BDCD: a comprehensive Brain Disease Cell-cell communication Database

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Genomics
• Computational Biology

Background:

• Cell-cell communication (CCC) dysregulation is a key factor in brain disease pathology, including neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration.
• Current resources lack brain specificity, comprehensive regional coverage, and detailed functional annotation for CCC networks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop the Brain Disease Cell-cell Communication Database (BDCD), the first dedicated resource for CCC networks in major brain diseases.
• To provide a comprehensive atlas for understanding brain disease mechanisms and facilitating therapeutic discovery.

Main Methods:

• Integrated 38 curated datasets from single-cell RNA-seq and spatial transcriptomic studies.
• Covered 14 brain regions and 13 cell types across Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and multiple sclerosis.
• Reconstructed over 495,000 ligand-receptor interactions and linked them to genetic associations, pathways, and therapeutic modulators.

Main Results:

• BDCD integrates data from over 8.5 million single cells and 140,000 spatial spots.
• Identified extensive CCC networks relevant to major neurological and psychiatric disorders.
• Linked CCC events to 6100 GWAS SNPs, 3350 drugs, and 72,477 allosteric modulators.

Conclusions:

• BDCD provides an unprecedented, brain-specific resource for studying cell-cell communication in disease.
• Enables cross-disease comparisons and hypothesis generation for mechanistic insights.
• Supports the discovery of novel therapeutic targets and strategies for brain disorders.