scholarly journals A dementia-associated risk variant near TMEM106B alters chromatin architecture and gene expression

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael D. Gallagher ◽  
Marijan Posavi ◽  
Peng Huang ◽  
Travis L. Unger ◽  
Yosef Berlyand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Genetic Variants ◽  
Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Regulatory Elements ◽  
Ctcf Binding ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Common Genetic Variants ◽  
Depth Analysis

ABSTRACTNeurodegenerative diseases pose an extraordinary threat to the world’s aging population, yet no disease-modifying therapies are available. While genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified hundreds of novel risk loci for neurodegeneration, the mechanisms by which these loci influence disease risk are largely unknown. Indeed, of the many thousands of SNP-trait associations identified by GWAS over the past ~10 years, very few are understood mechanistically. Here, we investigate the association of common genetic variants at the 7p21 locus with risk for the neurodegenerative disease frontotemporal lobar degeneration. We show that variants associated with disease risk correlate with increased brain expression of the 7p21 gene TMEM106B, and no other genes. Furthermore, incremental increases in TMEM106B levels result in incremental increases in lysosomal phenotypes and cell toxicity. We then combine fine-mapping, bioinformatics, and bench-based approaches to functionally characterize all candidate causal variants at this locus. This approach identified a noncoding variant, rs1990620, which differentially recruits CTCF, influencing CTCF-mediated long-range chromatin looping interactions between multiple cis-regulatory elements, including the TMEM106B promoter. Our findings thus provide an in-depth analysis of the 7p21 locus linked by GWAS to frontotemporal lobar degeneration, nominating a causal variant and a causal mechanism for allele-specific expression and disease association at this locus. Finally, we show that genetic variants associated with risk for neurodegenerative diseases beyond frontotemporal lobar degeneration are enriched in brain CTCF-binding sites genome-wide, implicating CTCF-mediated gene regulation in risk for neurodegeneration more generally.

scholarly journals Post-GWAS era in genetics of schizophrenia

2019 ◽  
pp. 6-7
Author(s):  
V. E. Golimbet ◽  
A. K. Golov ◽  
N. V. Kondratyev
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variants ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Regulatory Elements ◽  
Genome Wide Association ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Biological Mechanisms ◽  
Master Regulators ◽  
Genome Wide

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) discovered multiple genetic variants associated with schizophrenia. Te next step (post-GWAS analysis) is aimed at identifying the causal genetic variants and biological mechanisms underlying the associations with disease risk. Te following strategies are considered: the study of transcriptional regulation in neuronal human cells and the use of epigenomic information for searching for regulatory elements involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Te frst strategy includes identifcation of neuronal enhancers, mapping of potential target genes and functional confrmation of enhancer-promoter interactions. Te second approach is focused on the identifcation of transcriptional factors, which appear to be master regulators of expression.

scholarly journals Association of common genetic variants with brain microbleeds

Neurology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 95 (24) ◽  
pp. e3331-e3343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria J. Knol ◽  
Dongwei Lu ◽  
Matthew Traylor ◽  
Hieab H.H. Adams ◽  
José Rafael J. Romero ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variants ◽  
Small Vessel Disease ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Cerebral Small Vessel Disease ◽  
Small Vessel ◽  
White Matter Hyperintensity ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Vessel Disease ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Common Genetic Variants

ObjectiveTo identify common genetic variants associated with the presence of brain microbleeds (BMBs).MethodsWe performed genome-wide association studies in 11 population-based cohort studies and 3 case–control or case-only stroke cohorts. Genotypes were imputed to the Haplotype Reference Consortium or 1000 Genomes reference panel. BMBs were rated on susceptibility-weighted or T2*-weighted gradient echo MRI sequences, and further classified as lobar or mixed (including strictly deep and infratentorial, possibly with lobar BMB). In a subset, we assessed the effects of APOE ε2 and ε4 alleles on BMB counts. We also related previously identified cerebral small vessel disease variants to BMBs.ResultsBMBs were detected in 3,556 of the 25,862 participants, of which 2,179 were strictly lobar and 1,293 mixed. One locus in the APOE region reached genome-wide significance for its association with BMB (lead single nucleotide polymorphism rs769449; odds ratio [OR]any BMB [95% confidence interval (CI)] 1.33 [1.21–1.45]; p = 2.5 × 10−10). APOE ε4 alleles were associated with strictly lobar (OR [95% CI] 1.34 [1.19–1.50]; p = 1.0 × 10−6) but not with mixed BMB counts (OR [95% CI] 1.04 [0.86–1.25]; p = 0.68). APOE ε2 alleles did not show associations with BMB counts. Variants previously related to deep intracerebral hemorrhage and lacunar stroke, and a risk score of cerebral white matter hyperintensity variants, were associated with BMB.ConclusionsGenetic variants in the APOE region are associated with the presence of BMB, most likely due to the APOE ε4 allele count related to a higher number of strictly lobar BMBs. Genetic predisposition to small vessel disease confers risk of BMB, indicating genetic overlap with other cerebral small vessel disease markers.

