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SINGLE-CELL MULTI-OMIC APPROACHES TO MECHANISTICALLY CHARACTERIZE PSYCHIATRIC DISORDER RISK LOCI IN THE HUMAN BRAIN

Award Number: R01MH125252
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/18/2021
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 02/28/2026

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SINGLE-CELL MULTI-OMIC APPROACHES TO MECHANISTICALLY CHARACTERIZE PSYCHIATRIC DISORDER RISK LOCI IN THE HUMAN BRAIN - PROJECT SUMMARY Large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified between a handful to hundreds of risk loci for each major type of neuropsychiatric disorders. One of the main challenges for the post-GWAS era is to determine the causal variants and dissect the regulatory mechanism in each of the risk loci. The analysis of causal genetic mechanisms for psychiatric diseases is confounded by the highly heterogeneous brain structures and cell types. We hypothesize that brain regions and cell types are selectively vulnerable to mental disorders and cell-type-specific gene regulation underlies such selectivity. In this proposed project, we aim to determine the causal probability of individual genetic variants with high spatial resolution with respect to brain regions and cell types. To this end, we will generate a unique dataset of single-nucleus joint profiling of chromatin conformation and DNA methylation (sn-m3C-seq) for 10 adult brain regions, allowing the cell-type-specific identification of regulatory elements, enhancer-gene looping and linking non-coding variants to their regulatory target. To further identify the genetic mechanisms for cell-type-specific regulation of gene expression, we will develop and apply cutting-edge statistical methods to existing and newly generated population single-nucleus RNA-seq datasets for the human brain cortex and hippocampus. We will develop CONtexT spEcific geNeTics (CONTENT) to distinguish tissue- or cell-type-specific from the tissue-shared genetic component of gene expression regulation. We will also apply the recently developed PopuLation Allele-Specific MApping (PLASMA) that integrates QTL and allele-specific QTL for regulatory variant fine-mapping. To validate our findings, we will experimentally determine the function of non-coding variants using both high-throughput CRISPR interference and precise variant replacement experiments, as well as apply orthogonal statistical approaches to link the functional properties of variants to disease causality. Our proposed project integrates diverse approaches including single-cell multi-omics, statistical fine-mapping, and genetic engineering and will likely provide new insights into the genetic mechanism of mental disorders.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $628,976 )
2025	2025	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES	10889 WILSHIRE BLVD STE 700	LOS ANGELES	CA	90024	LOS ANGELES	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	5	2/15/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$628,976
														Subtotal = $628,976

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $739,969 )
2024	2024	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES	10920 WILSHIRE BLVD STE 500	LOS ANGELES	CA	90024	LOS ANGELES	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	4	2/16/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$665,972
2024	2024	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES	10889 WILSHIRE BLVD STE 700	LOS ANGELES	CA	90024	LOS ANGELES	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	4	8/14/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$73,997
														Subtotal = $739,969

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $739,969 )
2023	2023	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES	10889 WILSHIRE BLVD STE 700	LOS ANGELES	CA	90024	LOS ANGELES	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	3	3/30/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$739,969
														Subtotal = $739,969

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $739,969 )
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES	10889 WILSHIRE BLVD STE 700	LOS ANGELES	CA	90024	LOS ANGELES	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	2	3/2/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$665,969
2022	2022	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES	10889 WILSHIRE BLVD STE 700	LOS ANGELES	CA	90024	LOS ANGELES	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	2	6/21/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$74,000
														Subtotal = $739,969

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $753,969 )
2021	2021	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES	10889 WILSHIRE BLVD STE 700	LOS ANGELES	CA	90095	LOS ANGELES	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	5/19/2021	NEW	$753,969
														Subtotal = $753,969

Grand Total All Awards = $3,602,852

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SINGLE-CELL MULTI-OMIC APPROACHES TO MECHANISTICALLY CHARACTERIZE PSYCHIATRIC DISORDER RISK LOCI IN THE HUMAN BRAIN

Award Number: R01MH125252

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/18/2021

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 02/28/2026

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