scholarly journals Hybrid allele-specific ChIP-Seq analysis links variation in transcription factor binding to traits in maize

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Hartwig ◽  
Michael Banf ◽  
Gisele Prietsch ◽  
Julia Engelhorn ◽  
Jinliang Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Phenotypic Diversity ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Chromatin Accessibility ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Functional Variants ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Allele Specific ◽  
Hybrid Allele

Abstract Variation in transcriptional regulation is a major cause of phenotypic diversity. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have shown that most functional variants reside in non-coding regions, where they potentially affect transcription factor (TF) binding and chromatin accessibility to alter gene expression. Pinpointing such regulatory variations, however, remains challenging. Here, we developed a hybrid allele-specific chromatin binding sequencing (HASCh-seq) approach and identified variations in target binding of the brassinosteroid (BR) responsive transcription factor ZmBZR1 in maize. Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq) in B73xMo17 F1s identified thousands of target genes of ZmBZR1. Allele-specific ZmBZR1 binding (ASB) was observed for about 14.3% of target genes. It correlated with over 550 loci containing sequence variation in BZR1-binding motifs and over 340 loci with haplotype-specific DNA methylation, linking genetic and epigenetic variations to ZmBZR1 occupancy. Comparison with GWAS data linked hundreds of ASB loci to important yield, growth, and disease-related traits. Our study provides a robust method for analyzing genome-wide variations of transcription factor occupancy and identified genetic and epigenetic variations of the BR response transcription network in maize.

scholarly journals Allele-specific miRNA-binding analysis identifies candidate target genes for breast cancer risk

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Jacinta-Fernandes ◽  
Joana M. Xavier ◽  
Ramiro Magno ◽  
Joel G. Lage ◽  
Ana-Teresa Maia
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Mirna Gene ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Binding Prediction ◽  
Cis Regulation ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Candidate Target ◽  
Allele Specific

ABSTRACTMost breast cancer (BC) risk-associated variants (raSNPs) identified in genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are believed to cis-regulate the expression of genes. We hypothesise that cis-regulatory variants contributing to disease risk may be affecting miRNA genes and/or miRNA-binding. To test this we adapted two miRNA-binding prediction algorithms — TargetScan and miRanda — to perform allele-specific queries, and integrated differential allelic expression (DAE) and expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) data, to query 150 genome-wide significant (P ≤ 5 × 10−8) raSNPs, plus proxies. We found that no raSNP mapped to a miRNA gene, suggesting that altered miRNA targeting is an unlikely mechanism involved in BC risk. Also, 11.5% (6 out of 52) raSNPs located in 3’UTRs of putative miRNA target genes were predicted to alter miRNA∷mRNA pair binding stability in five candidate target genes. Of these, we propose RNF115, at locus 1q21.1, as a strong novel target gene associated with BC risk, and re-inforce the role of miRNA mediated cis-regulation at locus 19p13.11. We believe that integrating allele-specific querying in miRNA-binding prediction, and data supporting cis-regulation of expression, improves the identification of candidate target genes in BC risk, as well as in other common cancers and complex diseases.

scholarly journals MORFEE: a new tool for detecting and annotating single nucleotide variants creating premature ATG codons from VCF files

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dylan Aïssi ◽  
Omar Soukarieh ◽  
Carole Proust ◽  
Beatrice Jaspard-Vinassa ◽  
Pierre Fautrad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stop Codon ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Premature Stop Codon ◽  
Open Reading Frames ◽  
Strong Impact ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Single Nucleotide Variants ◽  
Functional Variants ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Upstream Open Reading Frames

AbstractSummaryVariants in 5’UTR regions that create upstream translation initiation AUG codons are a class of neglected non coding variations. When they associate with a premature stop codon and create upstream open reading frames (uORFs) whose translation competes with that of natural proteins, they can have strong impact on human diseases. We here describe MORFEE, a new bioinformatics tool that detects, annotates and predicts, from a standard VCF file, the creation of uORF by any 5’UTR variants on uORF creation. MORFEE was applied to two genomic resources and identified candidate functional variants that could explain statistical association signals observed in the context of Genome Wide Association Studies or could be responsible for rare forms of diseases. In conclusion MORFEE is an easy-to-use tool complementary to existing ones that can help resolving genetic investigations that remained so far unfruitful.Availability and implementationMORFEE is written in R with code and package available at https://github.com/daissi/[email protected]; [email protected]

scholarly journals Genetics of COPD

2020 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 413-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin K. Silverman
Keyword(s):  
Association Studies ◽  
Chronic Obstructive ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ◽  
Functional Variants ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Antitrypsin Deficiency ◽  
Alpha 1 Antitrypsin Deficiency ◽  
Alpha 1 Antitrypsin ◽  
Genomic Regions