scholarly journals Contributions of common genetic variants to risk of schizophrenia among individuals of African and Latino ancestry

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (10) ◽  
pp. 2455-2467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim B. Bigdeli ◽  
◽  
Giulio Genovese ◽  
Penelope Georgakopoulos ◽  
Jacquelyn L. Meyers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variants ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
African Ancestry ◽  
Common Variant ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Polygenic Risk Score ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Common Genetic Variants

Abstract Schizophrenia is a common, chronic and debilitating neuropsychiatric syndrome affecting tens of millions of individuals worldwide. While rare genetic variants play a role in the etiology of schizophrenia, most of the currently explained liability is within common variation, suggesting that variation predating the human diaspora out of Africa harbors a large fraction of the common variant attributable heritability. However, common variant association studies in schizophrenia have concentrated mainly on cohorts of European descent. We describe genome-wide association studies of 6152 cases and 3918 controls of admixed African ancestry, and of 1234 cases and 3090 controls of Latino ancestry, representing the largest such study in these populations to date. Combining results from the samples with African ancestry with summary statistics from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) study of schizophrenia yielded seven newly genome-wide significant loci, and we identified an additional eight loci by incorporating the results from samples with Latino ancestry. Leveraging population differences in patterns of linkage disequilibrium, we achieve improved fine-mapping resolution at 22 previously reported and 4 newly significant loci. Polygenic risk score profiling revealed improved prediction based on trans-ancestry meta-analysis results for admixed African (Nagelkerke’s R2 = 0.032; liability R2 = 0.017; P < 10−52), Latino (Nagelkerke’s R2 = 0.089; liability R2 = 0.021; P < 10−58), and European individuals (Nagelkerke’s R2 = 0.089; liability R2 = 0.037; P < 10−113), further highlighting the advantages of incorporating data from diverse human populations.

Performance of polygenic risk scores for cancer prediction in an academic biobank.

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1528-1528
Author(s):  
Heena Desai ◽  
Anh Le ◽  
Ryan Hausler ◽  
Shefali Verma ◽  
Anurag Verma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Score ◽  
Genetic Variants ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Risk Scores ◽  
Polygenic Risk Score ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Polygenic Risk ◽  
European Americans ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Common Genetic Variants

1528 Background: The discovery of rare genetic variants associated with cancer have a tremendous impact on reducing cancer morbidity and mortality when identified; however, rare variants are found in less than 5% of cancer patients. Genome wide association studies (GWAS) have identified hundreds of common genetic variants significantly associated with a number of cancers, but the clinical utility of individual variants or a polygenic risk score (PRS) derived from multiple variants is still unclear. Methods: We tested the ability of polygenic risk score (PRS) models developed from genome-wide significant variants to differentiate cases versus controls in the Penn Medicine Biobank. Cases for 15 different cancers and cancer-free controls were identified using electronic health record billing codes for 11,524 European American and 5,994 African American individuals from the Penn Medicine Biobank. Results: The discriminatory ability of the 15 PRS models to distinguish their respective cancer cases versus controls ranged from 0.68-0.79 in European Americans and 0.74-0.93 in African Americans. Seven of the 15 cancer PRS trended towards an association with their cancer at a p<0.05 (Table), and PRS for prostate, thyroid and melanoma were significantly associated with their cancers at a bonferroni corrected p<0.003 with OR 1.3-1.6 in European Americans. Conclusions: Our data demonstrate that common variants with significant associations from GWAS studies can distinguish cancer cases versus controls for some cancers in an unselected biobank population. Given the small effects, future studies are needed to determine how best to incorporate PRS with other risk factors in the precision prediction of cancer risk. [Table: see text]

scholarly journals An integrated platform to systematically identify causal variants and genes for polygenic human traits

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damien J. Downes ◽  
Ron Schwessinger ◽  
Stephanie J. Hill ◽  
Lea Nussbaum ◽  
Caroline Scott ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variants ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Effector Genes ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Common Genetic Variants ◽  
Integrated Platform ◽  
Causal Variants

ABSTRACTGenome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified over 150,000 links between common genetic variants and human traits or complex diseases. Over 80% of these associations map to polymorphisms in non-coding DNA. Therefore, the challenge is to identify disease-causing variants, the genes they affect, and the cells in which these effects occur. We have developed a platform using ATAC-seq, DNaseI footprints, NG Capture-C and machine learning to address this challenge. Applying this approach to red blood cell traits identifies a significant proportion of known causative variants and their effector genes, which we show can be validated by direct in vivo modelling.

scholarly journals The Effect of Alterations of Schizophrenia-Associated Genes on Gamma Band Oscillations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Metzner ◽  
Tuomo Mäki-Marttunen ◽  
Gili Karni ◽  
Hana McMahon-Cole ◽  
Volker Steuber
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variants ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Primary Auditory Cortex ◽  
Gamma Band ◽  
Oscillatory Activity ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Common Genetic Variants ◽  
Gamma Power ◽  
Response Task

