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Hu B, Wan AH, Xiang XQ, Wei YH, Chen Y, Tang Z, Xu CD, Zheng ZW, Yang SL, Zhao K. Blood cell counts and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: Evidence from Mendelian randomization analysis. World J Hepatol 2024; 16:1145-1155. [DOI: 10.4254/wjh.v16.i8.1145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2024] [Revised: 07/03/2024] [Accepted: 07/23/2024] [Indexed: 08/21/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous research has highlighted correlations between blood cell counts and chronic liver disease. Nonetheless, the causal relationships remain unknown.
AIM To evaluate the causal effect of blood cell traits on liver enzymes and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) risk.
METHODS Independent genetic variants strongly associated with blood cell traits were extracted from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) conducted by the Blood Cell Consortium. Summary-level data for liver enzymes were obtained from the United Kingdom Biobank. NAFLD data were obtained from a GWAS meta-analysis (8434 cases and 770180 controls, discovery dataset) and the Fingen GWAS (2275 cases and 372727 controls, replication dataset). This analysis was conducted using the inverse-variance weighted method, followed by various sensitivity analyses.
RESULTS One SD increase in the genetically predicted haemoglobin concentration (HGB) was associated with a β of 0.0078 (95%CI: 0.0059-0.0096), 0.0108 (95%CI: 0.0080-0.0136), 0.0361 (95%CI: 0.0156-0.0567), and 0.0083 (95%CI: 00046-0.0121) for alkaline phosphatase (ALP), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase, and gamma-glutamyl transferase, respectively. Genetically predicted haematocrit was associated with ALP (β = 0.0078, 95%CI: 0.0052-0.0104) and ALT (β = 0.0057, 95%CI: 0.0039-0.0075). Genetically determined HGB and the reticulocyte fraction of red blood cells increased the risk of NAFLD [odds ratio (OR) = 1.199, 95%CI: 1.087-1.322] and (OR = 1.157, 95%CI: 1.071-1.250). The results of the sensitivity analyses remained significant.
CONCLUSION Novel causal blood cell traits related to liver enzymes and NAFLD development were revealed through Mendelian randomization analysis, which may facilitate the diagnosis and prevention of NAFLD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bin Hu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital South Campus, Shanghai 201499, China
| | - Ai-Hong Wan
- Department of Cardiology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital South Campus, Shanghai 201499, China
| | - Xi-Qiao Xiang
- Department of Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography Imaging Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital South Campus, Shanghai 201499, China
| | - Yuan-Hao Wei
- Department of School of Public Health, Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, Heilongjiang Province, China
| | - Yi Chen
- Department of Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography Imaging Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital South Campus, Shanghai 201499, China
| | - Zhen Tang
- Department of Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography Imaging Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital South Campus, Shanghai 201499, China
| | - Chang-De Xu
- Department of Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography Imaging Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital South Campus, Shanghai 201499, China
| | - Zi-Wei Zheng
- Department of Cardiovascular Ultrasound Medicine Center, Shanghai Eighth People's Hospital, Shanghai 200235, China
| | - Shao-Ling Yang
- Department of Cardiovascular Ultrasound Medicine Center, Shanghai Eighth People's Hospital, Shanghai 200235, China
| | - Kun Zhao
- Department of Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography Imaging Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital South Campus, Shanghai 201499, China
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2
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Liu S, Zhang C, Zhang Y, Wu Z, Wu P, Tian S, Zhang M, Lang L, Li L, Wang R, Liu H, Zhang J, Mao X, Li S. Causal association between blood leukocyte counts and vascular dementia: a two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization study. Sci Rep 2024; 14:19582. [PMID: 39179767 PMCID: PMC11344047 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-70446-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2024] [Accepted: 08/16/2024] [Indexed: 08/26/2024] Open
Abstract
While previous observational studies have suggested a link between leukocyte counts and vascular dementia (VD), the causal relationship between leukocyte counts and various subtypes of VD remains elusive. This study aimed to investigate the causal relationship between five types of leukocyte counts and VD, with the goal of improving prevention and treatment strategies. In this study, leukocyte counts were used as the exposure variable, with genome-wide association study (GWAS) data sourced from both the UK Biobank and the Blood Cell Consortium. Additionally, GWAS data for five subtypes of vascular dementia were obtained from the FinnGen database. We conducted rigorous statistical analysis and visualization using Mendelian randomization (MR) to elucidate the potential causal relationship between leukocyte counts and vascular dementia. This study, utilizing MR analysis with data from the UK Biobank and Blood Cell Consortium, identified significant causal associations between increased lymphocyte counts and VD. Specifically, lymphocyte counts were found to be causally related to multiple and mixed VD subtypes. Sensitivity analyses, including MR-Egger regression and MR-PRESSO tests, confirmed the robustness of these findings, with no evidence of reverse causality or significant horizontal pleiotropy detected. The results underscore a potential inflammatory or immunological mechanism in the pathogenesis of VD, highlighting lymphocytes as a key component in their etiology. This investigation establishes a robust association between elevated lymphocyte and leukocyte counts and an increased risk of VD, emphasizing the roles of inflammation, immune activation, and hematological factors in disease pathogenesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shufang Liu
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Molecular Imaging of Precision Medicine, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
| | - Chenwei Zhang
- NHC Key Laboratory of Pneumoconiosis, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
- First Clinical Medical College, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
| | - Yukai Zhang
- NHC Key Laboratory of Pneumoconiosis, Shanxi Key Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases, Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
| | - Zhifang Wu
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Molecular Imaging of Precision Medicine, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
| | - Ping Wu
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Molecular Imaging of Precision Medicine, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
| | - Shouyuan Tian
- Shanxi Province Cancer Hospital, Shanxi Hospital Affiliated to Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Cancer Hospital Affiliated to Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
| | - Min Zhang
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Molecular Imaging of Precision Medicine, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
| | - Limin Lang
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Molecular Imaging of Precision Medicine, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
| | - Li Li
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Molecular Imaging of Precision Medicine, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
| | - Ruonan Wang
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Molecular Imaging of Precision Medicine, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
| | | | - Jingfen Zhang
- First Clinical Medical College, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China
| | - Xiaolu Mao
- Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang , Liaoning, China
| | - Sijin Li
- Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.
- Collaborative Innovation Center for Molecular Imaging of Precision Medicine, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China.
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3
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Poisner H, Faucon A, Cox N, Bick AG. Genetic determinants and phenotypic consequences of blood T-cell proportions in 207,000 diverse individuals. Nat Commun 2024; 15:6732. [PMID: 39112476 PMCID: PMC11306580 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51095-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 07/29/2024] [Indexed: 08/10/2024] Open
Abstract
T-cells play a critical role in multiple aspects of human health and disease. However, to date the genetic determinants of human T-cell abundance have not been studied at scale because assays quantifying T-cell abundance are not widely used in clinical or research settings. The complete blood count clinical assay quantifies lymphocyte abundance which includes T-cells, B-cells, and NK-cells. To address this gap, we directly estimate T-cell fractions from whole genome sequencing data in over 200,000 individuals from the multi-ethnic TOPMed and All of Us studies. We identified 27 loci associated with T-cell fraction. Interrogating electronic health records identified clinical phenotypes associated with T-cell fraction, including notable changes in T-cell proportions that were highly dynamic over the course of pregnancy. In summary, by estimating T-cell fraction, we obtained new insights into the genetic regulation of T-cells and identified disease consequences of T-cell fractions across the human phenome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah Poisner
- Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Annika Faucon
- Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Nancy Cox
- Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Alexander G Bick
- Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Division of Genetic Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
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4
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Huang J, Kleman N, Basu S, Shriver MD, Zaidi AA. Interpreting SNP heritability in admixed populations. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.08.04.551959. [PMID: 37577588 PMCID: PMC10418213 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.04.551959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
SNP heritabilityh s n p 2 is defined as the proportion of phenotypic variance explained by genotyped SNPs and is believed to be a lower bound of heritability (h 2 ), being equal to it if all causal variants are known. Despite the simple intuition behindh s n p 2 , its interpretation and equivalence toh 2 is unclear, particularly in the presence of population structure and assortative mating. It is well known that population structure can lead to inflation inh ˆ s n p 2 estimates because of confounding due to linkage disequilibrium (LD) or shared environment. Here we use analytical theory and simulations to demonstrate thath s n p 2 estimates can be biased in admixed populations, even in the absence of confounding and even if all causal variants are known. This is because admixture generates LD, which contributes to the genetic variance, and therefore to heritability. Genome-wide restricted maximum likelihood (GREML) does not capture this contribution leading to under- or over-estimates ofh s n p 2 relative toh 2 , depending on the genetic architecture. In contrast, Haseman-Elston (HE) regression exaggerates the LD contribution leading to biases in the opposite direction. For the same reason, GREML and HE estimates of local ancestry heritabilityh γ 2 are also biased. We describe this bias inh ˆ s n p 2 andh ˆ γ 2 as a function of admixture history and the genetic architecture of the trait and show that it can be recovered under some conditions. We clarify the interpretation ofh ˆ s n p 2 in admixed populations and discuss its implication for genome-wide association studies and polygenic prediction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinguo Huang
- Bioinformatics and Genomics, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Pennsylvania State University
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University
| | - Nicole Kleman
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, University of Minnesota
| | - Saonli Basu
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Minnesota
| | | | - Arslan A. Zaidi
- Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, University of Minnesota
- Institute of Health Informatics, University of Minnesota
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5
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Yuan J, Che Y, Wang Q, Xiao Q. Relationship between circulating white blood cell count and inflammatory skin disease: a bidirectional mendelian randomization study. Arch Dermatol Res 2024; 316:504. [PMID: 39101981 DOI: 10.1007/s00403-024-03241-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2024] [Revised: 07/12/2024] [Accepted: 07/24/2024] [Indexed: 08/06/2024]
Abstract
Observational studies have shown a strong association between circulating white blood cell counts (WBC) and inflammatory skin diseases such as acne and psoriasis. However, the causal nature of this relationship is unclear. We performed a two-way two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to investigate potential causal relationships between leukocytes and inflammatory skin diseases. The circulating white blood cell count, basophil cell count, leukocyte cell count, lymphocyte cell count, eosinophil cell count, and neutrophil cell count data were obtained from the Blood Cell Consortium (BCX). The data for inflammatory skin disorders, including acne, atopic dermatitis (AD), hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), psoriasis, and seborrheic dermatitis (SD), were obtained from the FinnGen Consortium R10. The primary analysis utilized inverse variance weighting (IVW) along with additional methods such as MR-Egger, weighted mode, and weighted median estimator. To assess heterogeneity among instrument variables, Cochran's Q test was employed, while MR-Egger intercept and MR-PRESSO were used to test for horizontal pleiotropy. IVW demonstrated that an elevated monocyte count was significantly associated with a decreased risk of psoriasis (OR = 0.897, 95% CI: 0.841-0.957, P = 0.001, FDR = 0.016). Additionally, an increased eosinophil count was causally associated with a higher risk of AD (OR = 1.188, 95% CI: 1.093-1.293, P = 0.000, FDR = 0.002). No inverse causal relationship between inflammatory skin disease and circulating white blood cell count was found. In conclusion, this study provides evidence that increased monocyte count is associated with a reduced risk of psoriasis and that there is a causal relationship between increased eosinophil counts and an increased risk of AD. These findings help us understand the potential causal role of specific white blood cell counts in the development of inflammatory skin diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinyao Yuan
- Depatment of Tradition Chinese Medicine, West China Second Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu, China
| | - Yuhui Che
- Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Qian Wang
- Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
| | - Qinwen Xiao
- Depatment of Tradition Chinese Medicine, West China Second Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
- Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children (Sichuan University), Ministry of Education, Chengdu, China.
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6
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Leask MP, Crișan TO, Ji A, Matsuo H, Köttgen A, Merriman TR. The pathogenesis of gout: molecular insights from genetic, epigenomic and transcriptomic studies. Nat Rev Rheumatol 2024; 20:510-523. [PMID: 38992217 DOI: 10.1038/s41584-024-01137-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/11/2024] [Indexed: 07/13/2024]
Abstract
The pathogenesis of gout involves a series of steps beginning with hyperuricaemia, followed by the deposition of monosodium urate crystal in articular structures and culminating in an innate immune response, mediated by the NLRP3 inflammasome, to the deposited crystals. Large genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of serum urate levels initially identified the genetic variants with the strongest effects, mapping mainly to genes that encode urate transporters in the kidney and gut. Other GWAS highlighted the importance of uncommon genetic variants. More recently, genetic and epigenetic genome-wide studies have revealed new pathways in the inflammatory process of gout, including genetic associations with epigenomic modifiers. Epigenome-wide association studies are also implicating epigenomic remodelling in gout, which perhaps regulates the responsiveness of the innate immune system to monosodium urate crystals. Notably, genes implicated in gout GWAS do not include those encoding components of the NLRP3 inflammasome itself, but instead include genes encoding molecules involved in its regulation. Knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying gout has advanced through the translation of genetic associations into specific molecular mechanisms. Notable examples include ABCG2, HNF4A, PDZK1, MAF and IL37. Current genetic studies are dominated by participants of European ancestry; however, studies focusing on other population groups are discovering informative population-specific variants associated with gout.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan P Leask
- Department of Physiology, University of Otago, Dunedin, Aotearoa, New Zealand
- Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Tania O Crișan
- Department of Medical Genetics, "Iuliu Haţieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Aichang Ji
- Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China
| | - Hirotaka Matsuo
- Department of Integrative Physiology and Bio-Nano Medicine, National Defense Medical College, Saitama, Japan
| | - Anna Köttgen
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine and Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Tony R Merriman
- Division of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago, Dunedin, Aotearoa, New Zealand.
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7
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Foyzun T, Whiting M, Velasco KK, Jacobsen JC, Connor M, Grimsey NL. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in the cannabinoid CB 2 receptor: Molecular pharmacology and disease associations. Br J Pharmacol 2024; 181:2391-2412. [PMID: 38802979 DOI: 10.1111/bph.16383] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2023] [Revised: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 03/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/29/2024] Open
Abstract
Preclinical evidence implicating cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) in various diseases has led researchers to question whether CB2 genetics influence aetiology or progression. Associations between conditions and genetic loci are often studied via single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) prevalence in case versus control populations. In the CNR2 coding exon, ~36 SNPs have high overall population prevalence (minor allele frequencies [MAF] ~37%), including non-synonymous SNP (ns-SNP) rs2501432 encoding CB2 63Q/R. Interspersed are ~27 lower frequency SNPs, four being ns-SNPs. CNR2 introns also harbour numerous SNPs. This review summarises CB2 ns-SNP molecular pharmacology and evaluates evidence from ~70 studies investigating CB2 genetic variants with proposed linkage to disease. Although CNR2 genetic variation has been associated with a wide variety of conditions, including osteoporosis, immune-related disorders, and mental illnesses, further work is required to robustly validate CNR2 disease links and clarify specific mechanisms linking CNR2 genetic variation to disease pathophysiology and potential drug responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tahira Foyzun
- Macquarie Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Maddie Whiting
- Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Kate K Velasco
- Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Jessie C Jacobsen
- School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Centre for Brain Research, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Mark Connor
- Macquarie Medical School, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Natasha L Grimsey
- Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Centre for Brain Research, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
- Maurice Wilkins Centre for Molecular Biodiscovery, Auckland, New Zealand
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8
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Dubovik T, Lukačišin M, Starosvetsky E, LeRoy B, Normand R, Admon Y, Alpert A, Ofran Y, G'Sell M, Shen-Orr SS. Interactions between immune cell types facilitate the evolution of immune traits. Nature 2024; 632:350-356. [PMID: 38866051 PMCID: PMC11306095 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07661-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/04/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024]
Abstract
An essential prerequisite for evolution by natural selection is variation among individuals in traits that affect fitness1. The ability of a system to produce selectable variation, known as evolvability2, thus markedly affects the rate of evolution. Although the immune system is among the fastest-evolving components in mammals3, the sources of variation in immune traits remain largely unknown4,5. Here we show that an important determinant of the immune system's evolvability is its organization into interacting modules represented by different immune cell types. By profiling immune cell variation in bone marrow of 54 genetically diverse mouse strains from the Collaborative Cross6, we found that variation in immune cell frequencies is polygenic and that many associated genes are involved in homeostatic balance through cell-intrinsic functions of proliferation, migration and cell death. However, we also found genes associated with the frequency of a particular cell type that are expressed in a different cell type, exerting their effect in what we term cyto-trans. The vertebrate evolutionary record shows that genes associated in cyto-trans have faced weaker negative selection, thus increasing the robustness and hence evolvability2,7,8 of the immune system. This phenomenon is similarly observable in human blood. Our findings suggest that interactions between different components of the immune system provide a phenotypic space in which mutations can produce variation with little detriment, underscoring the role of modularity in the evolution of complex systems9.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tania Dubovik
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
- CytoReason, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Martin Lukačišin
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
| | - Elina Starosvetsky
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
- CytoReason, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Benjamin LeRoy
- Department of Statistics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
- Nike, Beaverton, OR, USA
| | - Rachelly Normand
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
- Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yasmin Admon
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
- CytoReason, Tel-Aviv, Israel
| | - Ayelet Alpert
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
- Department of Oncology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel
| | - Yishai Ofran
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
- Department of Haematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel
- Haematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation Department and the Eisenberg R&D Authority, Shaare Zedek Medical Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
| | - Max G'Sell
- Department of Statistics, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Shai S Shen-Orr
- Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
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9
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Ishida Y, Matsushita M, Yoneshiro T, Saito M, Fuse S, Hamaoka T, Kuroiwa M, Tanaka R, Kurosawa Y, Nishimura T, Motoi M, Maeda T, Nakayama K. Genetic evidence for involvement of β2-adrenergic receptor in brown adipose tissue thermogenesis in humans. Int J Obes (Lond) 2024; 48:1110-1117. [PMID: 38632325 PMCID: PMC11281906 DOI: 10.1038/s41366-024-01522-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2023] [Revised: 04/05/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Sympathetic activation of brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis can ameliorate obesity and related metabolic abnormalities. However, crucial subtypes of the β-adrenergic receptor (AR), as well as effects of its genetic variants on functions of BAT, remains unclear in humans. We conducted association analyses of genes encoding β-ARs and BAT activity in human adults. METHODS Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in β1-, β2-, and β3-AR genes (ADRB1, ADRB2, and ADRB3) were tested for the association with BAT activity under mild cold exposure (19 °C, 2 h) in 399 healthy Japanese adults. BAT activity was measured using fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography and computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT). To validate the results, we assessed the effects of SNPs in the two independent populations comprising 277 healthy East Asian adults using near-infrared time-resolved spectroscopy (NIRTRS) or infrared thermography (IRT). Effects of SNPs on physiological responses to intensive cold exposure were tested in 42 healthy Japanese adult males using an artificial climate chamber. RESULTS We found a significant association between a functional SNP (rs1042718) in ADRB2 and BAT activity assessed with FDG-PET/CT (p < 0.001). This SNP also showed an association with cold-induced thermogenesis in the population subset. Furthermore, the association was replicated in the two other independent populations; BAT activity was evaluated by NIRTRS or IRT (p < 0.05). This SNP did not show associations with oxygen consumption and cold-induced thermogenesis under intensive cold exposure, suggesting the irrelevance of shivering thermogenesis. The SNPs of ADRB1 and ADRB3 were not associated with these BAT-related traits. CONCLUSIONS The present study supports the importance of β2-AR in the sympathetic regulation of BAT thermogenesis in humans. The present collection of DNA samples is the largest to which information on the donor's BAT activity has been assigned and can serve as a reference for further in-depth understanding of human BAT function.
