Pathogenic TSC2 variants alter developmental trajectories of human cortical organoids and perturb cell-cell communication networks [bulk RNA-seq]

Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC), an autosomal dominant condition, is engendered by heterozygous mutations in either TSC1 or TSC2 genes, manifesting in systemic growth of benign tumors. In addition to brain lesions, neurologic sequelae represent the greatest morbidity in TSC patients. Investigations utilizing TSC1/2-knockout animal or human stem cell models suggest that TSC deficiency-causing hyper-activation of mTOR signaling might precipitate anomalous neurodevelopmental processes. However, how the pathogenic variants of TSC1/2 genes identified in TSC patients affect the trajectory of human brain development and how they contribute to the neurological manifestations in TSC remain largely unexplored. Here, we employed 3-dimensional cortical organoids derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from TSC patients harboring TSC2 mutations, alongside organoids from age- and sex-matched healthy individuals as controls. Through comprehensively longitudinal molecular and cellular analysis of TSC organoids, including transcriptomics and single cell transcriptomics, we found that TSC2 pathogenic variants led to dysregulated neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, and gliogenesis, particularly for reactive astrogliosis. The altered developmental trajectory of TSC organoids significantly resembles the molecular signatures of neuropsychiatric disorders, including autism spectrum disorders, epilepsy, and intellectual disability. Through cell-cell communication analysis at the single cell level, we identified that TSC2 pathogenic variants disrupted the cell-cell communications, in particular, neuron-astrocyte interactions within the NLGN-NRXN signaling network. Furthermore, cellular and electrophysiological assessments of TSC cortical organoids, along with proteomics and phosphoproteomics analyses of synaptosomes, revealed that pathogenic TSC2 variants precipitate perturbations in mitochondrial translational integrity, neurofilament formation, synaptic transmission, and neuronal network activity. Intriguingly, the increased neu