AI, Single-Cell Technology Reveal How 3D Genome Differs in People With Alzheimer's Disease

Parent SitesCMU.EDUSchool of Computer ScienceActions MenuPartnerGiveToggle Visibility of Main MenuAboutAboutAbout: About SCS About: Departments About: Dean’s Office About: Awards About: Community Engagement About: Alumni Engagement About: Employment at SCS About: Directory EducationEducationEducation: Education at SCS Education: Undergraduate Education: Master's Education: Doctoral Education: Graduate Admissions Education: Executive & Professional Education Education: Online Education Education: Pre-College Education: Outreach ResearchResearchResearch: Research at SCS Research: Institutes & Centers Research: Selected Publications Research: Undergraduate Research News & EventsNews & EventsNews & Events: SCS News News & Events: The LINK Magazine News & Events: Does Compute Podcast News & Events: SCS Events Calendar News & Events: SCS Seminars News & Events: SCS Distinguished Lecture Series Industry & EntrepreneurshipIndustry & EntrepreneurshipIndustry & Entrepreneurship: Industry & Government Partnerships Industry & Entrepreneurship: SCS Careers & Recruitment Industry & Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship GivingGivingGiving: Donate Now Giving: Explore Giving at SCS Giving: Ways To Give Giving: SCS Funds Actions MenuPartnerGiveSearchSearch console.log("RS News Path:", "/news"); console.log("Live Site:", "https://www.cs.cmu.edu"); .rsNewsHeader h1, .rsNewsHeader h1 + .newsspacerafter { margin-top: 0.5rem; } .rsNewsHeader .newsspacerafter { padding-right: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0.5rem; box-sizing: content-box; display: block; /*border-right: solid 1px #EEE;*/ } Home / SCS News / News Archive / AI, Single-Cell Technology Reveal How 3D Genome Differs in People With Alzheimer's Disease July 23, 2026 AI, Single-Cell Technology Reveal How 3D Genome Differs in People With Alzheimer's Disease By Marylee WilliamsMedia InquiriesAaron Aupperlee Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, School of Computer Science aaupperlee@cmu.edu 412-268-9068 Researchers from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the University of Washington shed new light on Alzheimer's disease that could point to improved directions for treatment.In a paper published in Science, researchers from the three institutions and their collaborators show that the 3D genome architecture is organized differently in certain brain cells from people with Alzheimer's disease, uncovering a previously underexplored layer of the disease's biology. The research team linked genome folding to gene activity and brain tissue organization in Alzheimer's disease through single-cell technology, spatial mapping of brain tissue and a new deep learning model."Alzheimer's disease cannot be understood one layer at a time," said Jian Ma, the Ray and Stephanie Lane Professor of Computational Biology in CMU's School of Computer Science, who led and supervised the study. "The genome's 3D structure is a fundamental regulatory layer that helps to connect DNA sequence to gene activity. By integrating genome folding, cell state and tissue context, we can move beyond cataloging disease-associated changes toward understanding how they fit together and which mechanisms to test next."In a paper published in Science, computational biology researchers including (l-r) Jian Ma, Yang Zhang and Xinyue Lu shed new light on Alzheimer's disease that could lead to improved treatment options.To build this multiscale view, researchers analyzed postmortem tissue from the prefrontal cortex obtained from individuals with and without Alzheimer's disease who participated in a long-term study on dementia and donated their brains to science after death. The team used GAGE-seq, which measures gene expression and 3D genome contacts in the same cell, and integrated these measurements with spatial transcriptomic maps of intact tissue. To