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MESH Headings
- Humans
- Thermogenesis/physiology
- Thermogenesis/genetics
- Adipose Tissue, Brown/metabolism
- Male
- Adult
- Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
- Receptors, Adrenergic, beta-2/genetics
- Receptors, Adrenergic, beta-2/metabolism
- Female
- Middle Aged
- Japan
- Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography
- Receptors, Adrenergic, beta-3/genetics
- Receptors, Adrenergic, beta-3/metabolism
- Asian People/genetics
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuka Ishida
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8562, Japan
| | - Mami Matsushita
- Department of Nutrition, School of Nursing and Nutrition, Tenshi College, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 065-0013, Japan
| | - Takeshi Yoneshiro
- Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8904, Japan
- Department of Molecular Metabolism and Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8575, Japan
| | - Masayuki Saito
- Department of Nutrition, School of Nursing and Nutrition, Tenshi College, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 065-0013, Japan
- Laboratory of Biochemistry, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, 060-0818, Japan
| | - Sayuri Fuse
- Department of Sports Medicine for Health Promotion, Tokyo Medical University, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-8402, Japan
| | - Takafumi Hamaoka
- Department of Sports Medicine for Health Promotion, Tokyo Medical University, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-8402, Japan
| | - Miyuki Kuroiwa
- Department of Sports Medicine for Health Promotion, Tokyo Medical University, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-8402, Japan
| | - Riki Tanaka
- Faculty of Sports and Health Science, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, 814-0180, Japan
| | - Yuko Kurosawa
- Department of Sports Medicine for Health Promotion, Tokyo Medical University, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-8402, Japan
| | - Takayuki Nishimura
- Department of Human Life Design and Science, Faculty of Design, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, 815-8540, Japan
- Physiological Anthropology Research Center, Faculty of Design, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, 815-8540, Japan
| | - Midori Motoi
- Department of Human Life Design and Science, Faculty of Design, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, 815-8540, Japan
| | - Takafumi Maeda
- Department of Human Life Design and Science, Faculty of Design, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, 815-8540, Japan
- Physiological Anthropology Research Center, Faculty of Design, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, 815-8540, Japan
| | - Kazuhiro Nakayama
- Department of Integrated Biosciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8562, Japan.
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10
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Wen J, Sun Q, Huang L, Zhou L, Doyle MF, Ekunwe L, Durda P, Olson NC, Reiner AP, Li Y, Raffield LM. Gene expression and splicing QTL analysis of blood cells in African American participants from the Jackson Heart Study. Genetics 2024:iyae098. [PMID: 39056362 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyae098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2024] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 07/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Most gene expression and alternative splicing quantitative trait loci (eQTL/sQTL) studies have been biased toward European ancestry individuals. Here, we performed eQTL and sQTL analyses using TOPMed whole-genome sequencing-derived genotype data and RNA-sequencing data from stored peripheral blood mononuclear cells in 1,012 African American participants from the Jackson Heart Study (JHS). At a false discovery rate of 5%, we identified 17,630 unique eQTL credible sets covering 16,538 unique genes; and 24,525 unique sQTL credible sets covering 9,605 unique genes, with lead QTL at P < 5e-8. About 24% of independent eQTLs and independent sQTLs with a minor allele frequency > 1% in JHS were rare (minor allele frequency < 0.1%), and therefore unlikely to be detected, in European ancestry individuals. Finally, we created an open database, which is freely available online, allowing fast query and bulk download of our QTL results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia Wen
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
| | - Quan Sun
- Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Le Huang
- Curriculum in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Lingbo Zhou
- Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Margaret F Doyle
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
| | - Lynette Ekunwe
- Department of Medicine, University of MS Medical Center (UMMC), Jackson, MS 39213, USA
| | - Peter Durda
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
| | - Nels C Olson
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Larner College of Medicine, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405, USA
| | - Alexander P Reiner
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
- Division of Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Yun Li
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Laura M Raffield
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27514, USA
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11
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Verma A, Huffman JE, Rodriguez A, Conery M, Liu M, Ho YL, Kim Y, Heise DA, Guare L, Panickan VA, Garcon H, Linares F, Costa L, Goethert I, Tipton R, Honerlaw J, Davies L, Whitbourne S, Cohen J, Posner DC, Sangar R, Murray M, Wang X, Dochtermann DR, Devineni P, Shi Y, Nandi TN, Assimes TL, Brunette CA, Carroll RJ, Clifford R, Duvall S, Gelernter J, Hung A, Iyengar SK, Joseph J, Kember R, Kranzler H, Kripke CM, Levey D, Luoh SW, Merritt VC, Overstreet C, Deak JD, Grant SFA, Polimanti R, Roussos P, Shakt G, Sun YV, Tsao N, Venkatesh S, Voloudakis G, Justice A, Begoli E, Ramoni R, Tourassi G, Pyarajan S, Tsao P, O'Donnell CJ, Muralidhar S, Moser J, Casas JP, Bick AG, Zhou W, Cai T, Voight BF, Cho K, Gaziano JM, Madduri RK, Damrauer S, Liao KP. Diversity and scale: Genetic architecture of 2068 traits in the VA Million Veteran Program. Science 2024; 385:eadj1182. [PMID: 39024449 DOI: 10.1126/science.adj1182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2024] [Indexed: 07/20/2024]
Abstract
One of the justifiable criticisms of human genetic studies is the underrepresentation of participants from diverse populations. Lack of inclusion must be addressed at-scale to identify causal disease factors and understand the genetic causes of health disparities. We present genome-wide associations for 2068 traits from 635,969 participants in the Department of Veterans Affairs Million Veteran Program, a longitudinal study of diverse United States Veterans. Systematic analysis revealed 13,672 genomic risk loci; 1608 were only significant after including non-European populations. Fine-mapping identified causal variants at 6318 signals across 613 traits. One-third (n = 2069) were identified in participants from non-European populations. This reveals a broadly similar genetic architecture across populations, highlights genetic insights gained from underrepresented groups, and presents an extensive atlas of genetic associations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anurag Verma
- Corporal Michael Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics, University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Institute for Biomedical Informatics, University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Jennifer E Huffman
- Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
- Palo Alto Veterans Institute for Research (PAVIR), Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Alex Rodriguez
- Data Science and Learning, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
| | - Mitchell Conery
- Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Molei Liu
- Department of Biostatistics, Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY 10032, USA
| | - Yuk-Lam Ho
- Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
| | - Youngdae Kim
- Mathematics and Computer Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
| | - David A Heise
- National Security Sciences Directorate, Cyber Resilience and Intelligence Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Dept of Energy, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
| | - Lindsay Guare
- Department of Medicine, Division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics, University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | | | - Helene Garcon
- Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
| | - Franciel Linares
- R&D Systems Engineering, Information Technology Services Directorate, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Dept of Energy, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
| | - Lauren Costa
- MVP Boston Coordinating Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02111, USA
| | - Ian Goethert
- Data Management and Engineering, Information Technology Services Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Dept of Energy, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
| | - Ryan Tipton
- Knowledge Discovery Infrastructure, Information Technology Services Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Dept of Energy, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
| | - Jacqueline Honerlaw
- Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
| | - Laura Davies
- Computing and Computational Sciences Dir PMO, PMO, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Dept of Energy, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
| | - Stacey Whitbourne
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- MVP Boston Coordinating Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02111, USA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Aging, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Jeremy Cohen
- National Security Sciences Directorate, Cyber Resilience and Intelligence Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Dept of Energy, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
| | - Daniel C Posner
- Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
| | - Rahul Sangar
- MVP Boston Coordinating Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02111, USA
| | - Michael Murray
- MVP Boston Coordinating Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02111, USA
| | - Xuan Wang
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Daniel R Dochtermann
- VA Cooperative Studies Program, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
| | - Poornima Devineni
- VA Cooperative Studies Program, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
| | - Yunling Shi
- VA Cooperative Studies Program, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
| | - Tarak Nath Nandi
- Data Science and Learning, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
| | | | - Charles A Brunette
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Research Service, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
| | - Robert J Carroll
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37211, USA
| | - Royce Clifford
- Research Department, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA 92161, USA
- Department of Otolaryngology, UCSD San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
| | - Scott Duvall
- VA Informatics and Computing Infrastructure, VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, Salt Lake City, UT 84148, USA
- Internal Medicine, Epidemiology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT 84132, USA
| | - Joel Gelernter
- Psychiatry, Human Genetics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
- VA Connecticut Healthcare System West Haven, West Haven, CT, 06516, USA
| | - Adriana Hung
- Medicine, Nephrology & Hypertension, VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System & Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37232, USA
| | - Sudha K Iyengar
- Departments of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, Genetics and Genome Sciences, and Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and the Cleveland Institute for Computational Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
| | - Jacob Joseph
- Medicine, Cardiology Section, VA Providence Healthcare System, Providence, RI 02908, USA
- Department of Medicine, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02908, USA
| | - Rachel Kember
- Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Corporal Michael Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Henry Kranzler
- Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Corporal Michael Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Colleen M Kripke
- Department of Medicine, Division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics, University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Daniel Levey
- Psychiatry, Human Genetics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
- Medicine, VA Connecticut Healthcare System West Haven, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
| | - Shiuh-Wen Luoh
- VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR 97239, USA
- Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - Victoria C Merritt
- Research Department, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA 92161, USA
| | - Cassie Overstreet
- Psychiatry, Human Genetics, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA
| | - Joseph D Deak
- Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
- Psychiatry, VA Connecticut Healthcare System West Haven, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
| | - Struan F A Grant
- Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Divisions of Human Genetics and Endocrinology and Diabetes, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | | | - Panos Roussos
- Psychiatry, Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, James J. Peters VA Medical Center; Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Bronx, NY 10468, USA
| | - Gabrielle Shakt
- Corporal Michael Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Yan V Sun
- Epidemiology, Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Noah Tsao
- Corporal Michael Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Sanan Venkatesh
- Psychiatry, Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, James J. Peters VA Medical Center; Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Bronx, NY 10468, USA
| | - Georgios Voloudakis
- Psychiatry, Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, James J. Peters VA Medical Center; Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Bronx, NY 10468, USA
| | - Amy Justice
- Medicine, VA Connecticut Healthcare System West Haven, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
- Internal Medicine, General Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
- Health Policy, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
| | - Edmon Begoli
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Dept of Energy, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA
| | - Rachel Ramoni
- Office of Research and Development, Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC, 20420, USA
| | - Georgia Tourassi
- National Center for Computational Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Dept of Energy, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA
| | - Saiju Pyarajan
- VA Cooperative Studies Program, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
| | - Philip Tsao
- Medicine, Cardiology, VA Palo Alto Healthcare System, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA
- Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA
| | | | - Sumitra Muralidhar
- Office of Research and Development, Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC, 20420, USA
| | - Jennifer Moser
- Office of Research and Development, Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC, 20420, USA
| | - Juan P Casas
- Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
| | - Alexander G Bick
- Department of Medicine, Division of Genetic Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37325, USA
| | - Wei Zhou
- Department of Medicine, Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Tianxi Cai
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Benjamin F Voight
- Corporal Michael Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Institute of Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Kelly Cho
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- MVP Boston Coordinating Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02111, USA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Aging, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - J Michael Gaziano
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- MVP Boston Coordinating Center, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02111, USA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Aging, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Ravi K Madduri
- Data Science and Learning, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, IL 60439, USA
| | - Scott Damrauer
- Corporal Michael Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Genetics, University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Department of Surgery, University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
- Cardiovascular Institute, University of Pennsylvania - Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Katherine P Liao
- Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center (MAVERIC), VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Medicine, Rheumatology, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA 02130, USA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation, and Immunity, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
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12
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Yang C, Chang Z, Dai Y, Mo J, Zhang Q, Zhu M, Luan L, Zhang J, Sun B, Jia J. Trans-ancestry analysis in over 799,000 individuals yields new insights into the genetic etiology of colorectal cancer. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0301811. [PMID: 39024248 PMCID: PMC11257326 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301811] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 07/20/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recent studies have demonstrated the relevance of circulating factors in the occurrence and development of colorectal cancer (CRC); however, the causal relationship remains unclear. METHODS Summary-level data for CRC were obtained from the UK Biobank (5,657 cases and 372,016 controls), FinnGen cohort (3,022 cases and 215,770 controls), and BioBank Japan Project (BBJ, 7,062 cases and 195,745 controls). Thirty-two peripheral markers with consistent definitions were collected from the three biobanks. Mendelian randomization (MR) was used to evaluate the causal effect of circulating factors on CRC. The effects from the three consortiums were combined using trans-ancestry meta-analysis methods. RESULTS Our analysis provided compelling evidence for the causal association of higher genetically predicted eosinophil cell count (EOS, odds ratio [OR], 0.8639; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.7922-0.9421) and red cell distribution width (RDW, OR, 0.9981; 95% CI, 0.9972-0.9989) levels with a decreased risk of CRC. Additionally, we found suggestive evidence indicating that higher levels of total cholesterol (TC, OR, 1.0022; 95% CI, 1.0002-1.0042) may increase the risk of CRC. Conversely, higher levels of platelet count (PLT, OR, 0.9984; 95% CI, 0.9972-0.9996), total protein (TP, OR, 0.9445; 95% CI, 0.9037-0.9872), and C-reactive protein (CRP, OR, 0.9991; 95% CI, 0.9983-0.9999) may confer a protective effect against CRC. Moreover, we identified six ancestry-specific causal factors, indicating the necessity of considering patients' ancestry backgrounds before formulating prevention strategies. CONCLUSIONS MR findings support the independent causal roles of circulating factors in CRC, which might provide a deeper insight into early detection of CRC and supply potential preventative strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Changlong Yang
- Department of Gastric and Intestinal Surgery, Yunnan Tumor Hospital, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Zhenglin Chang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, Guangzhou, China
- Guangzhou Laboratory, Guangzhou International Bio Island, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Youguo Dai
- Department of Gastric and Intestinal Surgery, Yunnan Tumor Hospital, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Jinzhao Mo
- Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Qitai Zhang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, Guangzhou, China
| | - Mingming Zhu
- Department of Gastric and Intestinal Surgery, Yunnan Tumor Hospital, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Likun Luan
- Department of Gastric and Intestinal Surgery, Yunnan Tumor Hospital, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
| | - Jinhu Zhang
- Department of Urology, Suizhou Central Hospital, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Hubei University of Medicine, Suizhou, Hubei, China
| | - Baoqing Sun
- Department of Clinical Laboratory of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, Guangzhou, China
- Guangzhou Laboratory, Guangzhou International Bio Island, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
| | - Junyi Jia
- Department of Gastric and Intestinal Surgery, Yunnan Tumor Hospital, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
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13
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Yao Y, Zhou Z, Wang X, Liu Z, Zhai Y, Chi X, Du J, Luo L, Zhao Z, Wang X, Xue C, Rao S. SpRY-mediated screens facilitate functional dissection of non-coding sequences at single-base resolution. CELL GENOMICS 2024; 4:100583. [PMID: 38889719 PMCID: PMC11293580 DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2024.100583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2023] [Revised: 01/28/2024] [Accepted: 05/16/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024]
Abstract
CRISPR mutagenesis screens conducted with SpCas9 and other nucleases have identified certain cis-regulatory elements and genetic variants but at a limited resolution due to the absence of protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) sequences. Here, leveraging the broad targeting scope of the near-PAMless SpRY variant, we have demonstrated that saturated SpRY mutagenesis and base editing screens can faithfully identify functional regulatory elements and essential genetic variants for target gene expression at single-base resolution. We further extended this methodology to investigate a genome-wide association study (GWAS) locus at 10q22.1 associated with a red blood cell trait, where we identified potential enhancers regulating HK1 gene expression, despite not all of these enhancers exhibiting typical chromatin signatures. More importantly, our saturated base editing screens pinpoint multiple causal variants within this locus that would otherwise be missed by Bayesian statistical fine-mapping. Our approach is generally applicable to functional interrogation of all non-coding genomic elements while complementing other high-coverage CRISPR screens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yao Yao
- State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Blood Diseases, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin 300020, China; Tianjin Institutes of Health Science, Tianjin 301600, China.
