Abstract
The sortilin-related receptor 1 (SORL1) gene has been associated with late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD) and structural impairments in several ethnic populations. However, how this gene affects brain function properties remains unclear. We investigated associations of SORL1 rs2070045 with functional connectivity density (FCD) in healthy young adults. This single-nucleotide polymorphism was selected because it is the SORL1 variant that has been frequently associated with LOAD in several populations, including the Chinese Han population. A total of 275 healthy young Chinese Han subjects with successful genotyping and MRI examinations were included. The effect of SORL1 rs2070045 was explored using a voxel-wise FCD analysis. A significant effect of SORL1 rs2070045 on the FCD was found in the right inferior temporal gyrus. The risk G allele carriers of the rs2070045 exhibited a lower FCD than the protective TT carriers. This effect was independent of the status of apolipoprotein E. This study provides the first evidence that the SORL1 gene is associated with brain FCD differences in healthy young adults. In the genetic risk subjects, connectivity impairment already starts during young adulthood, which may predispose the risk allele carriers to be susceptible to LOAD after several decades.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Assareh AA, Piguet O, Lye TC, Mather KA, Broe GA, Schofield PR, Sachdev PS, Kwok JB (2014) Association of SORL1 gene variants with hippocampal and cerebral atrophy and Alzheimer’s disease. Curr Alzheimer Res 11:558–563
Beecham GW, Martin ER, Li YJ, Slifer MA, Gilbert JR, Haines JL, Pericak-Vance MA (2009) Genome-wide association study implicates a chromosome 12 risk locus for late-onset Alzheimer disease. Am J Hum Genet 84:35–43
Bettens K, Brouwers N, Engelborghs S, De Deyn PP, Van Broeckhoven C, Sleegers K (2008) SORL1 is genetically associated with increased risk for late-onset Alzheimer disease in the Belgian population. Hum Mutat 29:769–770
Braak H, Braak E (1991) Neuropathological stageing of Alzheimer-related changes. Acta Neuropathol 82:239–259
Bralten J, Arias-Vasquez A, Makkinje R, Veltman JA, Brunner HG, Fernandez G, Rijpkema M, Franke B (2011) Association of the Alzheimer’s gene SORL1 with hippocampal volume in young, healthy adults. Am J Psychiatry 168:1083–1089
Cellini E, Tedde A, Bagnoli S, Pradella S, Piacentini S, Sorbi S, Nacmias B (2009) Implication of sex and SORL1 variants in Italian patients with Alzheimer disease. Arch Neurol 66:1260–1266
Convit A, de Asis J, de Leon MJ, Tarshish CY, De Santi S, Rusinek H (2000) Atrophy of the medial occipitotemporal, inferior, and middle temporal gyri in non-demented elderly predict decline to Alzheimer’s disease. Neurobiol Aging 21:19–26
Cousin E, Mace S, Rocher C, Dib C, Muzard G, Hannequin D, Pradier L, Deleuze JF, Genin E, Brice A, Campion D (2011) No replication of genetic association between candidate polymorphisms and Alzheimer’s disease. Neurobiol Aging 32:1443–1451
Cuenco KT, Lunetta KL, Baldwin CT, McKee AC, Guo J, Cupples LA, Green RC, St George-Hyslop PH, Chui H, DeCarli C, Farrer LA (2008) Association of distinct variants in SORL1 with cerebrovascular and neurodegenerative changes related to Alzheimer disease. Arch Neurol 65:1640–1648
