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Li D, Wang Q, Tian Y, Lyv X, Zhang H, Hong H, Gao H, Li YF, Zhao C, Wang J, Wang R, Yang J, Liu B, Schnable PS, Schnable JC, Li YH, Qiu LJ. TWAS facilitates gene-scale trait genetic dissection through gene expression, structural variations, and alternative splicing in soybean. PLANT COMMUNICATIONS 2024; 5:101010. [PMID: 38918950 DOI: 10.1016/j.xplc.2024.101010] [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: 12/13/2023] [Revised: 05/15/2024] [Accepted: 06/23/2024] [Indexed: 06/27/2024]
Abstract
A genome-wide association study (GWAS) identifies trait-associated loci, but identifying the causal genes can be a bottleneck, due in part to slow decay of linkage disequilibrium (LD). A transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) addresses this issue by identifying gene expression-phenotype associations or integrating gene expression quantitative trait loci with GWAS results. Here, we used self-pollinated soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) as a model to evaluate the application of TWAS to the genetic dissection of traits in plant species with slow LD decay. We generated RNA sequencing data for a soybean diversity panel and identified the genetic expression regulation of 29 286 soybean genes. Different TWAS solutions were less affected by LD and were robust to the source of expression, identifing known genes related to traits from different tissues and developmental stages. The novel pod-color gene L2 was identified via TWAS and functionally validated by genome editing. By introducing a new exon proportion feature, we significantly improved the detection of expression variations that resulted from structural variations and alternative splicing. As a result, the genes identified through our TWAS approach exhibited a diverse range of causal variations, including SNPs, insertions or deletions, gene fusion, copy number variations, and alternative splicing. Using this approach, we identified genes associated with flowering time, including both previously known genes and novel genes that had not previously been linked to this trait, providing insights complementary to those from GWAS. In summary, this study supports the application of TWAS for candidate gene identification in species with low rates of LD decay.
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Affiliation(s)
- Delin Li
- The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement (NFCRI)/Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resource and Germplasm Enhancement (MOA)/State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Qi Wang
- The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement (NFCRI)/Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resource and Germplasm Enhancement (MOA)/State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China; College of Agriculture, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, China
| | - Yu Tian
- The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement (NFCRI)/Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resource and Germplasm Enhancement (MOA)/State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Xiangguang Lyv
- The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement (NFCRI)/Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resource and Germplasm Enhancement (MOA)/State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Hao Zhang
- The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement (NFCRI)/Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resource and Germplasm Enhancement (MOA)/State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Huilong Hong
- The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement (NFCRI)/Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resource and Germplasm Enhancement (MOA)/State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Huawei Gao
- The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement (NFCRI)/Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resource and Germplasm Enhancement (MOA)/State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China; National Nanfan Research Institute (Sanya), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Sanya 572024, China
| | - Yan-Fei Li
- The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement (NFCRI)/Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resource and Germplasm Enhancement (MOA)/State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Chaosen Zhao
- Crops Research Institute of Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang 330200, China
| | - Jiajun Wang
- Soybean Research Institute, Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin 150086, China
| | - Ruizhen Wang
- Crops Research Institute of Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang 330200, China
| | - Jinliang Yang
- Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA
| | - Bin Liu
- The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement (NFCRI)/Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resource and Germplasm Enhancement (MOA)/State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | | | - James C Schnable
- Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA.
| | - Ying-Hui Li
- The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement (NFCRI)/Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resource and Germplasm Enhancement (MOA)/State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
| | - Li-Juan Qiu
- The National Key Facility for Crop Gene Resources and Genetic Improvement (NFCRI)/Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resource and Germplasm Enhancement (MOA)/State Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China.