| | - Zhiwei Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Blood Diseases, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin 300020, China; Tianjin Institutes of Health Science, Tianjin 301600, China
| | - Xiaoling Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Blood Diseases, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin 300020, China; Tianjin Institutes of Health Science, Tianjin 301600, China
| | - Zhirui Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Blood Diseases, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin 300020, China; Tianjin Institutes of Health Science, Tianjin 301600, China
| | - Yixin Zhai
- Department of Oncology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute & Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin 300060, China
| | - Xiaolin Chi
- State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Blood Diseases, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin 300020, China; Tianjin Institutes of Health Science, Tianjin 301600, China
| | - Jingyi Du
- State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Blood Diseases, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin 300020, China; Tianjin Institutes of Health Science, Tianjin 301600, China
| | - Liheng Luo
- Center for Bioinformatics, National Infrastructures for Translational Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine & Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100005, China
| | - Zhigang Zhao
- Department of Medical Oncology, Tianjin First Central Hospital, School of Medicine, Nankai University, Tianjin 300192, China
| | - Xiaoyue Wang
- Center for Bioinformatics, National Infrastructures for Translational Medicine, Institute of Clinical Medicine & Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100005, China
| | - Chaoyou Xue
- Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-Carbon Manufacturing, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China.
| | - Shuquan Rao
- State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, National Clinical Research Center for Blood Diseases, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Institute of Hematology & Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin 300020, China; Tianjin Institutes of Health Science, Tianjin 301600, China.
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14
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Sun Z, Pan L, Tian A, Chen P. Critically-ill COVID-19 susceptibility gene CCR3 shows natural selection in sub-Saharan Africans. INFECTION, GENETICS AND EVOLUTION : JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY GENETICS IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES 2024; 121:105594. [PMID: 38636619 DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2024.105594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2024] [Revised: 03/28/2024] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024]
Abstract
The prevalence of COVID-19 critical illness varies across ethnicities, with recent studies suggesting that genetic factors may contribute to this variation. The aim of this study was to investigate natural selection signals of genes associated with critically-ill COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africans. Severe COVID-19 SNPs were obtained from the HGI website. Selection signals were assessed in 661 sub-Sahara Africans from 1000 Genomes Project using integrated haplotype score (iHS), cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity (XP-EHH), and fixation index (Fst). Allele frequency trajectory analysis of ancient DNA samples were used to validate the existing of selection in sub-Sahara Africans. We also used Mendelian randomization to decipher the correlation between natural selection and critically-ill COVID-19. We identified that CCR3 exhibited significant natural selection signals in sub-Sahara Africans. Within the CCR3 gene, rs17217831-A showed both high iHS (Standardized iHS = 2) and high XP-EHH (Standardized XP-EHH = 2.5) in sub-Sahara Africans. Allele frequency trajectory of CCR3 rs17217831-A revealed natural selection occurring in the recent 1,500 years. Natural selection resulted in increased CCR3 expression in sub-Sahara Africans. Mendelian Randomization provided evidence that increased blood CCR3 expression and eosinophil counts lowered the risk of critically ill COVID-19. Our findings suggest that sub-Saharan Africans are resistant to critically ill COVID-19 due to natural selection and identify CCR3 as a potential novel therapeutic target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zewen Sun
- Department of Genetics, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Lin Pan
- Department of Genetics, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China; The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130021, China
| | - Aowen Tian
- Department of Pathology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China; Key Laboratory of Pathobiology, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Peng Chen
- Department of Genetics, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China; Department of Pathology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China; Key Laboratory of Pathobiology, Ministry of Education, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, China.
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15
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Li GS, Huang T, Li JX, Liu J, Gao X, Yang N, Zhou HF. Correlation between hemoglobin and the risk of common malignant tumors: a 1999-2020 retrospective analysis and causal association analysis. BMC Cancer 2024; 24:755. [PMID: 38907210 PMCID: PMC11193233 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-024-12495-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2024] [Accepted: 06/10/2024] [Indexed: 06/23/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The role of hemoglobin (HGB) in common malignant tumors remains unclear. METHODS A retrospective analysis was conducted to identify the correlation between HGB levels and risk of 15 malignant tumors using 50,085 samples from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Mendelian Randomization analyses (MRAs) were performed based on genome-wide association study data to assess the causal relationship between HGB levels and these malignant tumors using more than 700,000 samples. The robustness of the MRA results was confirmed through various analytical methods. Fifty-six in-house samples were used to investigate the correlation between HGB levels and the prognosis in prostate cancer (PRCA) using the Kaplan-Meier curve. RESULTS High HGB levels were associated with a higher risk for patients with cervix cancer, melanoma, and non-melanoma skin cancer (OR > 1.000, p < 0.05). It served as a protective factor for colon cancer, esophagus cancer, stomach cancer, bone cancer, lung cancer, renal cancer, and PRCA (OR < 1.000, p < 0.05). Furthermore, MRAs suggested that elevated HGB levels were correlated with a reduced risk of PRCA (OR = 0.869, p < 0.05), with no significant association observed between this marker and the remaining 14 malignant tumors. No pleiotropy or heterogeneity was found in the ultimate results for MRAs (p-values > 0.05), suggesting the robustness of the results. The results derived from the in-house data revealed a relationship between higher HGB values and a more favorable prognosis in PRCA (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION High circulating HGB levels may play a protective prognostic role for PRCA and serve as a protective factor against the occurrence of PRCA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guo-Sheng Li
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning, 530021, P. R. China
| | - Tao Huang
- Department of Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Baise, 533099, P. R. China
| | - Jing-Xiao Li
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning, 530021, P. R. China
| | - Jun Liu
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning, 530021, P. R. China
| | - Xiang Gao
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning, 530021, P. R. China
| | - Nuo Yang
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning, 530021, P. R. China.
| | - Hua-Fu Zhou
- Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning, 530021, P. R. China.
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16
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Zhi-gang Y, Han-dong W. A causal link between circulating leukocytes and three major urologic cancers: a mendelian randomization investigation. Front Genet 2024; 15:1424119. [PMID: 38962453 PMCID: PMC11220253 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1424119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2024] [Accepted: 05/31/2024] [Indexed: 07/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Purpose This study aimed to explore the influence of serum leukocytes on urologic cancers (UC) using observation-based investigations. In the present study, Mendelian randomization (MR) was employed to assess the link between leukocyte count (LC) and the risk of UC development. Methods Five LC and three major UC patient prognoses were obtained for MR analysis from genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Furthermore, in order to evaluate reverse causality, bidirectional studies were conducted. Finally, a sensitivity analysis using multiple methods was carried out. Results There was no significant correlation found in the genetic assessment of differential LC between the co-occurrence of bladder cancer (BCA) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Conversely, an individual 1-standard deviation (SD) rise in neutrophil count was strongly linked to a 9.3% elevation in prostate cancer (PCA) risk ([odd ratio]OR = 1.093, 95% [confidence interval]CI = 0.864-1.383, p = 0.002). Reverse MR analysis suggested that PCA was unlikely to cause changes in neutrophil count. Additional sensitivity studies revealed that the outcomes of all MR evaluations were similar, and there was no horizontal pleiotropy. Primary MR analysis using inverse-variance weighted (IVW) revealed that differential lymphocyte count significantly influenced RCC risk (OR = 1.162, 95%CI = 0.918-1.470, p = 0.001). Moreover, altered basophil count also affected BCA risk (OR = 1.249, 95% CI = 0.904-1.725, p = 0.018). Nonetheless, these causal associations were not significant in the sensitivity analysis. Conclusion In summary, the results revealed that increased neutrophil counts represent a significant PCA risk factor. The current research indicates a significant relationship between immune cell activity and the cause of UC.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Wang Han-dong
- Department of Nephrology, Huangshi Aikang Hospital Affiliated to Hubei Polytechnic University, Huangshi, Hubei, China
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17
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Seufert AL, Struthers H, Caplan L, Napier RJ. CARD9 in the pathogenesis of axial spondyloarthritis. Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol 2024:101964. [PMID: 38897880 DOI: 10.1016/j.berh.2024.101964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2024] [Revised: 06/06/2024] [Accepted: 06/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) has been long classified as an autoimmune disease caused by a breakdown in the ability of the immune system to delineate self from foreign, resulting in self-reactive T cells. The strong genetic association of HLA-B27 supports this role for T cells. More recently, genetic and clinical studies indicate a prominent role of the environment in triggering axSpA, including an important role for microbes and the innate immune response. As an example, mutations in genes associated with innate immunity, including the anti-fungal signaling molecule Caspase recruitment domain-containing protein 9 (CARD9), have been linked to axSpA susceptibility. Thus, current thought classifies axSpA as a "mixed pattern condition" caused by both autoimmune and autoinflammatory mechanisms. The goal of this review is to convey.
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Affiliation(s)
- A L Seufert
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA.
| | - H Struthers
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA.
| | - L Caplan
- Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA.
| | - R J Napier
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA; Division of Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases, Oregon Health & Science University, USA; VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR, 97239, USA.
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18
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Rodriguez-Algarra F, Evans DM, Rakyan VK. Ribosomal DNA copy number variation associates with hematological profiles and renal function in the UK Biobank. CELL GENOMICS 2024; 4:100562. [PMID: 38749448 PMCID: PMC11228893 DOI: 10.1016/j.xgen.2024.100562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Revised: 11/19/2023] [Accepted: 04/21/2024] [Indexed: 06/15/2024]
Abstract
The phenotypic impact of genetic variation of repetitive features in the human genome is currently understudied. One such feature is the multi-copy 47S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) that codes for rRNA components of the ribosome. Here, we present an analysis of rDNA copy number (CN) variation in the UK Biobank (UKB). From the first release of UKB whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data, a discovery analysis in White British individuals reveals that rDNA CN associates with altered counts of specific blood cell subtypes, such as neutrophils, and with the estimated glomerular filtration rate, a marker of kidney function. Similar trends are observed in other ancestries. A range of analyses argue against reverse causality or common confounder effects, and all core results replicate in the second UKB WGS release. Our work demonstrates that rDNA CN is a genetic influence on trait variance in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - David M Evans
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia; Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4102, Australia; MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2BN, UK
| | - Vardhman K Rakyan
- The Blizard Institute, School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 2AT, UK.
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19
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Reeve MP, Vehviläinen M, Luo S, Ritari J, Karjalainen J, Gracia-Tabuenca J, Mehtonen J, Padmanabhuni SS, Kolosov N, Artomov M, Siirtola H, Olilla HM, Graham D, Partanen J, Xavier RJ, Daly MJ, Ripatti S, Salo T, Siponen M. Oral and non-oral lichen planus show genetic heterogeneity and differential risk for autoimmune disease and oral cancer. Am J Hum Genet 2024; 111:1047-1060. [PMID: 38776927 PMCID: PMC11179409 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2024.04.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2024] [Revised: 04/23/2024] [Accepted: 04/25/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Lichen planus (LP) is a T-cell-mediated inflammatory disease affecting squamous epithelia in many parts of the body, most often the skin and oral mucosa. Cutaneous LP is usually transient and oral LP (OLP) is most often chronic, so we performed a large-scale genetic and epidemiological study of LP to address whether the oral and non-oral subgroups have shared or distinct underlying pathologies and their overlap with autoimmune disease. Using lifelong records covering diagnoses, procedures, and clinic identity from 473,580 individuals in the FinnGen study, genome-wide association analyses were conducted on carefully constructed subcategories of OLP (n = 3,323) and non-oral LP (n = 4,356) and on the combined group. We identified 15 genome-wide significant associations in FinnGen and an additional 12 when meta-analyzed with UKBB (27 independent associations at 25 distinct genomic locations), most of which are shared between oral and non-oral LP. Many associations coincide with known autoimmune disease loci, consistent with the epidemiologic enrichment of LP with hypothyroidism and other autoimmune diseases. Notably, a third of the FinnGen associations demonstrate significant differences between OLP and non-OLP. We also observed a 13.6-fold risk for tongue cancer and an elevated risk for other oral cancers in OLP, in agreement with earlier reports that connect LP with higher cancer incidence. In addition to a large-scale dissection of LP genetics and comorbidities, our study demonstrates the use of comprehensive, multidimensional health registry data to address outstanding clinical questions and reveal underlying biological mechanisms in common but understudied diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary Pat Reeve
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Mari Vehviläinen
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Shuang Luo
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jarmo Ritari
- Finnish Red Cross Blood Service, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Juha Karjalainen
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Javier Gracia-Tabuenca
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Juha Mehtonen
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Shanmukha Sampath Padmanabhuni
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Nikita Kolosov
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Institute for Genomic Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Mykyta Artomov
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Institute for Genomic Medicine, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Harri Siirtola
- TAUCHI Research Center, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland
| | - Hanna M Olilla
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daniel Graham
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Klarman Cell Observatory, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | | | - Ramnik J Xavier
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Klarman Cell Observatory, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Mark J Daly
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Klarman Cell Observatory, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Analytical and Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA
| | - Samuli Ripatti
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Tuula Salo
- Research Unit of Population Health, Department of Oral Pathology, University of Oulu and Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland; Medical Research Center, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland; Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases, and Translational Immunology Program (TRIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Maria Siponen
- Institute of Dentistry, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland; Odontology Education Unit, and Oral and Maxillofacial Diseases Clinic, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland
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20
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Gao Y, Cui Y. Optimizing clinico-genomic disease prediction across ancestries: a machine learning strategy with Pareto improvement. Genome Med 2024; 16:76. [PMID: 38835075 PMCID: PMC11149372 DOI: 10.1186/s13073-024-01345-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2024] [Accepted: 05/17/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Accurate prediction of an individual's predisposition to diseases is vital for preventive medicine and early intervention. Various statistical and machine learning models have been developed for disease prediction using clinico-genomic data. However, the accuracy of clinico-genomic prediction of diseases may vary significantly across ancestry groups due to their unequal representation in clinical genomic datasets. METHODS We introduced a deep transfer learning approach to improve the performance of clinico-genomic prediction models for data-disadvantaged ancestry groups. We conducted machine learning experiments on multi-ancestral genomic datasets of lung cancer, prostate cancer, and Alzheimer's disease, as well as on synthetic datasets with built-in data inequality and distribution shifts across ancestry groups. RESULTS Deep transfer learning significantly improved disease prediction accuracy for data-disadvantaged populations in our multi-ancestral machine learning experiments. In contrast, transfer learning based on linear frameworks did not achieve comparable improvements for these data-disadvantaged populations. CONCLUSIONS This study shows that deep transfer learning can enhance fairness in multi-ancestral machine learning by improving prediction accuracy for data-disadvantaged populations without compromising prediction accuracy for other populations, thus providing a Pareto improvement towards equitable clinico-genomic prediction of diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Gao
- Department of Genetics, Genomics and Informatics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, 38163, USA
- Center for Integrative and Translational Genomics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, 38163, USA
| | - Yan Cui
- Department of Genetics, Genomics and Informatics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, 38163, USA.
- Center for Integrative and Translational Genomics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, 38163, USA.
- Center for Cancer Research, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, 38163, USA.
