.join(cache_dir, 'GTEx_SampleAttributes.txt'))
- gene_lists = load_gene_lists()
- pcdh_all = gene_lists['pcdh_all']
- epigen = gene_lists['epigenetic']
- # Primary analysis: BA9
- test_regions = {
- 'BA9': BRAIN_REGIONS['BA9'],
- 'Putamen': BRAIN_REGIONS['Putamen'],
- 'Hippocampus': BRAIN_REGIONS['Hippocampus'],
- 'Nucleus_accumbens': BRAIN_REGIONS['Nucleus_accumbens'],
- }
- all_enrichment = []
- all_scores = {}
- for region_key, region_smtsd in test_regions.items():
- print(f"\n{'='*60}")
- print(f"Genome-wide screen: {region_key}")
- print(f"{'='*60}")
- expr, _ = load_gtex_region(tpm_path, annot_path, region_smtsd, min_tpm=1.0)
- scores = compute_pcdh_coordination_scores(expr, pcdh_all)
- enrichment = fisher_enrichment_test(scores, epigen)
- enrichment['region'] = region_key
- all_enrichment.append(enrichment)
- all_scores[region_key] = scores
- print(f"\n ENRICHMENT: {enrichment['fold_enrichment']}x")
- print(f" {enrichment['n_epigen_in_top']}/{enrichment['n_epigen_tested']} in top 5%")
- print(f" OR = {enrichment['odds_ratio']}, p = {enrichment['p_value']:.2e}")
- if enrichment['epigen_in_top']:
- print(f"\n Top epigenetic regulators:")
- for g in enrichment['epigen_in_top']:
- row = scores[scores['gene'] == g].iloc[0]
- print(f" {g:12s} rank {int(row['rank']):>5d}, r = {row['pcdh_score']:+.4f}")
- scores.to_csv(os.path.join(RESULTS_DIR, f'genomewide_rankings_{region_key}.csv'), index=False)
- del expr
- # Cross-region rank correlations
- print(f"\n{'='*60}")
- print("Cross-region Spearman rank correlations of epigenetic gene rankings:")
- regions = list(all_scores.keys())
- for i in range(len(regions)):
- for j in range(i+1, len(regions)):
- r1, r2 = regions[i], regions[j]
- merged = all_scores[r1][['gene','rank']].merge(
- all_scores[r2][['gene','rank']], on='gene', suffixes=(f'_{r1}', f'_{r2}'))
- epig_m = merged[merged['gene'].isin(epigen)]
- if len(epig_m) > 2:
- rho, p = spearmanr(epig_m[f'rank_{r1}'], epig_m[f'rank_{r2}'])
- print(f" {r1} vs {r2}: rho = {rho:.3f}, p = {p:.2e}")
- # Save enrichment summary
- summary = pd.DataFrame([{k: v for k, v in e.items() if k != 'epigen_in_top' and k != 'contingency_table'}
- for e in all_enrichment])
- summary.to_csv(os.path.join(RESULTS_DIR, 'table2_enrichment_all_regions.csv'), index=False)
- print(f"\nResults saved to {RESULTS_DIR}/")
- if __name__ == '__main__':
- main()
02_genomewide_screen.py at commit 510c8c7, under MIT · at the source
Overview
- Inner Architecture LLC, Canton, OH, United States
Abstract
How does the brain build and maintain the precise wiring patterns that distinguish one neuron from another? Clustered protocadherins (PCDHs)—a family of cell-surface molecules that give each neuron a unique identity tag—are central to this process. Their expression is famously controlled by an elaborate locus-specific epigenetic system involving DNA methylation, CTCF binding, and chromatin looping. Whether the activity of the broader epigenetic regulatory machinery is coordinated with protocadherin expression across the human brain has not been systematically tested. Here we show that epigenetic regulators are preferentially co-expressed with protocadherins across multiple human brain regions, suggesting a broader transcriptional coordination than the locus-specific mechanisms previously characterized. Using GTEx v8 RNA-seq data from 2,642 brain samples across 13 regions, we conducted a genome-wide co-expression screen and observed a 6.5‐fold enrichment of epigenetic regulators in the top 5% of PCDH-coordinated genes in prefrontal cortex (Fisher’s exact p = 2.8 × 10−10). The enrichment replicated independently across additional brain regions, persisted under multiple sensitivity analyses, was preserved after adjustment for cell-type composition, and replicated in an independent brain-bank cohort. The top-ranked epigenetic regulators converge on a defined set of chromatin-remodeling genes implicated in well-characterized neurodevelopmental syndromes. These findings reframe protocadherin biology by extending its epigenetically coordinated context beyond the locus itself to a broader transcriptional program shared with the chromatin-remodeling machinery associated with neurodevelopmental disease. The conceptual advance is consistent with—though does not by itself establish—direct co-regulation, and identifies a specific set of testable mechanistic hypotheses for how disrupted chromatin-remodeling activity in neurodevelopmental disorders may propagate to PCDH-dependent neuronal identity programs in the human brain.