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Cao C, Tian M, Li Z, Zhu W, Huang P, Yang S. GWAShug: a comprehensive platform for decoding the shared genetic basis between complex traits based on summary statistics. Nucleic Acids Res 2024:gkae873. [PMID: 39380491 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkae873] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2024] [Revised: 09/14/2024] [Accepted: 09/24/2024] [Indexed: 10/10/2024] Open
Abstract
The shared genetic basis offers very valuable insights into the etiology, diagnosis and therapy of complex traits. However, a comprehensive resource providing shared genetic basis using the accessible summary statistics is currently lacking. It is challenging to analyze the shared genetic basis due to the difficulty in selecting parameters and the complexity of pipeline implementation. To address these issues, we introduce GWAShug, a platform featuring a standardized best-practice pipeline with four trait level methods and three molecular level methods. Based on stringent quality control, the GWAShug resource module includes 539 high-quality GWAS summary statistics for European and East Asian populations, covering 54 945 pairs between a measurement-based and a disease-based trait and 43 902 pairs between two disease-based traits. Users can easily search for shared genetic basis information by trait name, MeSH term and category, and access detailed gene information across different trait pairs. The platform facilitates interactive visualization and analysis of shared genetic basic results, allowing users to explore data dynamically. Results can be conveniently downloaded via FTP links. Additionally, we offer an online analysis module that allows users to analyze their own summary statistics, providing comprehensive tables, figures and interactive visualization and analysis. GWAShug is freely accessible at http://www.gwashug.com.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chen Cao
- Key Laboratory for Bio-Electromagnetic Environment and Advanced Medical Theranostics, School of Biomedical Engineering and Informatics, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 211166, China
| | - Min Tian
- Key Laboratory for Bio-Electromagnetic Environment and Advanced Medical Theranostics, School of Biomedical Engineering and Informatics, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 211166, China
| | - Zhenghui Li
- Key Laboratory for Bio-Electromagnetic Environment and Advanced Medical Theranostics, School of Biomedical Engineering and Informatics, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 211166, China
| | - Wenyan Zhu
- Department of Biostatistics, Centre for Global Health, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 211166, China
| | - Peng Huang
- Department of Epidemiology, Centre for Global Health, School of Public Health, National Vaccine Innovation Platform, Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety and Emergency Prevention and Control Technology of Higher Education Institutions in Jiangsu Province, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 211166, China
| | - Sheng Yang
- Department of Biostatistics, Centre for Global Health, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 211166, China
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Carnes MU, Quach BC, Zhou L, Han S, Tao R, Mandal M, Deep-Soboslay A, Marks JA, Page GP, Maher BS, Jaffe AE, Won H, Bierut LJ, Hyde TM, Kleinman JE, Johnson EO, Hancock DB. Smoking-informed methylation and expression QTLs in human brain and colocalization with smoking-associated genetic loci. Neuropsychopharmacology 2024; 49:1749-1757. [PMID: 38830989 PMCID: PMC11399277 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-024-01885-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2023] [Revised: 04/19/2024] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 06/05/2024]
Abstract
Smoking is a leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality. Smoking is heritable, and genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of smoking behaviors have identified hundreds of significant loci. Most GWAS-identified variants are noncoding with unknown neurobiological effects. We used genome-wide genotype, DNA methylation, and RNA sequencing data in postmortem human nucleus accumbens (NAc) to identify cis-methylation/expression quantitative trait loci (meQTLs/eQTLs), investigate variant-by-cigarette smoking interactions across the genome, and overlay QTL evidence at smoking GWAS-identified loci to evaluate their regulatory potential. Active smokers (N = 52) and nonsmokers (N = 171) were defined based on cotinine biomarker levels and next-of-kin reporting. We simultaneously tested variant and variant-by-smoking interaction effects on methylation and expression, separately, adjusting for biological and technical covariates and correcting for multiple testing using a two-stage procedure. We found >2 million significant meQTL variants (padj < 0.05) corresponding to 41,695 unique CpGs. Results were largely driven by main effects, and five meQTLs, mapping to NUDT12, FAM53B, RNF39, and ADRA1B, showed a significant interaction with smoking. We found 57,683 significant eQTL variants for 958 unique eGenes (padj < 0.05) and no smoking interactions. Colocalization analyses identified loci with smoking-associated GWAS variants that overlapped meQTLs/eQTLs, suggesting that these heritable factors may influence smoking behaviors through functional effects on methylation/expression. One locus containing MUSTN1 and ITIH4 colocalized across all data types (GWAS, meQTL, and eQTL). In this first genome-wide meQTL map in the human NAc, the enriched overlap with smoking GWAS-identified genetic loci provides evidence that gene regulation in the brain helps explain the neurobiology of smoking behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan Ulmer Carnes