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21
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Fu J, Zhang Q, Wang J, Wang M, Zhang B, Zhu W, Qiu S, Geng Z, Cui G, Yu Y, Liao W, Zhang H, Gao B, Xu X, Han T, Yao Z, Qin W, Liu F, Liang M, Wang S, Xu Q, Xu J, Zhang P, Li W, Shi D, Wang C, Lui S, Yan Z, Chen F, Zhang J, Li J, Shen W, Miao Y, Wang D, Xian J, Gao JH, Zhang X, Xu K, Zuo XN, Zhang L, Ye Z, Cheng J, Li MJ, Yu C. Cross-ancestry genome-wide association studies of brain imaging phenotypes. Nat Genet 2024; 56:1110-1120. [PMID: 38811844 DOI: 10.1038/s41588-024-01766-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2022] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024]
Abstract
Genome-wide association studies of brain imaging phenotypes are mainly performed in European populations, but other populations are severely under-represented. Here, we conducted Chinese-alone and cross-ancestry genome-wide association studies of 3,414 brain imaging phenotypes in 7,058 Chinese Han and 33,224 white British participants. We identified 38 new associations in Chinese-alone analyses and 486 additional new associations in cross-ancestry meta-analyses at P < 1.46 × 10-11 for discovery and P < 0.05 for replication. We pooled significant autosomal associations identified by single- or cross-ancestry analyses into 6,443 independent associations, which showed uneven distribution in the genome and the phenotype subgroups. We further divided them into 44 associations with different effect sizes and 3,557 associations with similar effect sizes between ancestries. Loci of these associations were shared with 15 brain-related non-imaging traits including cognition and neuropsychiatric disorders. Our results provide a valuable catalog of genetic associations for brain imaging phenotypes in more diverse populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jilian Fu
- Department of Radiology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging and State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Quan Zhang
- Department of Radiology, Characteristic Medical Center of Chinese People's Armed Police Force, Tianjin, China
| | - Jianhua Wang
- Department of Bioinformatics, the Province and Ministry Co-sponsored Collaborative Innovation Center for Medical Epigenetics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
| | - Meiyun Wang
- Department of Radiology, Henan Provincial People's Hospital and Zhengzhou University People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, China
- Biomedical Institute, Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Bing Zhang
- Department of Radiology, Drum Tower Hospital, Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Wenzhen Zhu
- Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
| | - Shijun Qiu
- Department of Medical Imaging, the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Zuojun Geng
- Department of Medical Imaging, the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China
| | - Guangbin Cui
- Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Lab of Shaanxi Province and Department of Radiology, Tangdu Hospital, Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, China
| | - Yongqiang Yu
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China
| | - Weihua Liao
- Department of Radiology, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
- Molecular Imaging Research Center of Central South University, Changsha, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Hui Zhang
- Department of Radiology, the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China
| | - Bo Gao
- Department of Radiology, the Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, China
- Department of Radiology, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, China
| | - Xiaojun Xu
- Department of Radiology, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University, School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Tong Han
- Department of Radiology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Zhenwei Yao
- Department of Radiology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wen Qin
- Department of Radiology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging and State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Feng Liu
- Department of Radiology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging and State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Meng Liang
- School of Medical Imaging and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
| | - Sijia Wang
- School of Medical Imaging and Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
| | - Qiang Xu
- Department of Radiology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging and State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Jiayuan Xu
- Department of Radiology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging and State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Peng Zhang
- Department of Radiology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Medical University, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin, China
| | - Wei Li
- Department of Radiology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Medical University, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin, China
| | - Dapeng Shi
- Department of Radiology, Henan Provincial People's Hospital and Zhengzhou University People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Caihong Wang
- Department of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Su Lui
- Department of Radiology, Huaxi MR Research Center, Functional and Molecular Imaging Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
- Research Unit of Psychoradiology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China
| | - Zhihan Yan
- Department of Radiology, the Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Feng Chen
- Department of Radiology, Hainan General Hospital (Hainan Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University), Haikou, China
| | - Jing Zhang
- Department of Magnetic Resonance, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China
- Gansu Province Clinical Research Center for Functional and Molecular Imaging, Lanzhou, China
| | - Jiance Li
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Wen Shen
- Department of Radiology, Tianjin First Center Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Yanwei Miao
- Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China
| | - Dawei Wang
- Department of Radiology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, China
| | - Junfang Xian
- Department of Radiology, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
| | - Jia-Hong Gao
- Center for MRI Research, Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaochu Zhang
- Division of Life Science and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
| | - Kai Xu
- Department of Radiology, the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, China
| | - Xi-Nian Zuo
- Developmental Population Neuroscience Research Center at IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Longjiang Zhang
- Department of Radiology, Jinling Hospital, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
| | - Zhaoxiang Ye
- Department of Radiology, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin's Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Medical University, Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin, China
| | - Jingliang Cheng
- Department of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
| | - Mulin Jun Li
- Department of Bioinformatics, the Province and Ministry Co-sponsored Collaborative Innovation Center for Medical Epigenetics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
| | - Chunshui Yu
- Department of Radiology, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Functional Imaging and State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China.
- CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
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22
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Huang X, Huang J, Li X, Fan J, Zhou D, Qu HQ, Glessner JT, Ji D, Jia Q, Ding Z, Wang N, Wei W, Lyu X, Li MJ, Liu Z, Liu W, Wei Y, Hakonarson H, Xia Q, Li J. Target genes regulated by CLEC16A intronic region associated with common variable immunodeficiency. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2024; 153:1668-1680. [PMID: 38191060 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2023.12.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2022] [Revised: 12/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND CLEC16A intron 19 has been identified as a candidate locus for common variable immunodeficiency (CVID). OBJECTIVES This study sought to elucidate the molecular mechanism by which variants at the CLEC16A intronic locus may contribute to the pathogenesis of CVID. METHODS The investigators performed fine-mapping of the CLEC16A locus in a CVID cohort, then deleted the candidate functional SNP in T-cell lines by the CRISPR-Cas9 technique and conducted RNA-sequencing to identify target gene(s). The interactions between the CLEC16A locus and its target genes were identified using circular chromosome conformation capture. The transcription factor complexes mediating the chromatin interactions were determined by proteomic approach. The molecular pathways regulated by the CLEC16A locus were examined by RNA-sequencing and reverse phase protein array. RESULTS This study showed that the CLEC16A locus is an enhancer regulating expression of multiple target genes including a distant gene ATF7IP2 through chromatin interactions. Distinct transcription factor complexes mediate the chromatin interactions in an allele-specific manner. Disruption of the CLEC16A locus affects the AKT signaling pathway, as well as the molecular response of CD4+ T cells to immune stimulation. CONCLUSIONS Through multiomics and targeted experimental approaches, this study elucidated the underlying target genes and signaling pathways involved in the genetic association of CLEC16A with CVID, and highlighted plausible molecular targets for developing novel therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xubo Huang
- Affiliated Cancer Hospital and Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jinxia Huang
- Affiliated Cancer Hospital and Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiumei Li
- Department of Cell Biology, The Province and Ministry Co-sponsored Collaborative Innovation Center for Medical Epigenetics, Key Laboratory of Immune Microenvironment and Disease (Ministry of Education), Tianjin Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenetics, Tianjin Institute of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
| | - Jingxian Fan
- Department of Cell Biology, The Province and Ministry Co-sponsored Collaborative Innovation Center for Medical Epigenetics, Key Laboratory of Immune Microenvironment and Disease (Ministry of Education), Tianjin Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenetics, Tianjin Institute of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China; Department of Bioinformatics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
| | - Desheng Zhou
- Affiliated Cancer Hospital and Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hui-Qi Qu
- Center for Applied Genomics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa
| | - Joseph T Glessner
- Center for Applied Genomics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa; Division of Human Genetics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa; Department of Pediatrics, The Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa
| | - Dandan Ji
- Department of Cell Biology, The Province and Ministry Co-sponsored Collaborative Innovation Center for Medical Epigenetics, Key Laboratory of Immune Microenvironment and Disease (Ministry of Education), Tianjin Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenetics, Tianjin Institute of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
| | - Qi Jia
- International School of Information Science Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China
| | - Zhiyong Ding
- Mills Institute for Personalized Cancer Care, Fynn Biotechnologies Ltd, Jinan, China
| | - Nan Wang
- Mills Institute for Personalized Cancer Care, Fynn Biotechnologies Ltd, Jinan, China
| | - Wei Wei
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Xing Lyu
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
| | - Mulin Jun Li
- Department of Bioinformatics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
| | - Zhe Liu
- Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
| | - Wei Liu
- Tianjin Children's Hospital (Tianjin University Children's Hospital), Tianjin, China; Tianjin Key Laboratory of Birth Defects for Prevention and Treatment, Tianjin, China
| | - Yongjie Wei
- Affiliated Cancer Hospital and Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Hakon Hakonarson
- Center for Applied Genomics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa; Division of Human Genetics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pa; Department of Pediatrics, The Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa
| | - Qianghua Xia
- Department of Cell Biology, The Province and Ministry Co-sponsored Collaborative Innovation Center for Medical Epigenetics, Key Laboratory of Immune Microenvironment and Disease (Ministry of Education), Tianjin Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenetics, Tianjin Institute of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China; Department of Bioinformatics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China.
| | - Jin Li
- Department of Cell Biology, The Province and Ministry Co-sponsored Collaborative Innovation Center for Medical Epigenetics, Key Laboratory of Immune Microenvironment and Disease (Ministry of Education), Tianjin Key Laboratory of Medical Epigenetics, Tianjin Institute of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China; Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China.
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23
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Smith JL, Tcheandjieu C, Dikilitas O, Iyer K, Miyazawa K, Hilliard A, Lynch J, Rotter JI, Chen YDI, Sheu WHH, Chang KM, Kanoni S, Tsao PS, Ito K, Kosel M, Clarke SL, Schaid DJ, Assimes TL, Kullo IJ. Multi-Ancestry Polygenic Risk Score for Coronary Heart Disease Based on an Ancestrally Diverse Genome-Wide Association Study and Population-Specific Optimization. CIRCULATION. GENOMIC AND PRECISION MEDICINE 2024; 17:e004272. [PMID: 38380516 DOI: 10.1161/circgen.123.004272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Predictive performance of polygenic risk scores (PRS) varies across populations. To facilitate equitable clinical use, we developed PRS for coronary heart disease (CHD; PRSCHD) for 5 genetic ancestry groups. METHODS We derived ancestry-specific and multi-ancestry PRSCHD based on pruning and thresholding (PRSPT) and ancestry-based continuous shrinkage priors (PRSCSx) applied to summary statistics from the largest multi-ancestry genome-wide association study meta-analysis for CHD to date, including 1.1 million participants from 5 major genetic ancestry groups. Following training and optimization in the Million Veteran Program, we evaluated the best-performing PRSCHD in 176,988 individuals across 9 diverse cohorts. RESULTS Multi-ancestry PRSPT and PRSCSx outperformed ancestry-specific PRSPT and PRSCSx across a range of tuning values. Two best-performing multi-ancestry PRSCHD (ie, PRSPTmult and PRSCSxmult) and 1 ancestry-specific (PRSCSxEUR) were taken forward for validation. PRSPTmult demonstrated the strongest association with CHD in individuals of South Asian ancestry and European ancestry (odds ratio per 1 SD [95% CI, 2.75 [2.41-3.14], 1.65 [1.59-1.72]), followed by East Asian ancestry (1.56 [1.50-1.61]), Hispanic/Latino ancestry (1.38 [1.24-1.54]), and African ancestry (1.16 [1.11-1.21]). PRSCSxmult showed the strongest associations in South Asian ancestry (2.67 [2.38-3.00]) and European ancestry (1.65 [1.59-1.71]), lower in East Asian ancestry (1.59 [1.54-1.64]), Hispanic/Latino ancestry (1.51 [1.35-1.69]), and the lowest in African ancestry (1.20 [1.15-1.26]). CONCLUSIONS The use of summary statistics from a large multi-ancestry genome-wide meta-analysis improved the performance of PRSCHD in most ancestry groups compared with single-ancestry methods. Despite the use of one of the largest and most diverse sets of training and validation cohorts to date, improvement of predictive performance was limited in African ancestry. This highlights the need for larger genome-wide association study datasets of underrepresented populations to enhance the performance of PRSCHD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanna L Smith
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine (J.L.S., O.D., I.J.K.), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
| | - Catherine Tcheandjieu
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California San Francisco (C.T.)
- Gladstone Institute of Data Science and Biotechnology, Gladstone Institute, San Francisco, CA (C.T.)
- VA Palo Alto Health Care System (C.T., A.H., P.S.T., S.L.C.)
| | - Ozan Dikilitas
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine (J.L.S., O.D., I.J.K.), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
| | - Kruthika Iyer
- Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA (K. Iyer, A.H.)
| | - Kazuo Miyazawa
- Riken Center for Integrative Medical Sciences, Yokohama City, Japan (K.M., K. Ito)
| | - Austin Hilliard
- VA Palo Alto Health Care System (C.T., A.H., P.S.T., S.L.C.)
- Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA (K. Iyer, A.H.)
| | | | - Jerome I Rotter
- Institute for Translational Genomics and Population Sciences, Department of Pediatrics, Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA (J.I.R., Y.-D.I.C.)
| | - Yii-Der Ida Chen
- Institute for Translational Genomics and Population Sciences, Department of Pediatrics, Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA (J.I.R., Y.-D.I.C.)
| | - Wayne Huey-Herng Sheu
- Institute of Molecular and Genomic Medicine, National Health Research Institute (W.H.-H.S.)
- Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital (W.H.-H.S.)
- Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan (W.H.-H.S.)
| | - Kyong-Mi Chang
- Corporal Michael J Crescenz VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA (K.-M.C.)
| | - Stavroula Kanoni
- Queen Mary University of London, Cambridge, United Kingdom (S.K.)
| | - Philip S Tsao
- VA Palo Alto Health Care System (C.T., A.H., P.S.T., S.L.C.)
- Stanford University, Stanford, CA (P.S.T., S.L.C., T.L.A.)
| | - Kaoru Ito
- Riken Center for Integrative Medical Sciences, Yokohama City, Japan (K.M., K. Ito)
| | - Matthew Kosel
- Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN (M.K., D.J.S.)
| | - Shoa L Clarke
- VA Palo Alto Health Care System (C.T., A.H., P.S.T., S.L.C.)
- Stanford University, Stanford, CA (P.S.T., S.L.C., T.L.A.)
| | - Daniel J Schaid
- Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN (M.K., D.J.S.)