Felsky D, Szeszko P, Yu L, Honer WG, De Jager PL, Schneider JA, Malhotra AK, Lencz T, Ikuta T, Pipitone J, Chakravarty MM, Lobaugh NJ, Mulsant BH, Pollock BG, Kennedy JL, Bennett DA, Voineskos AN (2014) The SORL1 gene and convergent neural risk for Alzheimer’s disease across the human lifespan. Mol Psychiatry 19:1125–1132
Feng X, Hou D, Deng Y, Li W, Tian M, Yu Z (2015) SORL1 gene polymorphism association with late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Neurosci Lett 584:382–389
Feulner TM, Laws SM, Friedrich P, Wagenpfeil S, Wurst SH, Riehle C, Kuhn KA, Krawczak M, Schreiber S, Nikolaus S, Forstl H, Kurz A, Riemenschneider M (2010) Examination of the current top candidate genes for AD in a genome-wide association study. Mol Psychiatry 15:756–766
Jin C, Zhang L, Xian Y, Liu X, Wu Y, Zhang F, Zhu J, Zhang G, Chen C, Gong R, Zhang L, Yuan J, Zhang F, Tian L, Wang G, Cheng Z (2014) The SORL1 polymorphism rs985421 may confer the risk for amnestic mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease in the Han Chinese population. Neurosci Lett 563:80–84
Kimura R, Yamamoto M, Morihara T, Akatsu H, Kudo T, Kamino K, Takeda M (2009) SORL1 is genetically associated with Alzheimer disease in a Japanese population. Neurosci Lett 461:177–180
Kolsch H, Jessen F, Wiltfang J, Lewczuk P, Dichgans M, Teipel SJ, Kornhuber J, Frolich L, Heuser I, Peters O, Wiese B, Kaduszkiewicz H, van den Bussche H, Hull M, Kurz A, Ruther E, Henn FA, Maier W (2009) Association of SORL1 gene variants with Alzheimer’s disease. Brain Res 1264:1–6
Lee JH, Cheng R, Schupf N, Manly J, Lantigua R, Stern Y, Rogaeva E, Wakutani Y, Farrer L, St George-Hyslop P, Mayeux R (2007) The association between genetic variants in SORL1 and Alzheimer disease in an urban, multiethnic, community-based cohort. Arch Neurol 64:501–506
Lee JH, Cheng R, Honig LS, Vonsattel JP, Clark L, Mayeux R (2008) Association between genetic variants in SORL1 and autopsy-confirmed Alzheimer disease. Neurology 70:887–889
Li Y, Rowland C, Catanese J, Morris J, Lovestone S, O’Donovan MC, Goate A, Owen M, Williams J, Grupe A (2008) SORL1 variants and risk of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Neurobiol Dis 29:293–296
Liang Y, Li H, Lv C, Shu N, Chen K, Li X, Zhang J, Hu L, Zhang Z (2015) Sex moderates the effects of the Sorl1 gene rs2070045 polymorphism on cognitive impairment and disruption of the cingulum integrity in healthy elderly. Neuropsychopharmacology 40:1519–1527
Liu F, Ikram MA, Janssens AC, Schuur M, de Koning I, Isaacs A, Struchalin M, Uitterlinden AG, den Dunnen JT, Sleegers K, Bettens K, Van Broeckhoven C, van Swieten J, Hofman A, Oostra BA, Aulchenko YS, Breteler MM, van Duijn CM (2009) A study of the SORL1 gene in Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive function. J Alzheimers Dis 18:51–64
Louwersheimer E, Ramirez A, Cruchaga C, Becker T, Kornhuber J, Peters O, Heilmann S, Wiltfang J, Jessen F, Visser PJ, Scheltens P, Pijnenburg YA, Teunissen CE, Barkhof F, van Swieten JC, Holstege H, Van der Flier WM (2015) The influence of genetic variants in SORL1 gene on the manifestation of Alzheimer’s disease. Neurobiol Aging 36:1605.e13–1605.e20
Meng Y, Lee JH, Cheng R, St George-Hyslop P, Mayeux R, Farrer LA (2007) Association between SORL1 and Alzheimer’s disease in a genome-wide study. NeuroReport 18:1761–1764
Minster RL, DeKosky ST, Kamboh MI (2008) No association of SORL1 SNPs with Alzheimer’s disease. Neurosci Lett 440:190–192
