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Nielsen TRH, Appel EVR, Svendstrup M, Ohrt JD, Dahl M, Fonvig CE, Hollensted M, Have CT, Kadarmideen HN, Pedersen O, Hansen T, Holm JC, Grarup N. A genome-wide association study of thyroid stimulating hormone and free thyroxine in Danish children and adolescents. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0174204. [PMID: 28333968 PMCID: PMC5363901 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0174204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2016] [Accepted: 03/06/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Hypothyroidism is associated with obesity, and thyroid hormones are involved in the regulation of body composition, including fat mass. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in adults have identified 19 and 6 loci associated with plasma concentrations of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (fT4), respectively. Objective This study aimed to identify and characterize genetic variants associated with circulating TSH and fT4 in Danish children and adolescents and to examine whether these variants associate with obesity. Methods Genome-wide association analyses of imputed genotype data with fasting plasma concentrations of TSH and fT4 from a population-based sample of Danish children, adolescents, and young adults, and a group of children, adolescents, and young adults with overweight and obesity were performed (N = 1,764, mean age = 12.0 years [range 2.5−24.7]). Replication was performed in additional comparable samples (N = 2,097, mean age = 11.8 years [1.2−22.8]). Meta-analyses, using linear additive fixed-effect models, were performed on the results of the discovery and replication analyses. Results No novel loci associated with TSH or fT4 were identified. Four loci previously associated with TSH in adults were confirmed in this study population (PDE10A (rs2983511: β = 0.112SD, p = 4.8 ∙ 10−16), FOXE1 (rs7847663: β = 0.223SD, p = 1.5 ∙ 10−20), NR3C2 (rs9968300: β = 0.194SD), p = 2.4 ∙ 10−11), VEGFA (rs2396083: β = 0.088SD, p = 2.2 ∙ 10−10)). Effect sizes of variants known to associate with TSH or fT4 in adults showed a similar direction of effect in our cohort of children and adolescents, 11 of which were associated with TSH or fT4 in our study (p<0.0002). None of the TSH or fT4 associated SNPs were associated with obesity in our cohort, indicating no pleiotropic effects of these variants on obesity. Conclusion In a group of Danish children and adolescents, four loci previously associated with plasma TSH concentrations in adults, were associated with plasma TSH concentrations in children, suggesting comparable genetic determinants of thyroid function in adults and children.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tenna Ruest Haarmark Nielsen
- The Children’s Obesity Clinic, Department of Pediatrics, Copenhagen University Hospital Holbæk, Holbæk, Denmark
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Section of Metabolic Genetics, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Emil Vincent Rosenbaum Appel
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Section of Metabolic Genetics, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Mathilde Svendstrup
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Section of Metabolic Genetics, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Danish Diabetes Academy, Odense, Denmark
| | - Johanne Dam Ohrt
- The Children’s Obesity Clinic, Department of Pediatrics, Copenhagen University Hospital Holbæk, Holbæk, Denmark
| | - Maria Dahl
- The Children’s Obesity Clinic, Department of Pediatrics, Copenhagen University Hospital Holbæk, Holbæk, Denmark
| | - Cilius Esmann Fonvig
- The Children’s Obesity Clinic, Department of Pediatrics, Copenhagen University Hospital Holbæk, Holbæk, Denmark
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Section of Metabolic Genetics, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Mette Hollensted
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Section of Metabolic Genetics, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Christian Theil Have
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Section of Metabolic Genetics, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Haja N. Kadarmideen
- Department of Large Animal Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark
- Department of Bio and Health Informatics, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Oluf Pedersen
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Section of Metabolic Genetics, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Torben Hansen
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Section of Metabolic Genetics, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- * E-mail: (TH); (JCH); (NG)
| | - Jens-Christian Holm
- The Children’s Obesity Clinic, Department of Pediatrics, Copenhagen University Hospital Holbæk, Holbæk, Denmark
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Section of Metabolic Genetics, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- * E-mail: (TH); (JCH); (NG)
| | - Niels Grarup
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research, Section of Metabolic Genetics, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- * E-mail: (TH); (JCH); (NG)