| | | | - Iftikhar J Kullo
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine (J.L.S., O.D., I.J.K.), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN
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24
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Gholami M. Novel genetic association between obesity, colorectal cancer, and inflammatory bowel disease. J Diabetes Metab Disord 2024; 23:739-744. [PMID: 38932827 PMCID: PMC11196566 DOI: 10.1007/s40200-023-01343-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2023] [Accepted: 11/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
Purpose Obesity/overweight is an important risk factor for CRC and IBD. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of common genetic factors and haplotypes associated with obesity, CRC and IBD. Methods Significant GWAS variants associated with CRC, IBD or obesity were extracted from the GWAS catalog. The common variants between CRC-IBD, CRC-obesity or IBD-obesity were identified. Finally, the haplotypic structure between these diseases was identified, and SNP function analysis, gene-gene expression, protein-protein interactions, gene survival analysis and pathway analysis were performed with the results. Results While the results showed several common variants between CRC and IBD, IBD and obesity, and CRC and obesity identified in previous GWAS, rs3184504 was the only common variant for CRC-IBD-obesity (P ≤ 5E-8). The result also identified a haplotypic block AGCAGT (r2 ≥ 0.8 and D'≥0.08) associated with the common variants of CRC-IBD-obesity. These variants are located on the SH2B3 gene, whose expression level decreases in both colon and rectal cancers (P ≤ 1E-3) and which has protein-protein interaction with inflammation- and cancer-associated genes. Conclusion The rs3184504 variant and the novel haplotype AGCAGT co-occurred in CRC, IBD, obesity, and inflammation. This novel haplotype could potentially be used in genetic panels to identify CRC/IBD susceptibility in obese patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Morteza Gholami
- North Research Center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Amol, Iran
- Metabolic Disorders Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Molecular-Cellular Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
- Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
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25
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Hu X, Wang J, Yang K, Fan H, Wu J, Ren J, Han G, Li J, Xue Z, Liu X, Lv X. The GWAS SNP rs80207740 modulates erythrocyte traits via allele-specific binding of IKZF1 and targeting XPO7 gene. FASEB J 2024; 38:e23666. [PMID: 38780091 DOI: 10.1096/fj.202302017r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2023] [Revised: 03/31/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Genome-wide association studies have identified many single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with erythrocyte traits. However, the functional variants and their working mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we reported that the SNP of rs80207740, which was associated with red blood cell (RBC) volume and hemoglobin content across populations, conferred enhancer activity to XPO7 gene via allele-differentially binding to Ikaros family zinc finger 1 (IKZF1). We showed that the region around rs80207740 was an erythroid-specific enhancer using reporter assays, and that the G-allele further enhanced activity. 3D genome evidence showed that the enhancer interacted with the XPO7 promoter, and eQTL analysis suggested that the G-allele upregulated expression of XPO7. We further showed that the rs80207740-G allele facilitated the binding of transcription factor IKZF1 in EMSA and ChIP analyses. Knockdown of IKZF1 and GATA1 resulted in decreased expression of Xpo7 in both human and mouse erythroid cells. Finally, we constructed Xpo7 knockout mouse by CRISPR/Cas9 and observed anemic phenotype with reduced volume and hemoglobin content of RBC, consistent to the effect of rs80207740 on erythrocyte traits. Overall, our study demonstrated that rs80207740 modulated erythroid indices by regulating IKZF1 binding and Xpo7 expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinjun Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Complex, Severe, and Rare Diseases, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Department of Pathophysiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Jiaxin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Complex, Severe, and Rare Diseases, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Department of Pathophysiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Ke Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Complex, Severe, and Rare Diseases, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Department of Pathophysiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Hong Fan
- State Key Laboratory of Complex, Severe, and Rare Diseases, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Department of Pathophysiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Jie Wu
- Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Jiuqiang Ren
- State Key Laboratory of Complex, Severe, and Rare Diseases, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Department of Pathophysiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Gaijing Han
- State Key Laboratory of Complex, Severe, and Rare Diseases, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Department of Pathophysiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Jing Li
- State Key Laboratory of Complex, Severe, and Rare Diseases, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Department of Pathophysiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Zheng Xue
- State Key Laboratory of Complex, Severe, and Rare Diseases, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Department of Pathophysiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Xuehui Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Complex, Severe, and Rare Diseases, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Department of Pathophysiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Xiang Lv
- State Key Laboratory of Complex, Severe, and Rare Diseases, Haihe Laboratory of Cell Ecosystem, Department of Pathophysiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P. R. China
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26
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Tan Q, Xu X, Zhou H, Jia J, Jia Y, Tu H, Zhou D, Wu X. A multi-ancestry cerebral cortex transcriptome-wide association study identifies genes associated with smoking behaviors. Mol Psychiatry 2024:10.1038/s41380-024-02605-6. [PMID: 38816585 DOI: 10.1038/s41380-024-02605-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2023] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 06/01/2024]
Abstract
Transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) have provided valuable insight in identifying genes that may impact cigarette smoking. Most of previous studies, however, mainly focused on European ancestry. Limited TWAS studies have been conducted across multiple ancestries to explore genes that may impact smoking behaviors. In this study, we used cis-eQTL data of cerebral cortex from multiple ancestries in MetaBrain, including European, East Asian, and African samples, as reference panels to perform multi-ancestry TWAS analyses on ancestry-matched GWASs of four smoking behaviors including smoking initiation, smoking cessation, age of smoking initiation, and number of cigarettes per day in GWAS & Sequencing Consortium of Alcohol and Nicotine use (GSCAN). Multiple-ancestry fine-mapping approach was conducted to identify credible gene sets associated with these four traits. Enrichment and module network analyses were further performed to explore the potential roles of these identified gene sets. A total of 719 unique genes were identified to be associated with at least one of the four smoking traits across ancestries. Among those, 249 genes were further prioritized as putative causal genes in multiple ancestry-based fine-mapping approach. Several well-known smoking-related genes, including PSMA4, IREB2, and CHRNA3, showed high confidence across ancestries. Some novel genes, e.g., TSPAN3 and ANK2, were also identified in the credible sets. The enrichment analysis identified a series of critical pathways related to smoking such as synaptic transmission and glutamate receptor activity. Leveraging the power of the latest multi-ancestry GWAS and eQTL data sources, this study revealed hundreds of genes and relevant biological processes related to smoking behaviors. These findings provide new insights for future functional studies on smoking behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qilong Tan
- Department of Big Data in Health Science School of Public Health, Center of Clinical Big Data and Analytics of The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- The Key Laboratory of Intelligent Preventive Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Xiaohang Xu
- Department of Big Data in Health Science School of Public Health, Center of Clinical Big Data and Analytics of The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- The Key Laboratory of Intelligent Preventive Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Hanyi Zhou
- Department of Big Data in Health Science School of Public Health, Center of Clinical Big Data and Analytics of The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- The Key Laboratory of Intelligent Preventive Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Junlin Jia
- Department of Big Data in Health Science School of Public Health, Center of Clinical Big Data and Analytics of The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- The Key Laboratory of Intelligent Preventive Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Yubing Jia
- Department of Big Data in Health Science School of Public Health, Center of Clinical Big Data and Analytics of The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- The Key Laboratory of Intelligent Preventive Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Huakang Tu
- Department of Big Data in Health Science School of Public Health, Center of Clinical Big Data and Analytics of The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- The Key Laboratory of Intelligent Preventive Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- National Institute for Data Science in Health and Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Dan Zhou
- Department of Big Data in Health Science School of Public Health, Center of Clinical Big Data and Analytics of The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- The Key Laboratory of Intelligent Preventive Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310058, China
- Cancer Center, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
| | - Xifeng Wu
- Department of Big Data in Health Science School of Public Health, Center of Clinical Big Data and Analytics of The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
- The Key Laboratory of Intelligent Preventive Medicine of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
- School of Medicine and Health Science, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
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27
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Tian L, Yang X, Zheng Y, Peng C. The association between circulating leukocytes and inflammatory bowel disease: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study. Front Med (Lausanne) 2024; 11:1399658. [PMID: 38860205 PMCID: PMC11163050 DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2024.1399658] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2024] [Accepted: 05/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a highly prevalent, recurrent, chronic intestinal inflammatory disease. Several observational studies have shown that circulating leukocytes are strongly associated with IBD. However, whether alterations in leukocytes are causally related to IBD remains uncertain. The present study explores this issue with the Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis method. Methods The Genome wide association study (GWAS) statistical data related to circulating leukocytes and IBD were obtained from the Blood Cell Consortium and the IEU Qpen GWAS project, respectively. Inverse variance weighting (IVW) was used as the main MR analytical method, coupled with a series of sensitivity analyses to ensure the reliability of the results. Results The results of IVW showed that increased monocyte count (especially CD14- CD16+ monocyte absolute counts) was negatively correlated with the risk of IBD and its main subtypes. Increased neutrophil count was positively associated with the risk of IBD and ulcerative colitis. Meanwhile, there was no causal relationship between basophil, eosinophil, lymphocyte counts and IBD risk. Conclusion These results indicate that a causal relationship exists between circulating leukocytes and the risk of IBD and its subtypes, which confirms the important role that the leukocyte immune system plays in IBD. Our findings provide additional research directions for the clinical prevention and treatment of IBD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li Tian
- Day Diagnosis and Treatment Department, The Sixth Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaobin Yang
- Day Diagnosis and Treatment Department, The Sixth Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Yansen Zheng
- Medical School, Huanghe Science and Technology College, Zhengzhou, China
| | - Chaosheng Peng
- Day Diagnosis and Treatment Department, The Sixth Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
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28
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Kim A, Zhang Z, Legros C, Lu Z, de Smith A, Moore JE, Mancuso N, Gazal S. Inferring causal cell types of human diseases and risk variants from candidate regulatory elements. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2024:2024.05.17.24307556. [PMID: 38798383 PMCID: PMC11118635 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.17.24307556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
The heritability of human diseases is extremely enriched in candidate regulatory elements (cRE) from disease-relevant cell types. Critical next steps are to infer which and how many cell types are truly causal for a disease (after accounting for co-regulation across cell types), and to understand how individual variants impact disease risk through single or multiple causal cell types. Here, we propose CT-FM and CT-FM-SNP, two methods that leverage cell-type-specific cREs to fine-map causal cell types for a trait and for its candidate causal variants, respectively. We applied CT-FM to 63 GWAS summary statistics (average N = 417K) using nearly one thousand cRE annotations, primarily coming from ENCODE4. CT-FM inferred 81 causal cell types with corresponding SNP-annotations explaining a high fraction of trait SNP-heritability (~2/3 of the SNP-heritability explained by existing cREs), identified 16 traits with multiple causal cell types, highlighted cell-disease relationships consistent with known biology, and uncovered previously unexplored cellular mechanisms in psychiatric and immune-related diseases. Finally, we applied CT-FM-SNP to 39 UK Biobank traits and predicted high confidence causal cell types for 2,798 candidate causal non-coding SNPs. Our results suggest that most SNPs impact a phenotype through a single cell type, and that pleiotropic SNPs target different cell types depending on the phenotype context. Altogether, CT-FM and CT-FM-SNP shed light on how genetic variants act collectively and individually at the cellular level to impact disease risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Artem Kim
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Zixuan Zhang
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Come Legros
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Zeyun Lu
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Adam de Smith
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Jill E Moore
- Department of Genomics and Computational Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Nicholas Mancuso
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Quantitative and Computational Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Steven Gazal
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Quantitative and Computational Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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29
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Bagheri M, Bombin A, Shi M, Murthy VL, Shah R, Mosley JD, Ferguson JF. Genotype-based "virtual" metabolomics in a clinical biobank identifies novel metabolite-disease associations. Front Genet 2024; 15:1392622. [PMID: 38812968 PMCID: PMC11133605 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1392622] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2024] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction: Circulating metabolites act as biomarkers of dysregulated metabolism and may inform disease pathophysiology. A portion of the inter-individual variability in circulating metabolites is influenced by common genetic variation. We evaluated whether a genetics-based "virtual" metabolomics approach can identify novel metabolite-disease associations. Methods: We examined the association between polygenic scores for 724 metabolites with 1,247 clinical phenotypes in the BioVU DNA biobank, comprising 57,735 European ancestry and 15,754 African ancestry participants. We applied Mendelian randomization (MR) to probe significant relationships and validated significant MR associations using independent GWAS of candidate phenotypes. Results and Discussion: We found significant associations between 336 metabolites and 168 phenotypes in European ancestry and 107 metabolites and 56 phenotypes in African ancestry. Of these metabolite-disease pairs, MR analyses confirmed associations between 73 metabolites and 53 phenotypes in European ancestry. Of 22 metabolitephenotype pairs evaluated for replication in independent GWAS, 16 were significant (false discovery rate p < 0.05). These included associations between bilirubin and X-21796 with cholelithiasis, phosphatidylcholine (16:0/22:5n3,18:1/20:4) and arachidonate with inflammatory bowel disease and Crohn's disease, and campesterol with coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction. These associations may represent biomarkers or potentially targetable mediators of disease risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minoo Bagheri
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Andrei Bombin
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Mingjian Shi
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Venkatesh L. Murthy
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
| | - Ravi Shah
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Jonathan D. Mosley
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
- Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
| | - Jane F. Ferguson
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States
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Zhang F, Jiang F, Yao Z, Luo H, Xu S, Zhang Y, Wang X, Liu Z. Causal association of blood cell traits with inflammatory bowel diseases: a Mendelian randomization study. Front Nutr 2024; 11:1256832. [PMID: 38774261 PMCID: PMC11106477 DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1256832] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Observational studies have found associations between blood cell traits and inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), whereas the causality and dose-effect relationships are still undetermined. Methods Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses using linear regression approaches, as well as Bayesian model averaging (MR-BMA), were conducted to identify and prioritize the causal blood cell traits for Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). An observational study was also performed using restricted cubic spline (RCS) to explore the relationship between important blood cell traits and IBDs. Results Our uvMR analysis using the random effects inverse variance weighted (IVW) method identified eosinophil (EOS) as a causal factor for UC (OR = 1.36; 95% CI: 1.13, 1.63). Our MR-BMA analysis further prioritized that high level of lymphocyte (LYM) decreased CD risk (MIP = 0.307; θ ^ MACE = -0.059; PP = 0.189; θ ^ λ = -0.173), whereas high level of EOS increased UC risk (MIP = 0.824; θ ^ MACE = 0.198; PP = 0.627; θ ^ λ = 0.239). Furthermore, the observational study clearly depicts the nonlinear relationship between important blood cell traits and the risk of IBDs. Conclusion Using MR approaches, several blood cell traits were identified as risk factors of CD and UC, which could be used as potential targets for the management of IBDs. Stratified genome-wide association studies (GWASs) based on the concentration of traits would be helpful owing to the nonlinear relationships between blood cell traits and IBDs, as demonstrated in our clinical observational study. Together, these findings could shed light on the clinical strategies applied to the management of CD and UC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fangyuan Zhang
- Department of Blood Transfusion, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Feiyu Jiang
- Department of Blood Transfusion, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Ziqin Yao
- Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Public Health, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Hongbin Luo
- Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Public Health, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Shoufang Xu
- Department of Blood Transfusion, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yingying Zhang
- Department of Blood Transfusion, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xinhui Wang
- Department of Blood Transfusion, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
- Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Public Health, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
| | - Zhiwei Liu
- Department of Blood Transfusion, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
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31
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Peng Q, Liu X, Li W, Jing H, Li J, Gao X, Luo Q, Breeze CE, Pan S, Zheng Q, Li G, Qian J, Yuan L, Yuan N, You C, Du S, Zheng Y, Yuan Z, Tan J, Jia P, Wang J, Zhang G, Lu X, Shi L, Guo S, Liu Y, Ni T, Wen B, Zeng C, Jin L, Teschendorff AE, Liu F, Wang S. Analysis of blood methylation quantitative trait loci in East Asians reveals ancestry-specific impacts on complex traits. Nat Genet 2024; 56:846-860. [PMID: 38641644 DOI: 10.1038/s41588-023-01494-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Accepted: 08/02/2023] [Indexed: 04/21/2024]
Abstract
Methylation quantitative trait loci (mQTLs) are essential for understanding the role of DNA methylation changes in genetic predisposition, yet they have not been fully characterized in East Asians (EAs). Here we identified mQTLs in whole blood from 3,523 Chinese individuals and replicated them in additional 1,858 Chinese individuals from two cohorts. Over 9% of mQTLs displayed specificity to EAs, facilitating the fine-mapping of EA-specific genetic associations, as shown for variants associated with height. Trans-mQTL hotspots revealed biological pathways contributing to EA-specific genetic associations, including an ERG-mediated 233 trans-mCpG network, implicated in hematopoietic cell differentiation, which likely reflects binding efficiency modulation of the ERG protein complex. More than 90% of mQTLs were shared between different blood cell lineages, with a smaller fraction of lineage-specific mQTLs displaying preferential hypomethylation in the respective lineages. Our study provides new insights into the mQTL landscape across genetic ancestries and their downstream effects on cellular processes and diseases/traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qianqian Peng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Xinxuan Liu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China
- School of Future Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Wenran Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Han Jing
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Jiarui Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Xingjian Gao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China
| | - Qi Luo
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | | | - Siyu Pan
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China
| | - Qiwen Zheng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China
| | - Guochao Li
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China
| | - Jiaqiang Qian
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Liyun Yuan
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Na Yuan
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China
| | - Chenglong You
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Siyuan Du
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Yuanting Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Development, and Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Ziyu Yuan
- Taizhou Institute of Health Sciences, Fudan University, Taizhou, China
| | - Jingze Tan
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Peilin Jia
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China
| | - Jiucun Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Development, and Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Taizhou Institute of Health Sciences, Fudan University, Taizhou, China
- Research Unit of Dissecting the Population Genetics and Developing New Technologies for Treatment and Prevention of Skin Phenotypes and Dermatological Diseases (2019RU058), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Guoqing Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
- Taizhou Institute of Health Sciences, Fudan University, Taizhou, China
| | - Xianping Lu
- Shenzhen Chipscreen Biosciences Co. Ltd., Shenzhen, China
| | - Leming Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Development, and Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Taizhou Institute of Health Sciences, Fudan University, Taizhou, China
| | - Shicheng Guo
- Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Center for Precision Medicine Research, Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, Marshfield, WI, USA
| | - Yun Liu
- MOE Key Laboratory of Metabolism and Molecular Medicine, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Ting Ni
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, Human Phenome Institute, School of Life Sciences and Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Bo Wen
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Development, and Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- The Fifth People's Hospital of Shanghai and Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Changqing Zeng
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China
| | - Li Jin
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Development, and Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Taizhou Institute of Health Sciences, Fudan University, Taizhou, China
- Research Unit of Dissecting the Population Genetics and Developing New Technologies for Treatment and Prevention of Skin Phenotypes and Dermatological Diseases (2019RU058), Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Shanghai, China
| | - Andrew E Teschendorff
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
| | - Fan Liu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genomic and Precision Medicine, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, China.
- School of Future Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
- Department of Forensic Sciences, College of Criminal Justice, Naif Arab University of Security Sciences, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
| | - Sijia Wang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
- Taizhou Institute of Health Sciences, Fudan University, Taizhou, China.
- Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.