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
Repository
Its files are read in the Code ↔ Paper reader above, with 13 matches between paragraphs and lines of code.
nwharbert8-ui/epigenetic-pcdh-coordination
510c8c7463d3f84723d22aea57178a43464d2774, 9 February 2026Availability: 1 check, the latest on 27 September 2026: the link answers
- 27 September 2026: the link answers
12 files
- 01_pcdh_coexpression.py, Python, 85 lines
- 02_genomewide_screen.py, Python, 90 lines, 4 matches
- 03_celltype_deconvolutio
n.py , Python, 108 lines, 1 match - 04_cross_dataset_replica
tion.py , Python, 57 lines - 05_condition_comparisons
.py , Python, 68 lines, 1 match - 06_tissue_enrichment.py, Python, 75 lines, 1 match
- 07_methylation_analysis.
py , Python, 48 lines, 2 matches - 08_sensitivity_analyses.
py , Python, 151 lines, 2 matches - __init__.py, Python, 1 line
- utils.py, Python, 287 lines, 2 matches
- LICENSE, License, 21 lines
- README.md, Text, 36 lines
The paper's code and data availability statement is in the Data section.
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Data
Datasets cited
- geo:GSE80655, at NCBI GEO; found in “Data availability statement”
Data availability statement
The original contributions presented in the study are publicly available. These data can be found in the GTEx v8 repository under dbGaP accession number phs000424.v8.p2 (https://
Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.
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Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record
Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, pages, dates, 1 author, 8 keywords, 39 references.
Cite
This paper
Harbert, D. H. (2026). Epigenetic regulators are preferentially coordinated with protocadherin gene expression across the human brain: a genome-wide co-expression analysis. Frontiers in genetics, 17, 1807347. https://
BibTeX
@article{harbert2026epig
author = {Harbert, Drake H.},
title = {{Epigenetic regulators are preferentially coordinated with protocadherin gene expression across the human brain: a genome-wide co-expression analysis}},
journal = {Frontiers in genetics},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
volume = {17},
pages = {1807347},
publisher = {Frontiers Media SA},
issn = {1664-8021},
doi = {10.3389/
url = {https://
pmid = {42488351},
pmcid = {PMC13391046}
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
AU - Harbert, Drake H.
TI - Epigenetic regulators are preferentially coordinated with protocadherin gene expression across the human brain: a genome-wide co-expression analysis
T2 - Frontiers in genetics
J2 - Front Genet
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/
VL - 17
SP - 1807347
SN - 1664-8021
PB - Frontiers Media SA
DO - 10.3389/
UR - https://
LA - en
ER -
CSL-JSON
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"container-title": "Frontiers in genetics",
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"DOI": "10.3389/
"PMID": "42488351",
"PMCID": "PMC13391046",
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"publisher": "Frontiers Media SA",
"URL": "https://
"language": "en",
"issued": {
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