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Wang Y, Li W, Phay JE, Shen R, Pellegata NS, Saji M, Ringel MD, de la Chapelle A, He H. Primary Cell Culture Systems for Human Thyroid Studies. Thyroid 2016; 26:1131-40. [PMID: 27296473 PMCID: PMC4976228 DOI: 10.1089/thy.2015.0518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cell models are key instruments for in vitro studies of the thyroid. Permanent thyroid cell lines that are widely used in laboratory research typically originate from tumors. For many purposes, it is desirable to compare tumor cells with cells originating from normal tissue. However, such cultures grow slowly, have a highly limited life-span, and are known to lose their thyroid characteristics. The aim of the present study was to type coding and noncoding thyroid markers in different culture systems in an attempt to determine the optimal conditions for in vitro experimentation. METHODS Human primary thyroid cells were isolated from histologically non-tumorous tissues. Two alternative media (6H and h7H) were used. The morphology and behavior of the ensuing monolayer (two-dimensional) cultures was monitored by microscopy. The expression of key thyroid-related genes (n = 9) was monitored by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction on days 8, 21, and 43 after initiation. As a pilot study, the same markers were studied in a three-dimensional hanging-drop culture system. RESULTS In the cultures with 6H or h7H medium, the primary thyroid cells displayed growth in numbers and size. Most cells retained the main morphological characteristics of thyroid cells throughout the first two weeks of culture, and fibroblast-like cells appeared around day 19. By day 21, most thyroid gene markers were retained, but by day 43, several markers were no longer present. The lncRNA transcripts PTCSC2 (spliced) and PTCSC3 were the first to disappear. There were no fundamental differences between the two media in the early period of culture. In the three-dimensional system, most thyroid markers were retained by day 21. CONCLUSION Cultures of thyroid cells retain many thyroid characteristics up to day 21. Thereafter, fibroblast-like dedifferentiated cells begin to dominate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanqiang Wang
- Human Cancer Genetics Program and Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
| | - Wei Li
- Human Cancer Genetics Program and Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
| | - John E. Phay
- Department of Surgery, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
| | - Rulong Shen
- Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
| | - Natalia S. Pellegata
- Helmholtz Zentrum München, Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH), Institut für Pathologie, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Motoyasu Saji
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
| | - Matthew D. Ringel
- Human Cancer Genetics Program and Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
- Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
| | - Albert de la Chapelle
- Human Cancer Genetics Program and Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
| | - Huiling He
- Human Cancer Genetics Program and Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
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Lidral AC, Liu H, Bullard SA, Bonde G, Machida J, Visel A, Uribe LMM, Li X, Amendt B, Cornell RA. A single nucleotide polymorphism associated with isolated cleft lip and palate, thyroid cancer and hypothyroidism alters the activity of an oral epithelium and thyroid enhancer near FOXE1. Hum Mol Genet 2015; 24:3895-907. [PMID: 25652407 PMCID: PMC4476440 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddv047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2014] [Accepted: 02/02/2015] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Three common diseases, isolated cleft lip and cleft palate (CLP), hypothyroidism and thyroid cancer all map to the FOXE1 locus, but causative variants have yet to be identified. In patients with CLP, the frequency of coding mutations in FOXE1 fails to account for the risk attributable to this locus, suggesting that the common risk alleles reside in nearby regulatory elements. Using a combination of zebrafish and mouse transgenesis, we screened 15 conserved non-coding sequences for enhancer activity, identifying three that regulate expression in a tissue specific pattern consistent with endogenous foxe1 expression. These three, located -82.4, -67.7 and +22.6 kb from the FOXE1 start codon, are all active in the oral epithelium or branchial arches. The -67.7 and +22.6 kb elements are also active in the developing heart, and the -67.7 kb element uniquely directs expression in the developing thyroid. Within the -67.7 kb element is the SNP rs7850258 that is associated with all three diseases. Quantitative reporter assays in oral epithelial and thyroid cell lines show that the rs7850258 allele (G) associated with CLP and hypothyroidism has significantly greater enhancer activity than the allele associated with thyroid cancer (A). Moreover, consistent with predicted transcription factor binding differences, the -67.7 kb element containing rs7850258 allele G is significantly more responsive to both MYC and ARNT than allele A. By demonstrating that this common non-coding variant alters FOXE1 expression, we have identified at least in part the functional basis for the genetic risk of these seemingly disparate disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Huan Liu
- Dows Research Institute, State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Basic Science of Stomatology (Hubei-MOST) and Key Laboratory for Oral Biomedicine of Ministry of Education, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430079, China
| | | | - Greg Bonde
- Department of Anatomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Junichiro Machida
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Toyota Memorial Hospital, Toyota City, Aichi, Japan
| | - Axel Visel
- Genomics Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, USA and Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA, USA