Abnormalities in the synchronized oscillatory activity of neurons in general and, specifically in the gamma band, might play a crucial role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. While these changes in oscillatory activity have traditionally been linked to alterations at the synaptic level, we demonstrate here, using computational modeling, that common genetic variants of ion channels can contribute strongly to this effect. Our model of primary auditory cortex highlights multiple schizophrenia-associated genetic variants that reduce gamma power in an auditory steady-state response task. Furthermore, we show that combinations of several of these schizophrenia-associated variants can produce similar effects as the more traditionally considered synaptic changes. Overall, our study provides a mechanistic link between schizophrenia-associated common genetic variants, as identified by genome-wide association studies, and one of the most robust neurophysiological endophenotypes of schizophrenia.

scholarly journals Genetic factors affect the susceptibility to bacterial infections in diabetes

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan R. Simonsen ◽  
Annemari Käräjämäki ◽  
Anni A. Antikainen ◽  
Iiro Toppila ◽  
Emma Ahlqvist ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pathway Analysis ◽  
Genetic Variants ◽  
Bacterial Infections ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Infection Frequency ◽  
Chromosome 2 ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Common Genetic Variants ◽  
Infection Susceptibility ◽  
Diabetic Population

AbstractDiabetes increases the risk of bacterial infections. We investigated whether common genetic variants associate with infection susceptibility in Finnish diabetic individuals. We performed genome-wide association studies and pathway analysis for bacterial infection frequency in Finnish adult diabetic individuals (FinnDiane Study; N = 5092, Diabetes Registry Vaasa; N = 4247) using national register data on antibiotic prescription purchases. Replication analyses were performed in a Swedish diabetic population (ANDIS; N = 9602) and in a Finnish non-diabetic population (FinnGen; N = 159,166). Genome-wide data indicated moderate but significant narrow-sense heritability for infection susceptibility (h2 = 16%, P = 0.02). Variants on chromosome 2 were associated with reduced infection susceptibility (rs62192851, P = 2.23 × 10–7). Homozygotic carriers of the rs62192851 effect allele (N = 44) had a 37% lower median annual antibiotic purchase rate, compared to homozygotic carriers of the reference allele (N = 4231): 0.38 [IQR 0.22–0.90] and 0.60 [0.30–1.20] respectively, P = 0.01). Variants rs6727834 and rs10188087, in linkage disequilibrium with rs62192851, replicated in the FinnGen-cohort (P < 0.05), but no variants replicated in the ANDIS-cohort. Pathway analysis suggested the IRAK1 mediated NF-κB activation through IKK complex recruitment-pathway to be a mediator of the phenotype. Common genetic variants on chromosome 2 may associate with reduced risk of bacterial infections in Finnish individuals with diabetes.

scholarly journals Genetic analysis identifies molecular systems and biological pathways associated with household income

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. David Hill ◽  
Neil M. Davies ◽  
Stuart J. Ritchie ◽  
Nathan G. Skene ◽  
Julien Bryois ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Genetic Variants ◽  
Household Income ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Functional Enrichment ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Income Differences ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Common Genetic Variants

AbstractSocio-economic position (SEP) is a multi-dimensional construct reflecting (and influencing) multiple socio-cultural, physical, and environmental factors. Previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) using household income as a marker of SEP have shown that common genetic variants account for 11% of its variation. Here, in a sample of 286,301 participants from UK Biobank, we identified 30 independent genome-wide significant loci, 29 novel, that are associated with household income. Using a recently-developed method to meta-analyze data that leverages power from genetically-correlated traits, we identified an additional 120 income-associated loci. These loci showed clear evidence of functional enrichment, with transcriptional differences identified across multiple cortical tissues, in addition to links with GABAergic and serotonergic neurotransmission. We identified neurogenesis and the components of the synapse as candidate biological systems that are linked with income. By combining our GWAS on income with data from eQTL studies and chromatin interactions, 24 genes were prioritized for follow up, 18 of which were previously associated with cognitive ability. Using Mendelian Randomization, we identified cognitive ability as one of the causal, partly-heritable phenotypes that bridges the gap between molecular genetic inheritance and phenotypic consequence in terms of income differences. Significant differences between genetic correlations indicated that, the genetic variants associated with income are related to better mental health than those linked to educational attainment (another commonly-used marker of SEP). Finally, we were able to predict 2.5% of income differences using genetic data alone in an independent sample. These results are important for understanding the observed socioeconomic inequalities in Great Britain today.

scholarly journals Genome-wide association studies: a primer

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (7) ◽  
pp. 1063-1077 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Corvin ◽  
N. Craddock ◽  
P. F. Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variants ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Human Diseases ◽  
Genome Wide Association ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Psychiatric Genetics ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Common Genetic Variants ◽  
Gwas Approach

There have been nearly 400 genome-wide association studies (GWAS) published since 2005. The GWAS approach has been exceptionally successful in identifying common genetic variants that predispose to a variety of complex human diseases and biochemical and anthropometric traits. Although this approach is relatively new, there are many excellent reviews of different aspects of the GWAS method. Here, we provide a primer, an annotated overview of the GWAS method with particular reference to psychiatric genetics. We dissect the GWAS methodology into its components and provide a brief description with citations and links to reviews that cover the topic in detail.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document