- Genomics and Translational Research Center, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Bryan C Quach
- Genomics and Translational Research Center, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Linran Zhou
- Genomics and Translational Research Center, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Shizhong Han
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD), Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Ran Tao
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD), Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Meisha Mandal
- Genomics and Translational Research Center, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | | | - Jesse A Marks
- Genomics and Translational Research Center, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Grier P Page
- Genomics and Translational Research Center, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
- Fellow Program, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Brion S Maher
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Andrew E Jaffe
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD), Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Hyejung Won
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Laura J Bierut
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Thomas M Hyde
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD), Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Joel E Kleinman
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD), Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Eric O Johnson
- Genomics and Translational Research Center, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
- Fellow Program, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA
| | - Dana B Hancock
- Genomics and Translational Research Center, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
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Akamatsu K, Golzari S, Amariuta T. Powerful mapping of cis -genetic effects on gene expression across diverse populations reveals novel disease-critical genes. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2024:2024.09.25.24314410. [PMID: 39399015 PMCID: PMC11469471 DOI: 10.1101/2024.09.25.24314410] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/15/2024]
Abstract
While disease-associated variants identified by genome-wide association studies (GWAS) most likely regulate gene expression levels, linking variants to target genes is critical to determining the functional mechanisms of these variants. Genetic effects on gene expression have been extensively characterized by expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) studies, yet data from non-European populations is limited. This restricts our understanding of disease to genes whose regulatory variants are common in European populations. While previous work has leveraged data from multiple populations to improve GWAS power and polygenic risk score (PRS) accuracy, multi-ancestry data has not yet been used to better estimate cis -genetic effects on gene expression. Here, we present a new method, Multi-Ancestry Gene Expression Prediction Regularized Optimization (MAGEPRO), which constructs robust genetic models of gene expression in understudied populations or cell types by fitting a regularized linear combination of eQTL summary data across diverse cohorts. In simulations, our tool generates more accurate models of gene expression than widely-used LASSO and the state-of-the-art multi-ancestry PRS method, PRS-CSx, adapted to gene expression prediction. We attribute this improvement to MAGEPRO's ability to more accurately estimate causal eQTL effect sizes ( p < 3.98 × 10 -4 , two-sided paired t-test). With real data, we applied MAGEPRO to 8 eQTL cohorts representing 3 ancestries (average n = 355) and consistently outperformed each of 6 competing methods in gene expression prediction tasks. Integration with GWAS summary statistics across 66 complex traits (representing 22 phenotypes and 3 ancestries) resulted in 2,331 new gene-trait associations, many of which replicate across multiple ancestries, including PHTF1 linked to white blood cell count, a gene which is overexpressed in leukemia patients. MAGEPRO also identified biologically plausible novel findings, such as PIGB , an essential component of GPI biosynthesis, associated with heart failure, which has been previously evidenced by clinical outcome data. Overall, MAGEPRO is a powerful tool to enhance inference of gene regulatory effects in underpowered datasets and has improved our understanding of population-specific and shared genetic effects on complex traits.