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32
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Zheng Z, Liu S, Sidorenko J, Wang Y, Lin T, Yengo L, Turley P, Ani A, Wang R, Nolte IM, Snieder H, Yang J, Wray NR, Goddard ME, Visscher PM, Zeng J. Leveraging functional genomic annotations and genome coverage to improve polygenic prediction of complex traits within and between ancestries. Nat Genet 2024; 56:767-777. [PMID: 38689000 PMCID: PMC11096109 DOI: 10.1038/s41588-024-01704-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2022] [Accepted: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
We develop a method, SBayesRC, that integrates genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics with functional genomic annotations to improve polygenic prediction of complex traits. Our method is scalable to whole-genome variant analysis and refines signals from functional annotations by allowing them to affect both causal variant probability and causal effect distribution. We analyze 50 complex traits and diseases using ∼7 million common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 96 annotations. SBayesRC improves prediction accuracy by 14% in European ancestry and up to 34% in cross-ancestry prediction compared to the baseline method SBayesR, which does not use annotations, and outperforms other methods, including LDpred2, LDpred-funct, MegaPRS, PolyPred-S and PRS-CSx. Investigation of factors affecting prediction accuracy identifies a significant interaction between SNP density and annotation information, suggesting whole-genome sequence variants with annotations may further improve prediction. Functional partitioning analysis highlights a major contribution of evolutionary constrained regions to prediction accuracy and the largest per-SNP contribution from nonsynonymous SNPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhili Zheng
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Shouye Liu
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Julia Sidorenko
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Ying Wang
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Tian Lin
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Loic Yengo
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Patrick Turley
- Center for Economic and Social Research, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Economics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Alireza Ani
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
- Department of Bioinformatics, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
| | - Rujia Wang
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Ilja M Nolte
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Harold Snieder
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Jian Yang
- School of Life Sciences, Westlake University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
- Westlake Laboratory of Life Sciences and Biomedicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Naomi R Wray
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Michael E Goddard
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
- Biosciences Research Division, Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, Bundoora, Victoria, Australia
| | - Peter M Visscher
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Big Data Institute, Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Information and Discovery, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Jian Zeng
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
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33
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Leung PBM, Liu Z, Zhong Y, Tubbs JD, Di Forti M, Murray RM, So HC, Sham PC, Lui SSY. Bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study of differential white blood cell counts and schizophrenia. Brain Behav Immun 2024; 118:22-30. [PMID: 38355025 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2024.02.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 02/08/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Schizophrenia and white blood cell counts (WBC) are both complex and polygenic traits. Previous evidence suggests that increased WBC are associated with higher all-cause mortality, and other studies have found elevated WBC in first-episode psychosis and chronic schizophrenia. However, these observational findings may be confounded by antipsychotic exposures and their effects on WBC. Mendelian randomization (MR) is a useful method for examining the directions of genetically-predicted relationships between schizophrenia and WBC. METHODS We performed a two-sample MR using summary statistics from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) conducted by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Schizophrenia Workgroup (N = 130,644) and the Blood Cell Consortium (N = 563,946). The MR methods included inverse variance weighted (IVW), MR Egger, weighted median, MR-PRESSO, contamination mixture, and a novel approach called mixture model reciprocal causal inference (MRCI). False discovery rate was employed to correct for multiple testing. RESULTS Multiple MR methods supported bidirectional genetically-predicted relationships between lymphocyte count and schizophrenia: IVW (b = 0.026; FDR p-value = 0.008), MR Egger (b = 0.026; FDR p-value = 0.008), weighted median (b = 0.013; FDR p-value = 0.049), and MR-PRESSO (b = 0.014; FDR p-value = 0.010) in the forward direction, and IVW (OR = 1.100; FDR p-value = 0.021), MR Egger (OR = 1.231; FDR p-value < 0.001), weighted median (OR = 1.136; FDR p-value = 0.006) and MRCI (OR = 1.260; FDR p-value = 0.026) in the reverse direction. MR Egger (OR = 1.171; FDR p-value < 0.001) and MRCI (OR = 1.154; FDR p-value = 0.026) both suggested genetically-predicted eosinophil count is associated with schizophrenia, but MR Egger (b = 0.060; FDR p-value = 0.010) and contamination mixture (b = -0.013; FDR p-value = 0.045) gave ambiguous results on whether genetically predicted liability to schizophrenia would be associated with eosinophil count. MR Egger (b = 0.044; FDR p-value = 0.010) and MR-PRESSO (b = 0.009; FDR p-value = 0.045) supported genetically predicted liability to schizophrenia is associated with elevated monocyte count, and the opposite direction was also indicated by MR Egger (OR = 1.231; FDR p-value = 0.045). Lastly, unidirectional genetic liability from schizophrenia to neutrophil count were proposed by MR-PRESSO (b = 0.011; FDR p-value = 0.028) and contamination mixture (b = 0.011; FDR p-value = 0.045) method. CONCLUSION This MR study utilised multiple MR methods to obtain results suggesting bidirectional genetic genetically-predicted relationships for elevated lymphocyte counts and schizophrenia risk. In addition, moderate evidence also showed bidirectional genetically-predicted relationships between schizophrenia and monocyte counts, and unidirectional effect from genetic liability for eosinophil count to schizophrenia and from genetic liability for schizophrenia to neutrophil count. The influence of schizophrenia to eosinophil count is less certain. Our findings support the role of WBC in schizophrenia and concur with the hypothesis of neuroinflammation in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Perry B M Leung
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Zipeng Liu
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Centre for Child Health, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yuanxin Zhong
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
| | - Justin D Tubbs
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Marta Di Forti
- Social, Genetics and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Robin M Murray
- Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Hon-Cheong So
- School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Department of Psychiatry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
| | - Pak C Sham
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Centre for PanorOmic Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
| | - Simon S Y Lui
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
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Asgel Z, Kouakou MR, Koller D, Pathak GA, Cabrera-Mendoza B, Polimanti R. Unraveling COVID-19 relationship with anxiety disorders and symptoms using genome-wide data. J Affect Disord 2024; 352:333-341. [PMID: 38382819 PMCID: PMC10939738 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.02.061] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2023] [Revised: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/23/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is still a limited understanding of the dynamics contributing to the comorbidity of COVID-19 and anxiety outcomes. METHODS To dissect the pleiotropic mechanisms contributing to COVID-19/anxiety comorbidity, we used genome-wide data from UK Biobank (up to 420,531 participants), FinnGen Project (up to 329,077 participants), Million Veteran Program (175,163 participants), and COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative (up to 122,616 cases and 2,475,240 controls). Specifically, we assessed global and local genetic correlation and genetically inferred effects linking COVID-19 outcomes (infection, hospitalization, and severe respiratory symptoms) to anxiety disorders and symptoms. RESULTS We observed a strong genetic correlation of anxiety disorder with COVID-19 positive status (rg = 0.35, p = 2×10-4) and COVID-19 hospitalization (rg = 0.31, p = 7.2×10-4). Among anxiety symptoms, "Tense, sore, or aching muscles during worst period of anxiety" was genetically correlated with COVID-19 positive status (rg = 0.33, p = 0.001), while "Frequent trouble falling or staying asleep during worst period of anxiety" was genetically correlated with COVID-19 hospitalization (rg = 0.24, p = 0.004). Through a latent causal variable analysis, we observed that COVID-19 outcomes have statistically significant genetic causality proportion (gcp) on anxiety symptoms (e.g., COVID-19 positive status→"Recent easy annoyance or irritability" │gcp│ = 0.18, p = 6.72×10-17). Conversely, anxiety disorders appear to have a possible causal effect on COVID-19 (│gcp│ = 0.38, p = 3.17×10-9). Additionally, we also identified multiple loci with evidence of local genetic correlation between anxiety and COVID-19. These appear to be related to genetic effects shared with lung function, brain morphology, alcohol and tobacco use, and hematologic parameters. CONCLUSIONS This study provided insights into the pleiotropic mechanisms linking COVID-19 and anxiety outcomes, suggesting differences between dynamics related to anxiety disorders and those related to anxiety symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zeynep Asgel
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Manuela R Kouakou
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Dora Koller
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; Department of Genetics, Microbiology, and Statistics, Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Gita A Pathak
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA
| | - Brenda Cabrera-Mendoza
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA
| | - Renato Polimanti
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA; VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA; Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
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35
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Schmit SL, Tsai YY, Bonner JD, Sanz-Pamplona R, Joshi AD, Ugai T, Lindsey SS, Melas M, McDonnell KJ, Idos GE, Walker CP, Qu C, Kast WM, Da Silva DM, Glickman JN, Chan AT, Giannakis M, Nowak JA, Rennert HS, Robins HS, Ogino S, Greenson JK, Moreno V, Rennert G, Gruber SB. Germline genetic regulation of the colorectal tumor immune microenvironment. BMC Genomics 2024; 25:409. [PMID: 38664626 PMCID: PMC11046907 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-024-10295-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2023] [Accepted: 04/09/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To evaluate the contribution of germline genetics to regulating the briskness and diversity of T cell responses in CRC, we conducted a genome-wide association study to examine the associations between germline genetic variation and quantitative measures of T cell landscapes in 2,876 colorectal tumors from participants in the Molecular Epidemiology of Colorectal Cancer Study (MECC). METHODS Germline DNA samples were genotyped and imputed using genome-wide arrays. Tumor DNA samples were extracted from paraffin blocks, and T cell receptor clonality and abundance were quantified by immunoSEQ (Adaptive Biotechnologies, Seattle, WA). Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes per high powered field (TILs/hpf) were scored by a gastrointestinal pathologist. Regression models were used to evaluate the associations between each variant and the three T-cell features, adjusting for sex, age, genotyping platform, and global ancestry. Three independent datasets were used for replication. RESULTS We identified a SNP (rs4918567) near RBM20 associated with clonality at a genome-wide significant threshold of 5 × 10- 8, with a consistent direction of association in both discovery and replication datasets. Expression quantitative trait (eQTL) analyses and in silico functional annotation for these loci provided insights into potential functional roles, including a statistically significant eQTL between the T allele at rs4918567 and higher expression of ADRA2A (P = 0.012) in healthy colon mucosa. CONCLUSIONS Our study suggests that germline genetic variation is associated with the quantity and diversity of adaptive immune responses in CRC. Further studies are warranted to replicate these findings in additional samples and to investigate functional genomic mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie L Schmit
- Genomic Medicine Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA.
- Population and Cancer Prevention Program, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Cleveland, OH, USA.
| | - Ya-Yu Tsai
- Genomic Medicine Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Joseph D Bonner
- Center for Precision Medicine, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Rebeca Sanz-Pamplona
- Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
- ONCOBELL Program, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
- Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Amit D Joshi
- Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Tomotaka Ugai
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
- Program in MPE Molecular Pathological Epidemiology, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sidney S Lindsey
- Center for Precision Medicine, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Marilena Melas
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Kevin J McDonnell
- Center for Precision Medicine, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Gregory E Idos
- Center for Precision Medicine, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Christopher P Walker
- Center for Precision Medicine, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA
| | - Chenxu Qu
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - W Martin Kast
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Diane M Da Silva
- Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | | | - Andrew T Chan
- Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Marios Giannakis
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jonathan A Nowak
- Program in MPE Molecular Pathological Epidemiology, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Hedy S Rennert
- B. Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion and the Association for Promotion of Research in Precision Medicine (APRPM), Haifa, Israel
| | | | - Shuji Ogino
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA
- Program in MPE Molecular Pathological Epidemiology, Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Tokyo Medical and Dental University (Institute of Science Tokyo), Tokyo, Japan
| | - Joel K Greenson
- Department of Pathology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Victor Moreno
- Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO), Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
- ONCOBELL Program, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain
- Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gad Rennert
- B. Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion and the Association for Promotion of Research in Precision Medicine (APRPM), Haifa, Israel
| | - Stephen B Gruber
- Center for Precision Medicine, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA.
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36
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Mosley JD, Shelley JP, Dickson AL, Zanussi J, Daniel LL, Zheng NS, Bastarache L, Wei WQ, Shi M, Jarvik GP, Rosenthal EA, Khan A, Sherafati A, Kullo IJ, Walunas TL, Glessner J, Hakonarson H, Cox NJ, Roden DM, Frangakis SG, Vanderwerff B, Stein CM, Van Driest SL, Borinstein SC, Shu XO, Zawistowski M, Chung CP, Kawai VK. Clinical associations with a polygenic predisposition to benign lower white blood cell counts. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3384. [PMID: 38649760 PMCID: PMC11035609 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47804-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Polygenic variation unrelated to disease contributes to interindividual variation in baseline white blood cell (WBC) counts, but its clinical significance is uncharacterized. We investigated the clinical consequences of a genetic predisposition toward lower WBC counts among 89,559 biobank participants from tertiary care centers using a polygenic score for WBC count (PGSWBC) comprising single nucleotide polymorphisms not associated with disease. A predisposition to lower WBC counts was associated with a decreased risk of identifying pathology on a bone marrow biopsy performed for a low WBC count (odds-ratio = 0.55 per standard deviation increase in PGSWBC [95%CI, 0.30-0.94], p = 0.04), an increased risk of leukopenia (a low WBC count) when treated with a chemotherapeutic (n = 1724, hazard ratio [HR] = 0.78 [0.69-0.88], p = 4.0 × 10-5) or immunosuppressant (n = 354, HR = 0.61 [0.38-0.99], p = 0.04). A predisposition to benign lower WBC counts was associated with an increased risk of discontinuing azathioprine treatment (n = 1,466, HR = 0.62 [0.44-0.87], p = 0.006). Collectively, these findings suggest that there are genetically predisposed individuals who are susceptible to escalations or alterations in clinical care that may be harmful or of little benefit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan D Mosley
- Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA.
| | - John P Shelley
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Alyson L Dickson
- Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Jacy Zanussi
- Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Laura L Daniel
- Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Neil S Zheng
- Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Lisa Bastarache
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Wei-Qi Wei
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Mingjian Shi
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Gail P Jarvik
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Medicine (Medical Genetics), University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Elisabeth A Rosenthal
- Department of Medicine (Medical Genetics), University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Atlas Khan
- Division of Nephrology, Dept of Medicine, Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Alborz Sherafati
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Iftikhar J Kullo
- Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Theresa L Walunas
- Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Joseph Glessner
- Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Hakon Hakonarson
- Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Nancy J Cox
- Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Dan M Roden
- Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Stephan G Frangakis
- Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Brett Vanderwerff
- Department of Biostatistics, Center for Statistical Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - C Michael Stein
- Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Sara L Van Driest
- Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Scott C Borinstein
- Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Xiao-Ou Shu
- Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Matthew Zawistowski
- Department of Biostatistics, Center for Statistical Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | | | - Vivian K Kawai
- Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
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Jakubek YA, Ma X, Stilp AM, Yu F, Bacon J, Wong JW, Aguet F, Ardlie K, Arnett D, Barnes K, Bis JC, Blackwell T, Becker LC, Boerwinkle E, Bowler RP, Budoff MJ, Carson AP, Chen J, Cho MH, Coresh J, Cox N, de Vries PS, DeMeo DL, Fardo DW, Fornage M, Guo X, Hall ME, Heard-Costa N, Hidalgo B, Irvin MR, Johnson AD, Kenny EE, Levy D, Li Y, Lima JA, Liu Y, Loos RJF, Machiela MJ, Mathias RA, Mitchell BD, Murabito J, Mychaleckyj JC, North K, Orchard P, Parker SC, Pershad Y, Peyser PA, Pratte KA, Psaty BM, Raffield LM, Redline S, Rich SS, Rotter JI, Shah SJ, Smith JA, Smith AP, Smith A, Taub M, Tiwari HK, Tracy R, Tuftin B, Bick AG, Sankaran VG, Reiner AP, Scheet P, Auer PL. Genomic and phenotypic correlates of mosaic loss of chromosome Y in blood. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2024:2024.04.16.24305851. [PMID: 38699360 PMCID: PMC11065036 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.16.24305851] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2024]
Abstract
Mosaic loss of Y (mLOY) is the most common somatic chromosomal alteration detected in human blood. The presence of mLOY is associated with altered blood cell counts and increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, solid tumors, and other age-related diseases. We sought to gain a better understanding of genetic drivers and associated phenotypes of mLOY through analyses of whole genome sequencing of a large set of genetically diverse males from the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program. This approach enabled us to identify differences in mLOY frequencies across populations defined by genetic similarity, revealing a higher frequency of mLOY in the European American (EA) ancestry group compared to those of Hispanic American (HA), African American (AA), and East Asian (EAS) ancestry. Further, we identified two genes ( CFHR1 and LRP6 ) that harbor multiple rare, putatively deleterious variants associated with mLOY susceptibility, show that subsets of human hematopoietic stem cells are enriched for activity of mLOY susceptibility variants, and that certain alleles on chromosome Y are more likely to be lost than others.