Miyashita Y (1993) Inferior temporal cortex: where visual perception meets memory. Annu Rev Neurosci 16:245–263
Ning M, Yang Y, Zhang Z, Chen Z, Zhao T, Zhang D, Zhou D, Xu J, Liu Z, Wang Y, Liu Y, Zhao X, Li W, Li S, He L (2010) Amyloid-beta-related genes SORL1 and ACE are genetically associated with risk for late-onset Alzheimer disease in the Chinese population. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord 24:390–396
Okamura N, Arai H, Higuchi M, Tashiro M, Matsui T, Itoh M, Iwatsubo T, Tomita T, Sasaki H (1999) Cerebrospinal fluid levels of amyloid beta-peptide 1-42, but not tau have positive correlation with brain glucose metabolism in humans. Neurosci Lett 273:203–207
Olgiati P, Politis A, Albani D, Rodilossi S, Polito L, Zisaki A, Piperi C, Liappas I, Stamouli E, Mailis A, Batelli S, Forloni G, Marsano A, Balestri M, Soldatos CR, De Ronchi D, Kalofoutis A, Serretti A (2013) Effects of SORL1 gene on Alzheimer’s disease. Focus on gender, neuropsychiatric symptoms and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Curr Alzheimer Res 10:154–164
Piscopo P, Tosto G, Belli C, Talarico G, Galimberti D, Gasparini M, Canevelli M, Poleggi A, Crestini A, Albani D, Forloni G, Lucca U, Quadri P, Tettamanti M, Fenoglio C, Scarpini E, Bruno G, Vanacore N, Confaloni A (2015) SORL1 gene is associated with the conversion from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer’s disease. J Alzheimers Dis 46:771–776
Power JD, Barnes KA, Snyder AZ, Schlaggar BL, Petersen SE (2012) Spurious but systematic correlations in functional connectivity MRI networks arise from subject motion. Neuroimage 59:2142–2154
Power JD, Barnes KA, Snyder AZ, Schlaggar BL, Petersen SE (2013) Steps toward optimizing motion artifact removal in functional connectivity MRI; a reply to Carp. Neuroimage 76:439–441
Reiman EM, Chen K, Alexander GE, Caselli RJ, Bandy D, Osborne D, Saunders AM, Hardy J (2004) Functional brain abnormalities in young adults at genetic risk for late-onset Alzheimer’s dementia. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:284–289
Reynolds CA, Hong MG, Eriksson UK, Blennow K, Johansson B, Malmberg B, Berg S, Gatz M, Pedersen NL, Bennet AM, Prince JA (2010) Sequence variation in SORL1 and dementia risk in Swedes. Neurogenetics 11:139–142
Rogaeva E, Meng Y, Lee JH, Gu Y, Kawarai T, Zou F, Katayama T, Baldwin CT, Cheng R, Hasegawa H, Chen F, Shibata N, Lunetta KL, Pardossi-Piquard R, Bohm C, Wakutani Y, Cupples LA, Cuenco KT, Green RC, Pinessi L, Rainero I, Sorbi S, Bruni A, Duara R, Friedland RP, Inzelberg R, Hampe W, Bujo H, Song YQ, Andersen OM, Willnow TE, Graff-Radford N, Petersen RC, Dickson D, Der SD, Fraser PE, Schmitt-Ulms G, Younkin S, Mayeux R, Farrer LA, St George-Hyslop P (2007) The neuronal sortilin-related receptor SORL1 is genetically associated with Alzheimer disease. Nat Genet 39:168–177
Scarmeas N, Stern Y (2006) Imaging studies and APOE genotype in persons at risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Curr Psychiatry Rep 8:11–17
Scarmeas N, Habeck CG, Stern Y, Anderson KE (2003) APOE genotype and cerebral blood flow in healthy young individuals. JAMA 290:1581–1582
Scherzer CR, Offe K, Gearing M, Rees HD, Fang G, Heilman CJ, Schaller C, Bujo H, Levey AI, Lah JJ (2004) Loss of apolipoprotein E receptor LR11 in Alzheimer disease. Arch Neurol 61:1200–1205