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Yamamoto Y, Shirai Y, Edahiro R, Kumanogoh A, Okada Y. Large-scale cross-trait genetic analysis highlights shared genetic backgrounds of autoimmune diseases. Immunol Med 2024:1-10. [PMID: 39171621 DOI: 10.1080/25785826.2024.2394258] [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: 06/25/2024] [Accepted: 08/15/2024] [Indexed: 08/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Disorders associated with the immune system burden multiple organs, although the shared biology exists across the diseases. Preceding family-based studies reveal that immune diseases are heritable to varying degrees, providing the basis for immunogenomics. The recent cost reduction in genetic analysis intensively promotes biobank-scale studies and the development of frameworks for statistical genetics. The accumulating multi-layer omics data, including genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and RNA-sequencing at single-cell resolution, enable us to dissect the genetic backgrounds of immune-related disorders. Although autoimmune and allergic diseases are generally categorized into different disease categories, epidemiological studies reveal the high incidence of autoimmune and allergic disease complications, suggesting the shared genetics and biology between the disease categories. Biobank resources and consortia cover multiple immune-related disorders to accumulate phenome-wide associations of genetic variants and enhance researchers to analyze the shared and heterogeneous genetic backgrounds. The emerging post-GWAS and integrative multi-omics analyses provide genetic and biological insights into the multicategorical disease associations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuji Yamamoto
- Department of Statistical Genetics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan
- Department of Respiratory Medicine and Clinical Immunology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan
| | - Yuya Shirai
- Department of Statistical Genetics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan
- Department of Respiratory Medicine and Clinical Immunology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan
- Laboratory of Statistical Immunology, Immunology Frontier Research Center (WPI-IFReC), Osaka University, Suita, Japan
- RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences, Laboratory for Systems Genetics, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Ryuya Edahiro
- Department of Statistical Genetics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan
- Department of Respiratory Medicine and Clinical Immunology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan
- RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences, Laboratory for Systems Genetics, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Atsushi Kumanogoh
- Department of Respiratory Medicine and Clinical Immunology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan
- Department of Immunopathology, Immunology Frontier Research Center (WPI-IFReC), Osaka University, Suita, Japan
- Integrated Frontier Research for Medical Science Division, Institute for Open and Transdisciplinary Research Initiatives (OTRI), Osaka University, Suita, Japan
- Center for Infectious Diseases for Education and Research (CiDER), Osaka University, Suita, Japan
- Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology (AMED-CREST), Tokyo, Japan
- Center for Advanced Modalities and DDS (CAMaD), Osaka University, Suita, Japan
| | - Yukinori Okada
- Department of Statistical Genetics, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan
- Laboratory of Statistical Immunology, Immunology Frontier Research Center (WPI-IFReC), Osaka University, Suita, Japan
- RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences, Laboratory for Systems Genetics, Yokohama, Japan
- Center for Infectious Diseases for Education and Research (CiDER), Osaka University, Suita, Japan
- Center for Advanced Modalities and DDS (CAMaD), Osaka University, Suita, Japan
- Department of Genome Informatics, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Premium Research Institute for Human Metaverse Medicine (WPI-PRIMe), Osaka University, Suita, Japan
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McDaniel AM, Cooley ME, Andrews JO, Bialous S, Buettner-Schmidt K, Heath J, Okoli C, Timmerman GM, Sarna L. Nursing leadership in tobacco dependence treatment to advance health equity: An American Academy of Nursing policy manuscript. Nurs Outlook 2024; 72:102236. [PMID: 39043053 DOI: 10.1016/j.outlook.2024.102236] [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: 12/04/2023] [Revised: 06/15/2024] [Accepted: 06/22/2024] [Indexed: 07/25/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States and is a significant cause of health disparities. PURPOSE The purpose of this paper is to update the Tobacco Control policy paper published over a decade ago by the American Academy of Nursing's Health Behavior Expert Panel Tobacco Control subcommittee. METHODS Members reviewed and synthesized published literature from 2012 to 2024 to identify the current state of the science related to nurse-led tobacco dependence treatment and implications for nursing practice, education, and research. FINDINGS The results confirmed that nurse-led tobacco dependence treatment interventions are successful in enhancing cessation outcomes across settings. DISCUSSION Recommendations for nursing leaders include: promote tobacco dependence treatment as standard care, accelerate research on implementation of evidence-based treatment guidelines, reduce health disparities by extending access to evidence-based treatment, increase nursing competency in providing tobacco treatment, and drive equity-focused tobacco control policies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna M McDaniel
- Health Behavior Expert Panel (Tobacco Control Sub-group), American Academy of Nursing, Washington, DC.