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38
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Troubat L, Fettahoglu D, Henches L, Aschard H, Julienne H. Multi-trait GWAS for diverse ancestries: mapping the knowledge gap. BMC Genomics 2024; 25:375. [PMID: 38627641 PMCID: PMC11022331 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-024-10293-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/09/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Approximately 95% of samples analyzed in univariate genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are of European ancestry. This bias toward European ancestry populations in association screening also exists for other analyses and methods that are often developed and tested on European ancestry only. However, existing data in non-European populations, which are often of modest sample size, could benefit from innovative approaches as recently illustrated in the context of polygenic risk scores. METHODS Here, we extend and assess the potential limitations and gains of our multi-trait GWAS pipeline, JASS (Joint Analysis of Summary Statistics), for the analysis of non-European ancestries. To this end, we conducted the joint GWAS of 19 hematological traits and glycemic traits across five ancestries (European (EUR), admixed American (AMR), African (AFR), East Asian (EAS), and South-East Asian (SAS)). RESULTS We detected 367 new genome-wide significant associations in non-European populations (15 in Admixed American (AMR), 72 in African (AFR) and 280 in East Asian (EAS)). New associations detected represent 5%, 17% and 13% of associations in the AFR, AMR and EAS populations, respectively. Overall, multi-trait testing increases the replication of European associated loci in non-European ancestry by 15%. Pleiotropic effects were highly similar at significant loci across ancestries (e.g. the mean correlation between multi-trait genetic effects of EUR and EAS ancestries was 0.88). For hematological traits, strong discrepancies in multi-trait genetic effects are tied to known evolutionary divergences: the ARKC1 loci, which is adaptive to overcome p.vivax induced malaria. CONCLUSIONS Multi-trait GWAS can be a valuable tool to narrow the genetic knowledge gap between European and non-European populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucie Troubat
- Department of Computational Biology, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris, F-75015, France
| | - Deniz Fettahoglu
- Department of Computational Biology, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris, F-75015, France
| | - Léo Henches
- Department of Computational Biology, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris, F-75015, France
| | - Hugues Aschard
- Department of Computational Biology, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris, F-75015, France
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Hanna Julienne
- Department of Computational Biology, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris, F-75015, France.
- Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Hub, Paris, F-75015, France.
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Lu Z, Wang X, Carr M, Kim A, Gazal S, Mohammadi P, Wu L, Gusev A, Pirruccello J, Kachuri L, Mancuso N. Improved multi-ancestry fine-mapping identifies cis-regulatory variants underlying molecular traits and disease risk. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2024:2024.04.15.24305836. [PMID: 38699369 PMCID: PMC11065034 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.15.24305836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2024]
Abstract
Multi-ancestry statistical fine-mapping of cis-molecular quantitative trait loci (cis-molQTL) aims to improve the precision of distinguishing causal cis-molQTLs from tagging variants. However, existing approaches fail to reflect shared genetic architectures. To solve this limitation, we present the Sum of Shared Single Effects (SuShiE) model, which leverages LD heterogeneity to improve fine-mapping precision, infer cross-ancestry effect size correlations, and estimate ancestry-specific expression prediction weights. We apply SuShiE to mRNA expression measured in PBMCs (n=956) and LCLs (n=814) together with plasma protein levels (n=854) from individuals of diverse ancestries in the TOPMed MESA and GENOA studies. We find SuShiE fine-maps cis-molQTLs for 16% more genes compared with baselines while prioritizing fewer variants with greater functional enrichment. SuShiE infers highly consistent cis-molQTL architectures across ancestries on average; however, we also find evidence of heterogeneity at genes with predicted loss-of-function intolerance, suggesting that environmental interactions may partially explain differences in cis-molQTL effect sizes across ancestries. Lastly, we leverage estimated cis-molQTL effect-sizes to perform individual-level TWAS and PWAS on six white blood cell-related traits in AOU Biobank individuals (n=86k), and identify 44 more genes compared with baselines, further highlighting its benefits in identifying genes relevant for complex disease risk. Overall, SuShiE provides new insights into the cis-genetic architecture of molecular traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zeyun Lu
- Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Xinran Wang
- Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Matthew Carr
- Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Artem Kim
- Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Steven Gazal
- Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Quantitative and Computational Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
| | - Pejman Mohammadi
- Center for Immunity and Immunotherapies, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Lang Wu
- Cancer Epidemiology Division, Population Sciences in the Pacific Program, University of Hawaiʻi Cancer Center, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI, USA
| | - Alexander Gusev
- Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - James Pirruccello
- Division of Cardiology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Linda Kachuri
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Nicholas Mancuso
- Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Quantitative and Computational Biology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
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40
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Kock KH, Kimes PK, Gisselbrecht SS, Inukai S, Phanor SK, Anderson JT, Ramakrishnan G, Lipper CH, Song D, Kurland JV, Rogers JM, Jeong R, Blacklow SC, Irizarry RA, Bulyk ML. DNA binding analysis of rare variants in homeodomains reveals homeodomain specificity-determining residues. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3110. [PMID: 38600112 PMCID: PMC11006913 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47396-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/29/2024] [Indexed: 04/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Homeodomains (HDs) are the second largest class of DNA binding domains (DBDs) among eukaryotic sequence-specific transcription factors (TFs) and are the TF structural class with the largest number of disease-associated mutations in the Human Gene Mutation Database (HGMD). Despite numerous structural studies and large-scale analyses of HD DNA binding specificity, HD-DNA recognition is still not fully understood. Here, we analyze 92 human HD mutants, including disease-associated variants and variants of uncertain significance (VUS), for their effects on DNA binding activity. Many of the variants alter DNA binding affinity and/or specificity. Detailed biochemical analysis and structural modeling identifies 14 previously unknown specificity-determining positions, 5 of which do not contact DNA. The same missense substitution at analogous positions within different HDs often exhibits different effects on DNA binding activity. Variant effect prediction tools perform moderately well in distinguishing variants with altered DNA binding affinity, but poorly in identifying those with altered binding specificity. Our results highlight the need for biochemical assays of TF coding variants and prioritize dozens of variants for further investigations into their pathogenicity and the development of clinical diagnostics and precision therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kian Hong Kock
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
- Program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Patrick K Kimes
- Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Stephen S Gisselbrecht
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - Sachi Inukai
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - Sabrina K Phanor
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - James T Anderson
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - Gayatri Ramakrishnan
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
- Boston Bangalore Biosciences Beginnings Program, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Colin H Lipper
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Dongyuan Song
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jesse V Kurland
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
| | - Julia M Rogers
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
- Committee on Higher Degrees in Biophysics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Raehoon Jeong
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
- Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics Graduate Program, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Stephen C Blacklow
- Program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Cancer Biology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
- Committee on Higher Degrees in Biophysics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Rafael A Irizarry
- Department of Data Science, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Martha L Bulyk
- Division of Genetics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA.
- Program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Committee on Higher Degrees in Biophysics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics Graduate Program, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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Moksnes MR, Hansen AF, Wolford BN, Thomas LF, Rasheed H, Simić A, Bhatta L, Brantsæter AL, Surakka I, Zhou W, Magnus P, Njølstad PR, Andreassen OA, Syversen T, Zheng J, Fritsche LG, Evans DM, Warrington NM, Nøst TH, Åsvold BO, Flaten TP, Willer CJ, Hveem K, Brumpton BM. A genome-wide association study provides insights into the genetic etiology of 57 essential and non-essential trace elements in humans. Commun Biol 2024; 7:432. [PMID: 38594418 PMCID: PMC11004147 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-06101-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Trace elements are important for human health but may exert toxic or adverse effects. Mechanisms of uptake, distribution, metabolism, and excretion are partly under genetic control but have not yet been extensively mapped. Here we report a comprehensive multi-element genome-wide association study of 57 essential and non-essential trace elements. We perform genome-wide association meta-analyses of 14 trace elements in up to 6564 Scandinavian whole blood samples, and genome-wide association studies of 43 trace elements in up to 2819 samples measured only in the Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT). We identify 11 novel genetic loci associated with blood concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, manganese, selenium, and zinc in genome-wide association meta-analyses. In HUNT, several genome-wide significant loci are also indicated for other trace elements. Using two-sample Mendelian randomization, we find several indications of weak to moderate effects on health outcomes, the most precise being a weak harmful effect of increased zinc on prostate cancer. However, independent validation is needed. Our current understanding of trace element-associated genetic variants may help establish consequences of trace elements on human health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marta R Moksnes
- HUNT Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Nursing, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
| | - Ailin F Hansen
- HUNT Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Nursing, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Brooke N Wolford
- HUNT Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Nursing, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Laurent F Thomas
- HUNT Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Nursing, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
- Department of Clinical and Molecular Medicine, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
- BioCore-Bioinformatics Core Facility, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
- Clinic of Laboratory Medicine, St. Olav's Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Humaira Rasheed
- HUNT Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Nursing, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
- Division of Medicine and Laboratory Sciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Anica Simić
- Department of Chemistry, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Laxmi Bhatta
- HUNT Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Nursing, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Anne Lise Brantsæter
- Department of Food Safety, Division of Climate and Environmental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - Ida Surakka
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Wei Zhou
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Per Magnus
- Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway
| | - Pål R Njølstad
- Mohn Center for Diabetes Precision Medicine, Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
- Children and Youth Clinic, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
| | - Ole A Andreassen
- NORMENT Centre, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Tore Syversen
- Department of Neuroscience, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Jie Zheng
- Department of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Shanghai Institute of Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- Shanghai National Clinical Research Center for Metabolic Diseases, Key Laboratory for Endocrine and Metabolic Diseases of the National Health Commission of the PR China, Shanghai Key Laboratory for Endocrine Tumor, Shanghai Digital Medicine Innovation Center, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit (IEU), Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Lars G Fritsche
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Center for Statistical Genetics, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - David M Evans
- Institute for Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit (IEU), University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Nicole M Warrington
- HUNT Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Nursing, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
- Institute for Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Frazer Institute, The University of Queensland, Woolloongabba, QLD, Australia
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit (IEU), University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Therese H Nøst
- HUNT Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Nursing, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
- Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Bjørn Olav Åsvold
- HUNT Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Nursing, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
- HUNT Research Centre, Department of Public Health and Nursing, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Levanger, Norway
- Department of Endocrinology, Clinic of Medicine, St. Olav's Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Trond Peder Flaten
- Department of Chemistry, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Cristen J Willer
- HUNT Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Nursing, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
- Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Kristian Hveem
- HUNT Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Nursing, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
- HUNT Research Centre, Department of Public Health and Nursing, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Levanger, Norway
| | - Ben M Brumpton
- HUNT Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Nursing, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
- HUNT Research Centre, Department of Public Health and Nursing, NTNU-Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Levanger, Norway.
- Clinic of Medicine, St. Olav's Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway.
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Maihofer AX, Ratanatharathorn A, Hemmings SMJ, Costenbader KH, Michopoulos V, Polimanti R, Rothbaum AO, Seedat S, Mikita EA, Smith AK, Salem RM, Shaffer RA, Wu T, Sebat J, Ressler KJ, Stein MB, Koenen KC, Wolf EJ, Sumner JA, Nievergelt CM. Effects of genetically predicted posttraumatic stress disorder on autoimmune phenotypes. Transl Psychiatry 2024; 14:172. [PMID: 38561342 PMCID: PMC10984931 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-024-02869-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Revised: 02/21/2024] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Observational studies suggest that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) increases risk for various autoimmune diseases. Insights into shared biology and causal relationships between these diseases may inform intervention approaches to PTSD and co-morbid autoimmune conditions. We investigated the shared genetic contributions and causal relationships between PTSD, 18 autoimmune diseases, and 3 immune/inflammatory biomarkers. Univariate MiXeR was used to contrast the genetic architectures of phenotypes. Genetic correlations were estimated using linkage disequilibrium score regression. Bi-directional, two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) was performed using independent, genome-wide significant single nucleotide polymorphisms; inverse variance weighted and weighted median MR estimates were evaluated. Sensitivity analyses for uncorrelated (MR PRESSO) and correlated horizontal pleiotropy (CAUSE) were also performed. PTSD was considerably more polygenic (10,863 influential variants) than autoimmune diseases (median 255 influential variants). However, PTSD evidenced significant genetic correlation with nine autoimmune diseases and three inflammatory biomarkers. PTSD had putative causal effects on autoimmune thyroid disease (p = 0.00009) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (p = 4.3 × 10-7). Inferences were not substantially altered by sensitivity analyses. Additionally, the PTSD-autoimmune thyroid disease association remained significant in multivariable MR analysis adjusted for genetically predicted inflammatory biomarkers as potential mechanistic pathway variables. No autoimmune disease had a significant causal effect on PTSD (all p values > 0.05). Although causal effect models were supported for associations of PTSD with CRP, shared pleiotropy was adequate to explain a putative causal effect of CRP on PTSD (p = 0.18). In summary, our results suggest a significant genetic overlap between PTSD, autoimmune diseases, and biomarkers of inflammation. PTSD has a putative causal effect on autoimmune thyroid disease, consistent with existing epidemiologic evidence. A previously reported causal effect of CRP on PTSD is potentially confounded by shared genetics. Together, results highlight the nuanced links between PTSD, autoimmune disorders, and associated inflammatory signatures, and suggest the importance of targeting related pathways to protect against disease and disability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam X Maihofer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, San Diego, CA, USA.
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA.
| | - Andrew Ratanatharathorn
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA
| | - Sian M J Hemmings
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
- South African Medical Research Council/Genomics of Brain Disorders Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Karen H Costenbader
- Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation and Immunity, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Vasiliki Michopoulos
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Renato Polimanti
- VA Connecticut Healthcare Center, West Haven, CT, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Alex O Rothbaum
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Department of Research and Outcomes, Skyland Trail, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Soraya Seedat
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
- South African Medical Research Council/Genomics of Brain Disorders Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Elizabeth A Mikita
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, San Diego, CA, USA
- Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Alicia K Smith
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Rany M Salem
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Richard A Shaffer
- Department of Epidemiology and Health Sciences, Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Tianying Wu
- Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA
- Moores Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
| | - Jonathan Sebat
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Kerry J Ressler
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA
| | - Murray B Stein
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Karestan C Koenen
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Erika J Wolf
- VA Boston Healthcare System, National Center for PTSD, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jennifer A Sumner
- Department of Psychology, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Caroline M Nievergelt
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health, San Diego, CA, USA
- Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA
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Sakaue S, Weinand K, Isaac S, Dey KK, Jagadeesh K, Kanai M, Watts GFM, Zhu Z, Brenner MB, McDavid A, Donlin LT, Wei K, Price AL, Raychaudhuri S. Tissue-specific enhancer-gene maps from multimodal single-cell data identify causal disease alleles. Nat Genet 2024; 56:615-626. [PMID: 38594305 DOI: 10.1038/s41588-024-01682-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 04/11/2024]
Abstract
Translating genome-wide association study (GWAS) loci into causal variants and genes requires accurate cell-type-specific enhancer-gene maps from disease-relevant tissues. Building enhancer-gene maps is essential but challenging with current experimental methods in primary human tissues. Here we developed a nonparametric statistical method, SCENT (single-cell enhancer target gene mapping), that models association between enhancer chromatin accessibility and gene expression in single-cell or nucleus multimodal RNA sequencing and ATAC sequencing data. We applied SCENT to 9 multimodal datasets including >120,000 single cells or nuclei and created 23 cell-type-specific enhancer-gene maps. These maps were highly enriched for causal variants in expression quantitative loci and GWAS for 1,143 diseases and traits. We identified likely causal genes for both common and rare diseases and linked somatic mutation hotspots to target genes. We demonstrate that application of SCENT to multimodal data from disease-relevant human tissue enables the scalable construction of accurate cell-type-specific enhancer-gene maps, essential for defining noncoding variant function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saori Sakaue
- Center for Data Sciences, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Divisions of Genetics and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Kathryn Weinand
- Center for Data Sciences, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Divisions of Genetics and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Shakson Isaac
- Center for Data Sciences, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Divisions of Genetics and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kushal K Dey
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Karthik Jagadeesh
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Masahiro Kanai
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Gerald F M Watts
- Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation, and Immunity, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Zhu Zhu
- Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation, and Immunity, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Michael B Brenner
- Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation, and Immunity, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Andrew McDavid
- Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA
| | - Laura T Donlin
- Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY, USA
- Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Kevin Wei
- Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation, and Immunity, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alkes L Price
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Soumya Raychaudhuri
- Center for Data Sciences, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Divisions of Genetics and Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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44
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He XY, Wu BS, Yang L, Guo Y, Deng YT, Li ZY, Fei CJ, Liu WS, Ge YJ, Kang J, Feng J, Cheng W, Dong Q, Yu JT. Genetic associations of protein-coding variants in venous thromboembolism. Nat Commun 2024; 15:2819. [PMID: 38561338 PMCID: PMC10984941 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47178-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 03/19/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Previous genetic studies of venous thromboembolism (VTE) have been largely limited to common variants, leaving the genetic determinants relatively incomplete. We performed an exome-wide association study of VTE among 14,723 cases and 334,315 controls. Fourteen known and four novel genes (SRSF6, PHPT1, CGN, and MAP3K2) were identified through protein-coding variants, with broad replication in the FinnGen cohort. Most genes we discovered exhibited the potential to predict future VTE events in longitudinal analysis. Notably, we provide evidence for the additive contribution of rare coding variants to known genome-wide polygenic risk in shaping VTE risk. The identified genes were enriched in pathways affecting coagulation and platelet activation, along with liver-specific expression. The pleiotropic effects of these genes indicated the potential involvement of coagulation factors, blood cell traits, liver function, and immunometabolic processes in VTE pathogenesis. In conclusion, our study unveils the valuable contribution of protein-coding variants in VTE etiology and sheds new light on its risk stratification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Yu He
- Department of Neurology and National Center for Neurological Disorders, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Bang-Sheng Wu
- Department of Neurology and National Center for Neurological Disorders, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Liu Yang
- Department of Neurology and National Center for Neurological Disorders, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yu Guo
- Department of Neurology and National Center for Neurological Disorders, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yue-Ting Deng
- Department of Neurology and National Center for Neurological Disorders, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Ze-Yu Li
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Chen-Jie Fei
- Department of Neurology and National Center for Neurological Disorders, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wei-Shi Liu
- Department of Neurology and National Center for Neurological Disorders, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yi-Jun Ge
- Department of Neurology and National Center for Neurological Disorders, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jujiao Kang
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jianfeng Feng
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Ministry of Education, Shanghai, China
- Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Wei Cheng
- Department of Neurology and National Center for Neurological Disorders, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
- Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
- Key Laboratory of Computational Neuroscience and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Ministry of Education, Shanghai, China.
- Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
| | - Qiang Dong
- Department of Neurology and National Center for Neurological Disorders, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Jin-Tai Yu
- Department of Neurology and National Center for Neurological Disorders, Huashan Hospital, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology and MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
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45
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Braat S, Fielding KL, Han J, Jackson VE, Zaloumis S, Xu JXH, Moir-Meyer G, Blaauwendraad SM, Jaddoe VWV, Gaillard R, Parkin PC, Borkhoff CM, Keown-Stoneman CDG, Birken CS, Maguire JL, Bahlo M, Davidson EM, Pasricha SR. Haemoglobin thresholds to define anaemia from age 6 months to 65 years: estimates from international data sources. Lancet Haematol 2024; 11:e253-e264. [PMID: 38432242 PMCID: PMC10983828 DOI: 10.1016/s2352-3026(24)00030-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2023] [Revised: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Detection of anaemia is crucial for clinical medicine and public health. Current WHO anaemia definitions are based on statistical thresholds (fifth centiles) set more than 50 years ago. We sought to establish evidence for the statistical haemoglobin thresholds for anaemia that can be applied globally and inform WHO and clinical guidelines. METHODS In this analysis we identified international data sources from populations in the USA, England, Australia, China, the Netherlands, Canada, Ecuador, and Bangladesh with sufficient clinical and laboratory information collected between 1998 and 2020 to obtain a healthy reference sample. Individuals with clinical or biochemical evidence of a condition that could reduce haemoglobin concentrations were excluded. We estimated haemoglobin thresholds (ie, 5th centiles) for children aged 6-23 months, 24-59 months, 5-11 years, and 12-17 years, and adults aged 18-65 years (including during pregnancy) for individual datasets and pooled across data sources. We also collated findings from three large-scale genetic studies to summarise genetic variants affecting haemoglobin concentrations in different ancestral populations. FINDINGS We identified eight data sources comprising 18 individual datasets that were eligible for inclusion in the analysis. In pooled analyses, the haemoglobin fifth centile was 104·4 g/L (90% CI 103·5-105·3) in 924 children aged 6-23 months, 110·2 g/L (109·5-110·9) in 1874 children aged 24-59 months, and 114·4 g/L (113·6-115·2) in 1839 children aged 5-11 years. Values diverged by sex in adolescents and adults. In pooled analyses, the fifth centile was 122·2 g/L (90% CI 121·3-123·1) in 1741 female adolescents aged 12-17 years and 128·2 g/L (126·4-130·0) in 1103 male adolescents aged 12-17 years. In pooled analyses of adults aged 18-65 years, the fifth centile was 119·7 g/L (90% CI 119·1-120·3) in 3640 non-pregnant females and 134·9 g/L (134·2-135·6) in 2377 males. Fifth centiles in pregnancy were 110·3 g/L (90% CI 109·5-111·0) in the first trimester (n=772) and 105·9 g/L (104·0-107·7) in the second trimester (n=111), with insufficient data for analysis in the third trimester. There were insufficient data for adults older than 65 years. We did not identify ancestry-specific high prevalence of non-clinically relevant genetic variants that influence haemoglobin concentrations. INTERPRETATION Our results enable global harmonisation of clinical and public health haemoglobin thresholds for diagnosis of anaemia. Haemoglobin thresholds are similar between sexes until adolescence, after which males have higher thresholds than females. We did not find any evidence that thresholds should differ between people of differering ancestries. FUNDING World Health Organization and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabine Braat
- Population Health and Immunity Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Methods and Implementation Support for Clinical and Health research Hub, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Katherine L Fielding
- Population Health and Immunity Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Clinical Haematology, The Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, VIC, Australia
| | - Jiru Han
- Population Health and Immunity Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Victoria E Jackson
- Population Health and Immunity Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Sophie Zaloumis
- Methods and Implementation Support for Clinical and Health research Hub, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Jessica Xu Hui Xu
- Methods and Implementation Support for Clinical and Health research Hub, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Gemma Moir-Meyer
- Population Health and Immunity Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Sophia M Blaauwendraad
- Generation R Study Group, and Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Vincent W V Jaddoe
- Generation R Study Group, and Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Romy Gaillard
- Generation R Study Group, and Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Patricia C Parkin
- Division of Pediatric Medicine and the Pediatric Outcomes Research Team, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Cornelia M Borkhoff
- Division of Pediatric Medicine and the Pediatric Outcomes Research Team, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Charles D G Keown-Stoneman
- Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Catherine S Birken
- Division of Pediatric Medicine and the Pediatric Outcomes Research Team, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Jonathon L Maguire
- Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Unity Health Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Melanie Bahlo
- Population Health and Immunity Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Eliza M Davidson
- Population Health and Immunity Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Sant-Rayn Pasricha
- Population Health and Immunity Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; Diagnostic Haematology, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, VIC, Australia; Clinical Haematology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, VIC, Australia.
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Zhang XX, Yu XY, Xu SJ, Shi XQ, Chen Y, Shi Q, Sun C. rs2736098, a synonymous polymorphism, is associated with carcinogenesis and cell count in multiple tissue types by regulating TERT expression. Heliyon 2024; 10:e27802. [PMID: 38496869 PMCID: PMC10944260 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e27802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2023] [Revised: 02/19/2024] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 03/19/2024] Open
Abstract
rs2736098 is a synonymous polymorphism in TERT (telomerase reverse transcriptase), an enzyme involved in tumor onset of multiple tissues, and should play no roles in carcinogenesis. However, a search in cancer somatic mutation database indicated that the mutation frequency at rs2736098 is much higher than the average one for TERT. Moreover, there are significant H3K4me1 and H3K27Ac signals, two universal histone modifications for active enhancers, surrounding rs2736098. Therefore, we hypothesized that rs2736098 might be within an enhancer region, regulate TERT expression and influence cancer risk. Through luciferase assay, it was verified that the enhancer activity of rs2736098C allele is significantly higher than that of T in multiple tissues. Transfection of plasmids containing TERT coding region with two different alleles indicated that rs2736098C allele can induce a significantly higher TERT expression than T. By chromatin immunoprecipitation, it was observed that the fragment spanning rs2736098 can interact with USF1 (upstream transcription factor 1). The two alleles of rs2736098 present evidently different binding affinity with nuclear proteins. Database and literature search indicated that rs2736098 is significantly associated with carcinogenesis in multiple tissues and count of multiple cell types. All these facts indicated that rs2736098 is also an oncogenic polymorphism and plays important role in cell proliferation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin-Xin Zhang
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710119, PR China
| | - Xin-Yi Yu
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710119, PR China
| | - Shuang-Jia Xu
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710119, PR China
| | - Xiao-Qian Shi
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710119, PR China
| | - Ying Chen
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710119, PR China
| | - Qiang Shi
- College of Biology Pharmacy and Food Engineering, Shangluo University, Shangluo, Shaanxi, 726000, PR China
| | - Chang Sun
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710119, PR China
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47
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Chang Z, Wang S, Liu K, Lin R, Liu C, Zhang J, Wei D, Nie Y, Chen Y, He J, Li H, Cheng ZJ, Sun B. Peripheral blood indicators and COVID-19: an observational and bidirectional Mendelian randomization study. BMC Med Genomics 2024; 17:81. [PMID: 38549094 PMCID: PMC10979573 DOI: 10.1186/s12920-024-01844-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 04/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Blood is critical for health, supporting key functions like immunity and oxygen transport. While studies have found links between common blood clinical indicators and COVID-19, they cannot provide causal inference due to residual confounding and reverse causality. To identify indicators affecting COVID-19, we analyzed clinical data (n = 2,293, aged 18-65 years) from Guangzhou Medical University's first affiliated hospital (2022-present), identifying 34 significant indicators differentiating COVID-19 patients from healthy controls. Utilizing bidirectional Mendelian randomization analyses, integrating data from over 2.46 million participants from various large-scale studies, we established causal links for six blood indicators with COVID-19 risk, five of which is consistent with our observational findings. Specifically, elevated Troponin I and Platelet Distribution Width levels are linked with increased COVID-19 susceptibility, whereas higher Hematocrit, Hemoglobin, and Neutrophil counts confer a protective effect. Reverse MR analysis confirmed four blood biomarkers influenced by COVID-19, aligning with our observational data for three of them. Notably, COVID-19 exhibited a positive causal relationship with Troponin I (Tnl) and Serum Amyloid Protein A, while a negative association was observed with Plateletcrit. These findings may help identify high-risk individuals and provide further direction on the management of COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenglin Chang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, China
- Guangzhou Laboratory, Guangzhou International Bio Island, XingDaoHuanBei Road, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, 510005, China
| | - Suilin Wang
- Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Kemin Liu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, China
| | - Runpei Lin
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, China
| | - Changlian Liu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, China
| | - Jiale Zhang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, China
| | - Daqiang Wei
- Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510230, Guangdong, China
| | - Yuxi Nie
- Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510230, Guangdong, China
| | - Yuerong Chen
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, China
| | - Jiawei He
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, China
| | - Haiyang Li
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, China.
| | - Zhangkai J Cheng
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, China.
- Guangzhou Laboratory, Guangzhou International Bio Island, XingDaoHuanBei Road, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, 510005, China.
| | - Baoqing Sun
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, National Center for Respiratory Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510120, Guangdong, China.
- Guangzhou Laboratory, Guangzhou International Bio Island, XingDaoHuanBei Road, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, 510005, China.
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Liu Y, Zhu Q, Guo G, Xie Z, Li S, Lai C, Wu Y, Wang L, Zhong S. Causal associations of genetically predicted gut microbiota and blood metabolites with inflammatory states and risk of infections: a Mendelian randomization analysis. Front Microbiol 2024; 15:1342653. [PMID: 38585702 PMCID: PMC10995310 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1342653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 02/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Inflammation serves as a key pathologic mediator in the progression of infections and various diseases, involving significant alterations in the gut microbiome and metabolism. This study aims to probe into the potential causal relationships between gut microbial taxa and human blood metabolites with various serum inflammatory markers (CRP, SAA1, IL-6, TNF-α, WBC, and GlycA) and the risks of seven common infections (gastrointestinal infections, dysentery, pneumonia, bacterial pneumonia, bronchopneumonia and lung abscess, pneumococcal pneumonia, and urinary tract infections). Methods Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was performed using inverse variance weighted (IVW), maximum likelihood, MR-Egger, weighted median, and MR-PRESSO. Results After adding other MR models and sensitivity analyses, genus Roseburia was simultaneously associated adversely with CRP (Beta IVW = -0.040) and SAA1 (Beta IVW = -0.280), and family Bifidobacteriaceae was negatively associated with both CRP (Beta IVW = -0.034) and pneumonia risk (Beta IVW = -0.391). After correction by FDR, only glutaroyl carnitine remained significantly associated with elevated CRP levels (Beta IVW = 0.112). Additionally, threonine (Beta IVW = 0.200) and 1-heptadecanoylglycerophosphocholine (Beta IVW = -0.246) were found to be significantly associated with WBC levels. Three metabolites showed similar causal effects on different inflammatory markers or infectious phenotypes, stearidonate (18:4n3) was negatively related to SAA1 and urinary tract infections, and 5-oxoproline contributed to elevated IL-6 and SAA1 levels. In addition, 7-methylguanine showed a positive correlation with dysentery and bacterial pneumonia. Conclusion This study provides novel evidence confirming the causal effects of the gut microbiome and the plasma metabolite profile on inflammation and the risk of infection. These potential molecular alterations may aid in the development of new targets for the intervention and management of disorders associated with inflammation and infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingjian Liu
- Department of Pharmacy, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Qian Zhu
- Department of Neurosurgery, Huizhou Third People's Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Huizhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Gongjie Guo
- Department of Pharmacy, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Zhipeng Xie
- Department of Pharmacy, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Senlin Li
- Department of Pharmacy, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Chengyang Lai
- Department of Pharmacy, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Yonglin Wu
- School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
| | - Liansheng Wang
- Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital (Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences), Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shilong Zhong
- Department of Pharmacy, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
- Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital (Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences), Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China
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49
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Yeyeodu S, Hanafi D, Webb K, Laurie NA, Kimbro KS. Population-enriched innate immune variants may identify candidate gene targets at the intersection of cancer and cardio-metabolic disease. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2024; 14:1286979. [PMID: 38577257 PMCID: PMC10991756 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1286979] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 04/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Both cancer and cardio-metabolic disease disparities exist among specific populations in the US. For example, African Americans experience the highest rates of breast and prostate cancer mortality and the highest incidence of obesity. Native and Hispanic Americans experience the highest rates of liver cancer mortality. At the same time, Pacific Islanders have the highest death rate attributed to type 2 diabetes (T2D), and Asian Americans experience the highest incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and cancers induced by infectious agents. Notably, the pathologic progression of both cancer and cardio-metabolic diseases involves innate immunity and mechanisms of inflammation. Innate immunity in individuals is established through genetic inheritance and external stimuli to respond to environmental threats and stresses such as pathogen exposure. Further, individual genomes contain characteristic genetic markers associated with one or more geographic ancestries (ethnic groups), including protective innate immune genetic programming optimized for survival in their corresponding ancestral environment(s). This perspective explores evidence related to our working hypothesis that genetic variations in innate immune genes, particularly those that are commonly found but unevenly distributed between populations, are associated with disparities between populations in both cancer and cardio-metabolic diseases. Identifying conventional and unconventional innate immune genes that fit this profile may provide critical insights into the underlying mechanisms that connect these two families of complex diseases and offer novel targets for precision-based treatment of cancer and/or cardio-metabolic disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan Yeyeodu
- Julius L Chambers Biomedical/Biotechnology Institute (JLC-BBRI), North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC, United States
- Charles River Discovery Services, Morrisville, NC, United States
| | - Donia Hanafi
- Julius L Chambers Biomedical/Biotechnology Institute (JLC-BBRI), North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Kenisha Webb
- Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Immunology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
| | - Nikia A. Laurie
- Julius L Chambers Biomedical/Biotechnology Institute (JLC-BBRI), North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC, United States
| | - K. Sean Kimbro
- Department of Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Immunology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
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50
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Strausz S, Abner E, Blacker G, Galloway S, Hansen P, Feng Q, Lee BT, Jones SE, Haapaniemi H, Raak S, Nahass GR, Sanders E, Soodla P, Võsa U, Esko T, Sinnott-Armstrong N, Weissman IL, Daly M, Aivelo T, Tal MC, Ollila HM. SCGB1D2 inhibits growth of Borrelia burgdorferi and affects susceptibility to Lyme disease. Nat Commun 2024; 15:2041. [PMID: 38503741 PMCID: PMC10950847 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-45983-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Lyme disease is a tick-borne disease caused by bacteria of the genus Borrelia. The host factors that modulate susceptibility for Lyme disease have remained mostly unknown. Using epidemiological and genetic data from FinnGen and Estonian Biobank, we identify two previously known variants and an unknown common missense variant at the gene encoding for Secretoglobin family 1D member 2 (SCGB1D2) protein that increases the susceptibility for Lyme disease. Using live Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) we find that recombinant reference SCGB1D2 protein inhibits the growth of Bb in vitro more efficiently than the recombinant protein with SCGB1D2 P53L deleterious missense variant. Finally, using an in vivo murine infection model we show that recombinant SCGB1D2 prevents infection by Borrelia in vivo. Together, these data suggest that SCGB1D2 is a host defense factor present in the skin, sweat, and other secretions which protects against Bb infection and opens an exciting therapeutic avenue for Lyme disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satu Strausz
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Plastic Surgery, Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Center, Helsinki University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Erik Abner
- Estonian Genome Centre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Grace Blacker
- Institute for Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Sarah Galloway
- Institute for Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Paige Hansen
- Institute for Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Qingying Feng
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Brandon T Lee
- Institute for Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Samuel E Jones
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Hele Haapaniemi
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Sten Raak
- Estonian Genome Centre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - George Ronald Nahass
- Institute for Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Richard and Loan Hill Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Erin Sanders
- Institute for Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Pilleriin Soodla
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Internal Medicine Clinic, Tartu University Hospital, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Urmo Võsa
- Estonian Genome Centre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Tõnu Esko
- Estonian Genome Centre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | - Nasa Sinnott-Armstrong
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Herbold Computational Biology Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Irving L Weissman
- Institute for Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Mark Daly
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Tuomas Aivelo
- Organismal and Evolutionary Biology Research Program, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Michal Caspi Tal
- Institute for Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
- Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Hanna M Ollila
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, MA, USA.
- Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
- Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
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