| | | | - Xiao Li
- Department of Anatomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Brad Amendt
- Department of Anatomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
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He H, Li W, Liyanarachchi S, Jendrzejewski J, Srinivas M, Davuluri RV, Nagy R, de la Chapelle A. Genetic predisposition to papillary thyroid carcinoma: involvement of FOXE1, TSHR, and a novel lincRNA gene, PTCSC2. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2015; 100:E164-72. [PMID: 25303483 PMCID: PMC4283026 DOI: 10.1210/jc.2014-2147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
CONTEXT By genome-wide association studies, the risk allele [A] of SNP rs965513 predisposes strongly to papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC). It is located in a gene-poor region of 9q22, some 60 kb from the FOXE1 gene. The underlying mechanisms remain to be discovered. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to identify novel transcripts in the 9q22 locus and correlate gene expression levels with the genotypes of rs965513. DESIGN We performed 3' and 5' rapid amplification of cDNA ends and RT-PCR to detect novel transcripts. One novel transcript was forcibly expressed in a cell line followed by gene expression array analysis. We genotyped rs965513 from PTC patients and measured gene expression levels by real-time RT-PCR in unaffected thyroid tissue and matched tumor. SETTING This was a laboratory-based study using cells from clinical tissue samples and a cancer cell line. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES We detected previously uncharacterized transcripts and evaluated the gene expression levels and the correlation with the risk allele of rs965513, age, gender, chronic lymphocyte thyroiditis (CLT), and TSH levels. RESULTS We found a novel long intergenic noncoding RNA gene and named it papillary thyroid cancer susceptibility candidate 2 (PTCSC2). Transcripts of PTCSC2 are down-regulated in PTC tumors. The risk allele [A] of rs965513 was significantly associated with low expression of unspliced PTCSC2, FOXE1, and TSHR in unaffected thyroid tissue. We also observed a significant association of age and CLT with PTCSC2 unspliced transcript levels. The correlation between the rs965513 genotype and the PTCSC2 unspliced transcript levels remained significant after adjusting for age, gender, and CLT. Forced expression of PTCSC2 in the BCPAP cell line affected the expression of a subset of noncoding and coding transcripts with enrichment of genes functionally involved in cell cycle and cancer. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest a role for PTCSC2, FOXE1, and TSHR in the predisposition to PTC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huiling He
- Human Cancer Genetics Program and Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology, and Medical Genetics (H.H., W.L., S.L., J.J., M.S., R.N., A.d.l.C), and Department of Internal Medicine (R.N.), Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210; and Division of Health and Biomedical Informatics, Department of Preventive Medicine, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center (R.V.D.), Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois 60611
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Genetic variants associated with serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels in European Americans and African Americans from the eMERGE Network. PLoS One 2014; 9:e111301. [PMID: 25436638 PMCID: PMC4249871 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0111301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2014] [Accepted: 08/31/2014] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) hormone levels are normally tightly regulated within an individual; thus, relatively small variations may indicate thyroid disease. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified variants in PDE8B and FOXE1 that are associated with TSH levels. However, prior studies lacked racial/ethnic diversity, limiting the generalization of these findings to individuals of non-European ethnicities. The Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) Network is a collaboration across institutions with biobanks linked to electronic medical records (EMRs). The eMERGE Network uses EMR-derived phenotypes to perform GWAS in diverse populations for a variety of phenotypes. In this report, we identified serum TSH levels from 4,501 European American and 351 African American euthyroid individuals in the eMERGE Network with existing GWAS data. Tests of association were performed using linear regression and adjusted for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and principal components, assuming an additive genetic model. Our results replicate the known association of PDE8B with serum TSH levels in European Americans (rs2046045 p = 1.85×10−17, β = 0.09). FOXE1 variants, associated with hypothyroidism, were not genome-wide significant (rs10759944: p = 1.08×10−6, β = −0.05). No SNPs reached genome-wide significance in African Americans. However, multiple known associations with TSH levels in European ancestry were nominally significant in African Americans, including PDE8B (rs2046045 p = 0.03, β = −0.09), VEGFA (rs11755845 p = 0.01, β = −0.13), and NFIA (rs334699 p = 1.50×10−3, β = −0.17). We found little evidence that SNPs previously associated with other thyroid-related disorders were associated with serum TSH levels in this study. These results support the previously reported association between PDE8B and serum TSH levels in European Americans and emphasize the need for additional genetic studies in more diverse populations.
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