SYNGO, a collaboration that brings together 15 laboratories from around the world, including the Molecular Physiology of Synapses, directed by Dr. Àlex Bayés of the IIB Sant Pau and the Gene Ontology Consortium (GO), has published SYNGO 1.0, the first version of a knowledge base that aims to collect the current knowledge of the neuroscientific community on the genetic architecture of synapses. The launch of SYNGO 1.0 is supported by the first scientific publication of the journal Neuron.
Using structured frameworks called ontologies, SYNGO has published nearly 3,000 descriptions of more than 1,100 unique synaptic genes, compiling published experimental information on the location and/or function of its protein products. SYNGO is fully integrated into the GO knowledge base (http://geneontology.org), the world’s largest source of information on gene functions.
Synapses, which serve as specialized contacts between nerve cells, are the fundamental units of brain information processing. The loss of coordinated activity in synapses is at the root of many brain disorders called synaptopaties. Examples include Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, schizophrenia, many autism spectrum disorders, or intellectual disability.
Publication in Neuron
Consortium members have used SYNGO 1.0 to demonstrate that synaptic genes have changed little throughout evolution and are functionally much more sensitive (i.e., less tolerant) to mutations than other genes expressed in the brain. In addition, the authors also demonstrate that variations in many synaptic genes are significantly associated with intelligence, educational attainment, ADHD, autism, and bipolar disorder. Synaptic genes are also much more likely than other genes expressed by the brain to support mutations associated with neuropsychiatric disorders.
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SYNGO Consortium
The SYNGO Consortium was created in 2015 by Steven Hyman and Guoping Feng of the Stanley Centre for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute of MIY in Cambridge (MA) and coordinated by Guus Smit and Matthijs Verhage of the Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research (CNCR) at VU University, Amsterdam, the Netherlands and, for the GO Consortium, Paul Thomas at the University of Southern California.
The transmission of signals from one nerve cell to another is orchestrated by a large collection of proteins located on the surfaces of neurons on both sides of a synapse, probably encoded by a few thousand genes. Decades of research have provided parts lists for different types of synapses, as well as many clues to how these proteins work together to boost synaptic functions. However, in the neuroscience community there has been no framework or model to represent and describe this information. The SYNGO Consortium met to synthesize the available knowledge and begin to fill this gap.
As a public knowledge base for synapse research, SYNGO provides
– A standard framework of definitions (an ontology) to describe the functions, locations and relationships of proteins and genes in the context of synapses.
– Literature-based, expertly based annotations linking synaptic genes and proteins to specific terms.
– Online visualization and analysis tools to evaluate the locations and functions of individual synaptic genes or for enrichment studies.
