Cell type–specific mechanism of Setd1a heterozygosity in schizophrenia pathogenesis

Abstract

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a chronic, serious mental disorder. Although more than 200 SCZ-associated genes have been identified, the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we generated a Setd1a (SET domain containing 1A) haploinsufficiency mouse model to understand how this SCZ-associated epigenetic factor affects gene expression in brain regions highly relevant to SCZ. Single-cell RNA sequencing revealed that Setd1a heterozygosity causes highly variable transcriptional adaptations across different cell types in prefrontal cortex (PFC) and striatum. The Foxp2 + neurons exhibit the most prominent gene expression changes among the different neuron subtypes in PFC, which correlate with changes in histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation. Many of the genes dysregulated in Setd1a +/− mice are involved in neuron morphogenesis and synaptic function. Consistently, Setd1a +/− mice exhibit certain behavioral features of patients with SCZ. Collectively, our study establishes Setd1a +/− mice as a model for understanding SCZ and uncovers a complex brain region– and cell type–specific dysregulation that potentially underlies SCZ pathogenesis.