Although chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) risk is strongly influenced by cigarette smoking, genetic factors are also important determinants of COPD. In addition to Mendelian syndromes such as alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, many genomic regions that influence COPD susceptibility have been identified in genome-wide association studies. Similarly, multiple genomic regions associated with COPD-related phenotypes, such as quantitative emphysema measures, have been found. Identifying the functional variants and key genes within these association regions remains a major challenge. However, newly identified COPD susceptibility genes are already providing novel insights into COPD pathogenesis. Network-based approaches that leverage these genetic discoveries have the potential to assist in decoding the complex genetic architecture of COPD.

scholarly journals Addressing the Missing Heritability Problem With the Help of Regulatory Features

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 117693431986086
Author(s):  
Shan-Shan Dong ◽  
Yan Guo ◽  
Tie-Lin Yang
Keyword(s):  
Target Genes ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Complex Diseases ◽  
Regulatory Elements ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Susceptibility Loci ◽  
Missing Heritability ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Missing Heritability Problem

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have successfully identified thousands of susceptibility loci for human complex diseases. However, missing heritability is still a challenging problem. Considering most GWAS loci are located in regulatory elements, we recently developed a pipeline named functional disease-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) prediction (FDSP), to predict novel susceptibility loci for complex diseases based on the interpretation of regulatory features and published GWAS results with machine learning. When applied to type 2 diabetes and hypertension, the predicted susceptibility loci by FDSP were proved to be capable of explaining additional heritability. In addition, potential target genes of the predicted positive SNPs were significantly enriched in disease-related pathways. Our results suggested that taking regulatory features into consideration might be a useful way to address the missing heritability problem. We hope FDSP could offer help for the identification of novel susceptibility loci for complex diseases.

scholarly journals Challenges and progress in interpretation of non-coding genetic variants associated with human disease

2017 ◽  
Vol 242 (13) ◽  
pp. 1325-1334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yizhou Zhu ◽  
Cagdas Tazearslan ◽  
Yousin Suh
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Genome Wide Association ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Genetic Associations ◽  
Functional Interpretation ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Coding Variants

Genome-wide association studies have shown that the far majority of disease-associated variants reside in the non-coding regions of the genome, suggesting that gene regulatory changes contribute to disease risk. To identify truly causal non-coding variants and their affected target genes remains challenging but is a critical step to translate the genetic associations to molecular mechanisms and ultimately clinical applications. Here we review genomic/epigenomic resources and in silico tools that can be used to identify causal non-coding variants and experimental strategies to validate their functionalities. Impact statement Most signals from genome-wide association studies (GWASs) map to the non-coding genome, and functional interpretation of these associations remained challenging. We reviewed recent progress in methodologies of studying the non-coding genome and argued that no single approach allows one to effectively identify the causal regulatory variants from GWAS results. By illustrating the advantages and limitations of each method, our review potentially provided a guideline for taking a combinatorial approach to accurately predict, prioritize, and eventually experimentally validate the causal variants.

scholarly journals Identification of novel non-synonymous variants associated with type 2 diabetes-related metabolites in Korean population

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tae-Joon Park ◽  
Heun-Sik Lee ◽  
Young Jin Kim ◽  
Bong-Jo Kim
Keyword(s):  
Type 2 Diabetes ◽  
Genetic Variants ◽  
Multiple Testing ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Genetic Regulation ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Functional Variants ◽  
Genome Wide

Abstract Metabolome-genome wide association studies (mGWASs) are useful for understanding the genetic regulation of metabolites in complex diseases, including type 2 diabetes (T2D). Numerous genetic variants associated with T2D-related metabolites have been identified in previous mGWASs; however, these analyses seem to have difficulty in detecting the genetic variants with functional effects. An exome array focussed on potentially functional variants is an alternative platform to obtain insight into the genetics of biochemical conversion processes. In the present study, we performed an mGWAS using 27,140 non-synonymous variants included in the Illumina HumanExome BeadChip and nine T2D-related metabolites identified by a targetted metabolomics approach to evaluate 2,338 Korean individuals from the Korea Association REsource (KARE) cohort. A linear regression analysis controlling for age, sex, BMI, and T2D status as covariates was performed to identify novel non-synonymous variants associated with T2D-related metabolites. We found significant associations between glycine and CPS1 (rs1047883) and PC ae C36:0 and CYP4F2 (rs2108622) variants (P<2.05 × 10−7, after the Bonferroni correction for multiple testing). One of the two significantly associated variants, rs1047883 was newly identified whereas rs2108622 had been previously reported to be associated with T2D-related traits. These findings expand our understanding of the genetic determinants of T2D-related metabolites and provide a basis for further functional validation.

