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Multi-modal choroid plexus pathology in aging and Alzheimer's disease [preprint]

Xu, Huixin
Lotfy, Peter
Englert, Benjamin
Oberhauser, Jane
Byer, Lillian I J
Wihlman, Jasmin
Colangelo, Kia
Okar, Serhat V
Thommana, Ashley
Puttonen, Henri
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Abstract

Brain barriers, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics, and peripheral factors are implicated as significant contributors to Alzheimer's disease (AD). The choroid plexus (ChP) is a blood-brain interface that produces CSF and forms the blood-CSF barrier. However, how ChP pathology develops across the lifespan and contributes to AD has not been systematically characterized. Here, we report a multi-modal ChP atlas integrating single-nucleus transcriptomics from 49 individuals, AI-assisted quantitative histopathology across >500 postmortem samples age 16 to 105, spatial transcriptomics, and functional studies in 5xFAD mice. We identify fibrosis, calcification, and macrophage abnormalities as hallmarks of ChP aging, with AD pathology conferring additional effects, including expansion of a pro-inflammatory fibroblast-macrophage signaling niche. In 5xFAD mice, macrophage dysfunction is associated with impaired epithelial barrier maintenance and repair. Together, these data provide a foundational resource for understanding ChP dysfunction in aging and AD and propose the macrophage-fibroblast-epithelial barrier axis as a driver of ChP pathology.

Source

Xu H, Lotfy P, Englert B, Oberhauser J, Byer LIJ, Wihlman J, Colangelo K, Okar SV, Thommana A, Puttonen H, Mäyränpää MI, Tuimala J, Pedrosa R, Kumar D, Haberberger JF, Atkins ME, Alimukhamedov S, Pragana A, Benson J, Gabrielle ME, Dong A, Laforet VD, Lin PB, Keene CD, Latimer CS, Prater KE, Holtzman DM, Isakova A, Wyss-Coray T, Schafer DP, Reich DS, Lehtimäki T, Karhunen PJ, Kok EH, Jansson D, Yang AC, Myllykangas L, Ordovas-Montanes J, Lehtinen MK. Multi-modal choroid plexus pathology in aging and Alzheimer's disease. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2026 Jan 1:2025.12.30.697051. doi: 10.64898/2025.12.30.697051. PMID: 41509283; PMCID: PMC12776263.

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10.64898/2025.12.30.697051
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41509283
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This article is a preprint. Preprints are preliminary reports of work that have not been certified by peer review.

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