ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Stroke
This article is part of the Research TopicRedefining Stroke Recovery: Current Trends and Recent AdvancesView all 9 articles
Cortical Morphometric Similarity Patterns and Molecular Signatures Across Ischemic Stroke Recovery
Provisionally accepted
- The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China
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Background Ischemic stroke is associated with widespread and dynamic brain structural alterations, but the relationship between these changes and underlying molecular signatures across different post-stroke stages remains unclear. Therefore, we examined the brain structural difference of patients with 3T high resolution magnetic resonance, further explored special molecular signatures across ischemic stroke recovery stages. Methods Among 170 participants were recruited, including 60 acute/subacute ischemic stroke patients, 59 chronic ischemic stroke patients, and 51 healthy controls. Morphometric similarity networks (MSNs) were constructed by calculating Pearson correlations between cortical morphometric feature vectors across 308 regions. Group differences in MSN strength were assessed using covariate-adjusted linear regression. We further applied partial least squares regression to link regional MSN differences with gene expression data from the Allen Human Brain Atlas, identifying molecular signatures across ischemic stroke recovery stages. Results Regional MSN differences differed by stroke stage, predominantly involving frontal-temporal cortices in acute/subacute ischemic stroke and widespread cortical areas in chronic ischemic stroke. Regional MSN differences were associated with cortical transcriptional gradients, identifying key stroke-related genes (e.g., KIF5B, C4orf3, APMAP, STOML1). Functional analysis highlighted molecular signatures linked to neuronal changing, axonal transport, and protein homeostasis. Conclusion Our findings demonstrate stage-specific morphometric differences and molecular signatures associated with different stages of ischemic stroke, highlighting regionally distinct structural and transcriptomic associations. These insights may facilitate targeted interventions aimed at improving functional outcomes across different stages of stroke.
Keywords: ischemic stroke, Morphometric similarity networks, cortical difference, Gene Expression, stroke recovery
Received: 10 Jun 2025; Accepted: 28 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xiuen, Jialan, Chengdi, Zhilin, Ziming, Chao and Yanyan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Qin Chao, mdqc2019@126.com
Tang Yanyan, yuji0301@126.com
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