scholarly journals Cross-cancer genome-wide association study of endometrial cancer and epithelial ovarian cancer identifies genetic risk regions associated with risk of both cancers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dylan M. Glubb ◽  
Deborah J. Thompson ◽  
Katja K.H. Aben ◽  
Ahmad Alsulimani ◽  
Frederic Amant ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ovarian Cancer ◽  
Endometrial Cancer ◽  
Epithelial Ovarian Cancer ◽  
Genetic Correlation ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Genome Wide Association ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Molecular Features ◽  
Genome Wide

AbstractAccumulating evidence suggests a relationship between endometrial cancer and epithelial ovarian cancer. For example, endometrial cancer and epithelial ovarian cancer share epidemiological risk factors and molecular features observed across histotypes are held in common (e.g. serous, endometrioid and clear cell). Independent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for endometrial cancer and epithelial ovarian cancer have identified 16 and 27 risk regions, respectively, four of which overlap between the two cancers. Using GWAS summary statistics, we explored the shared genetic etiology between endometrial cancer and epithelial ovarian cancer. Genetic correlation analysis using LD Score regression revealed significant genetic correlation between the two cancers (rG = 0.43, P = 2.66 × 10−5). To identify loci associated with the risk of both cancers, we implemented a pipeline of statistical genetic analyses (i.e. inverse-variance meta-analysis, co-localization, and M-values), and performed analyses by stratified by subtype. We found seven loci associated with risk for both cancers (PBonferroni < 2.4 × 10−9). In addition, four novel regions at 7p22.2, 7q22.1, 9p12 and 11q13.3 were identified at a sub-genome wide threshold (P < 5 × 10−7). Integration with promoter-associated HiChIP chromatin loops from immortalized endometrium and epithelial ovarian cell lines, and expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) data highlighted candidate target genes for further investigation.

scholarly journals Genome-wide reduction in chromatin accessibility and unique transcription factor footprints in endothelial cells and fibroblasts in scleroderma skin

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pei-Suen Tsou ◽  
Pamela J. Palisoc ◽  
Mustafa Ali ◽  
Dinesh Khanna ◽  
Amr H Sawalha
Keyword(s):  
Endothelial Cells ◽  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Transcription Factors ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Vascular Complications ◽  
Chromatin Accessibility ◽  
Unknown Etiology ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Genome Wide

AbstractSystemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare autoimmune disease of unknown etiology characterized by widespread fibrosis and vascular complications. We utilized an assay for genome-wide chromatin accessibility to examine the chromatin landscape and transcription factor footprints in both endothelial cells (ECs) and fibroblasts isolated from healthy controls and patients with diffuse cutaneous (dc) SSc. In both cell types, chromatin accessibility was significantly reduced in SSc patients compared to healthy controls. Genes annotated from differentially accessible chromatin regions were enriched in pathways and gene ontologies involved in the nervous system. In addition, our data revealed that chromatin binding of transcription factors SNAI2, ETV2, and ELF1 was significantly increased in dcSSc ECs, while recruitment of RUNX1 and RUNX2 was enriched in dcSSc fibroblasts. Significant elevation of SNAI2 and ETV2 levels in dcSSc ECs, and RUNX2 levels in dcSSc fibroblasts were confirmed. Further analysis of publicly available ETV2-target genes suggests that ETV2 may play a critical role in EC dysfunction in dcSSc. Our data, for the first time, uncovered the chromatin blueprint of dcSSc ECs and fibroblasts, and suggested that neural-related characteristics of SSc ECs and fibroblasts could be a culprit for dysregulated angiogenesis and enhanced fibrosis. Targeting these pathways and the key transcription factors identified might present novel therapeutic approaches for this disease.

scholarly journals Gene-centric functional dissection of human genetic variation uncovers regulators of hematopoiesis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satish K Nandakumar ◽  
Sean K McFarland ◽  
Laura Marlene Mateyka ◽  
Caleb A Lareau ◽  
Jacob C Ulirsch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Candidate Genes ◽  
Target Genes ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Human Diseases ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Causal Variants ◽  
Genomic Regions

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified thousands of variants associated with human diseases and traits. However, the majority of GWAS-implicated variants are in non-coding genomic regions and require in depth follow-up to identify target genes and decipher biological mechanisms. Here, rather than focusing on causal variants, we have undertaken a pooled loss-of-function screen in primary hematopoietic cells to interrogate 389 candidate genes contained in 75 loci associated with red blood cell traits. Using this approach, we identify 77 genes at 38 GWAS loci, with most loci harboring 1-2 candidate genes. Importantly, the hit set was strongly enriched for genes validated through orthogonal genetic approaches. Genes identified by this approach are enriched in relevant biological pathways, allowing regulators of human erythropoiesis and blood disease modifiers to be defined. More generally, this functional screen provides a paradigm for gene-centric follow up of GWAS for a variety of human diseases and traits.

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