In-silico characterization of Formin Binding Protein 4 Family of proteins

Phenome-wide association study of loci harboring de novo tandem repeat mutations in UK Biobank exomes

When present in coding regions, tandem repeats (TRs) may have large effects on protein structure and function contributing to health and disease. We use a family-based design to identify de novo TRs and assess their impact at the population level in 148,607 European ancestry participants from the UK Biobank. The 427 loci with de novo TR mutations are enriched for targets of microRNA-184 (21.1-fold, P = 4.30 × 10^-5, FDR = 9.50 × 10^-3). There are 123 TR-phenotype associations with posterior probabilities > 0.95. These relate to body structure, cognition, and cardiovascular, metabolic, psychiatric, and respiratory outcomes. We report several loci with large likely causal effects on tissue microstructure, including the FAN1-[TG]_N and carotid intima-media thickness (mean thickness: beta = 5.22, P = 1.22 × 10^-6, FDR = 0.004; maximum thickness: beta = 6.44, P = 1.12 × 10^-6, FDR = 0.004). Two exonic repeats FNBP4-[GGT]_N and BTN2A1-[CCT]_N alter protein structure. In this work, we contribute clear and testable hypotheses of dose-dependent TR implications linking genetic variation and protein structure with health and disease outcomes.

Computational analyses of the length and compositional variations of the FNBP4 gene across 10 different species

Formin binding protein 4 (FNBP4) interacts with formins and other proteins via its WW domains. Previously, we reported the structural and phylogenetic clustering of FNBP4 across a wide range of organisms from different taxonomic groups along with characterizing its plant variant (Arabidopsis thaliana F4JC80). Recently, the FNBP4 gene is reported to be associated with a congenital disorder Microphthalmia with Limb Anomalies. Except these reports, FNBP4 is mostly uncharacterized, especially the FNBP4 gene. In this context, we have attempted to characterize the FNBP4 gene in terms of its length and compositional variations across 10 different organisms from different taxonomic groups. Our findings highlight that the length of the FNBP4 gene varies greatly among different species. Introns, UTRs and the entire gene were AT rich while CDS and mRNAs were GC rich. The RSCU values were also different for the different organisms indicating a possible impact on translational efficiency of this protein. Comparative analyses highlight gene element and base proportions related characteristics specific to highly expression regulated genes like FNBP4.