Shibata N, Ohnuma T, Baba H, Higashi S, Nishioka K, Arai H (2008) Genetic association between SORL1 polymorphisms and Alzheimer’s disease in a Japanese population. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 26:161–164
Tan EK, Lee J, Chen CP, Teo YY, Zhao Y, Lee WL (2009) SORL1 haplotypes modulate risk of Alzheimer’s disease in Chinese. Neurobiol Aging 30:1048–1051
Thal DR, Rub U, Orantes M, Braak H (2002) Phases of Aβ-deposition in the human brain and its relevance for the development of AD. Neurology 58:1791–1800
Thomas G, Sinville R, Sutton S, Farquar H, Hammer RP, Soper SA, Cheng YW, Barany F (2004) Capillary and microelectrophoretic separations of ligase detection reaction products produced from low-abundant point mutations in genomic DNA. Electrophoresis 25:1668–1677
Tomasi D, Volkow ND (2010) Functional connectivity density mapping. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 107:9885–9890
Tomasi D, Volkow ND (2011a) Association between functional connectivity hubs and brain networks. Cereb Cortex 21:2003–2013
Tomasi D, Volkow ND (2011b) Functional connectivity hubs in the human brain. Neuroimage 57:908–917
Webster JA, Myers AJ, Pearson JV, Craig DW, Hu-Lince D, Coon KD, Zismann VL, Beach T, Leung D, Bryden L, Halperin RF, Marlowe L, Kaleem M, Huentelman MJ, Joshipura K, Walker D, Heward CB, Ravid R, Rogers J, Papassotiropoulos A, Hardy J, Reiman EM, Stephan DA (2008) Sorl1 as an Alzheimer’s disease predisposition gene? Neurodegener Dis 5:60–64
Wen Y, Miyashita A, Kitamura N, Tsukie T, Saito Y, Hatsuta H, Murayama S, Kakita A, Takahashi H, Akatsu H, Yamamoto T, Kosaka K, Yamaguchi H, Akazawa K, Ihara Y, Kuwano R (2013) SORL1 is genetically associated with neuropathologically characterized late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. J Alzheimers Dis 35:387–394
Xue X, Zhang M, Lin Y, Xu E, Jia J (2014) Association between the SORL1 rs2070045 polymorphism and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease: interaction with the ApoE genotype in the Chinese Han population. Neurosci Lett 559:94–98
Yi P, Chen Z, Zhao Y, Guo J, Fu H, Zhou Y, Yu L, Li L (2009) PCR/LDR/capillary electrophoresis for detection of single-nucleotide differences between fetal and maternal DNA in maternal plasma. Prenat Diagn 29:217–222
Yuan X, Shan B, Ma Y, Tian J, Jiang K, Cao Q, Wang R (2010) Multi-center study on Alzheimer’s disease using FDG PET: group and individual analyses. J Alzheimers Dis 19:927–935
Zhang F, Liu X, Wang B, Cheng Z, Zhao X, Zhu J, Wang D, Wang Y, Dong A, Li P, Jin C (2015) An exploratory study of the association between SORL1 polymorphisms and sporadic Alzheimer’s disease in the Han Chinese population. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat 11:1443–1448
Zhong Y, Huang L, Cai S, Zhang Y, von Deneen KM, Ren A, Ren J (2014) Altered effective connectivity patterns of the default mode network in Alzheimer’s disease: an fMRI study. Neurosci Lett 578:171–175
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 81425013, 81301202, 81301201, 91332113 and 81271551).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shen, J., Zhang, P., Liu, H. et al. Modulation effect of the SORL1 gene on functional connectivity density in healthy young adults. Brain Struct Funct 221, 4103–4110 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-015-1149-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00429-015-1149-x