| | - Mary E Cooley
- Health Behavior Expert Panel (Tobacco Control Sub-group), American Academy of Nursing, Washington, DC
| | - Jeannette O Andrews
- Health Behavior Expert Panel (Tobacco Control Sub-group), American Academy of Nursing, Washington, DC
| | - Stella Bialous
- Health Behavior Expert Panel (Tobacco Control Sub-group), American Academy of Nursing, Washington, DC
| | - Kelly Buettner-Schmidt
- Health Behavior Expert Panel (Tobacco Control Sub-group), American Academy of Nursing, Washington, DC
| | - Janie Heath
- Health Behavior Expert Panel (Tobacco Control Sub-group), American Academy of Nursing, Washington, DC
| | - Chizimuzo Okoli
- Health Behavior Expert Panel (Tobacco Control Sub-group), American Academy of Nursing, Washington, DC
| | - Gayle M Timmerman
- Health Behavior Expert Panel (Tobacco Control Sub-group), American Academy of Nursing, Washington, DC
| | - Linda Sarna
- Health Behavior Expert Panel (Tobacco Control Sub-group), American Academy of Nursing, Washington, DC
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Gao G, McClellan J, Barbeira AN, Fiorica PN, Li JL, Mu Z, Olopade OI, Huo D, Im HK. A multi-tissue, splicing-based joint transcriptome-wide association study identifies susceptibility genes for breast cancer. Am J Hum Genet 2024; 111:1100-1113. [PMID: 38733992 PMCID: PMC11179262 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2024.04.010] [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: 10/09/2023] [Revised: 04/13/2024] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Splicing-based transcriptome-wide association studies (splicing-TWASs) of breast cancer have the potential to identify susceptibility genes. However, existing splicing-TWASs test the association of individual excised introns in breast tissue only and thus have limited power to detect susceptibility genes. In this study, we performed a multi-tissue joint splicing-TWAS that integrated splicing-TWAS signals of multiple excised introns in each gene across 11 tissues that are potentially relevant to breast cancer risk. We utilized summary statistics from a meta-analysis that combined genome-wide association study (GWAS) results of 424,650 women of European ancestry. Splicing-level prediction models were trained in GTEx (v.8) data. We identified 240 genes by the multi-tissue joint splicing-TWAS at the Bonferroni-corrected significance level; in the tissue-specific splicing-TWAS that combined TWAS signals of excised introns in genes in breast tissue only, we identified nine additional significant genes. Of these 249 genes, 88 genes in 62 loci have not been reported by previous TWASs, and 17 genes in seven loci are at least 1 Mb away from published GWAS index variants. By comparing the results of our splicing-TWASs with previous gene-expression-based TWASs that used the same summary statistics and expression prediction models trained in the same reference panel, we found that 110 genes in 70 loci that are identified only by the splicing-TWASs. Our results showed that for many genes, expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) did not show a significant impact on breast cancer risk, whereas splicing quantitative trait loci (sQTL) showed a strong impact through intron excision events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guimin Gao
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Julian McClellan
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Alvaro N Barbeira
- Section of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Peter N Fiorica
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - James L Li
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Zepeng Mu
- Section of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Olufunmilayo I Olopade
- Section of Hematology and Oncology, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA
| | - Dezheng Huo
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA; Section of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
| | - Hae Kyung Im
- Section of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
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Toikumo S, Jennings MV, Pham BK, Lee H, Mallard TT, Bianchi SB, Meredith JJ, Vilar-Ribó L, Xu H, Hatoum AS, Johnson EC, Pazdernik VK, Jinwala Z, Pakala SR, Leger BS, Niarchou M, Ehinmowo M, Jenkins GD, Batzler A, Pendegraft R, Palmer AA, Zhou H, Biernacka JM, Coombes BJ, Gelernter J, Xu K, Hancock DB, Cox NJ, Smoller JW, Davis LK, Justice AC, Kranzler HR, Kember RL, Sanchez-Roige S. Multi-ancestry meta-analysis of tobacco use disorder identifies 461 potential risk genes and reveals associations with multiple health outcomes. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:1177-1193. [PMID: 38632388 PMCID: PMC11199106 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01851-6] [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: 03/24/2023] [Accepted: 02/21/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024]
Abstract
Tobacco use disorder (TUD) is the most prevalent substance use disorder in the world. Genetic factors influence smoking behaviours and although strides have been made using genome-wide association studies to identify risk variants, most variants identified have been for nicotine consumption, rather than TUD. Here we leveraged four US biobanks to perform a multi-ancestral meta-analysis of TUD (derived via electronic health records) in 653,790 individuals (495,005 European, 114,420 African American and 44,365 Latin American) and data from UK Biobank (ncombined = 898,680). We identified 88 independent risk loci; integration with functional genomic tools uncovered 461 potential risk genes, primarily expressed in the brain. TUD was genetically correlated with smoking and psychiatric traits from traditionally ascertained cohorts, externalizing behaviours in children and hundreds of medical outcomes, including HIV infection, heart disease and pain. This work furthers our biological understanding of TUD and establishes electronic health records as a source of phenotypic information for studying the genetics of TUD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sylvanus Toikumo
- Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Crescenz VAMC, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Mariela V Jennings
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Benjamin K Pham
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Hyunjoon Lee
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Travis T Mallard
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Center for Precision Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Sevim B Bianchi
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - John J Meredith
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Laura Vilar-Ribó
- Psychiatric Genetics Unit, Group of Psychiatry, Mental Health and Addiction, Vall d'Hebron Research Institute (VHIR), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Heng Xu
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Alexander S Hatoum
- Psychological & Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Emma C Johnson
- Psychological & Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | | | - Zeal Jinwala
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Shreya R Pakala
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Brittany S Leger
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Program in Biomedical Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Maria Niarchou
- Department of Medicine, Division of Genetic Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | | | - Greg D Jenkins
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Anthony Batzler
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Richard Pendegraft
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Abraham A Palmer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Institute for Genomic Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Hang Zhou
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
- Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA
| | - Joanna M Biernacka
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Brandon J Coombes
- Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Joel Gelernter
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
- Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA
| | - Ke Xu
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
- Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA
| | | | - Nancy J Cox
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Jordan W Smoller
- Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Center for Precision Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Lea K Davis
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Medicine, Division of Genetic Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Amy C Justice
- Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA
- Yale University School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
- Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Henry R Kranzler
- Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Crescenz VAMC, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Rachel L Kember
- Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Crescenz VAMC, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Sandra Sanchez-Roige
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Department of Medicine, Division of Genetic Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
- Institute for Genomic Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
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9
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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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10
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Wang L, Khunsriraksakul C, Markus H, Chen D, Zhang F, Chen F, Zhan X, Carrel L, Liu DJ, Jiang B. Integrating single cell expression quantitative trait loci summary statistics to understand complex trait risk genes. Nat Commun 2024; 15:4260. [PMID: 38769300 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48143-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 04/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) is a popular approach to dissect the functional consequence of disease associated non-coding variants. Most existing TWAS use bulk tissues and may not have the resolution to reveal cell-type specific target genes. Single-cell expression quantitative trait loci (sc-eQTL) datasets are emerging. The largest bulk- and sc-eQTL datasets are most conveniently available as summary statistics, but have not been broadly utilized in TWAS. Here, we present a new method EXPRESSO (EXpression PREdiction with Summary Statistics Only), to analyze sc-eQTL summary statistics, which also integrates 3D genomic data and epigenomic annotation to prioritize causal variants. EXPRESSO substantially improves existing methods. We apply EXPRESSO to analyze multi-ancestry GWAS datasets for 14 autoimmune diseases. EXPRESSO uniquely identifies 958 novel gene x trait associations, which is 26% more than the second-best method. Among them, 492 are unique to cell type level analysis and missed by TWAS using whole blood. We also develop a cell type aware drug repurposing pipeline, which leverages EXPRESSO results to identify drug compounds that can reverse disease gene expressions in relevant cell types. Our results point to multiple drugs with therapeutic potentials, including metformin for type 1 diabetes, and vitamin K for ulcerative colitis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lida Wang
- Department of Public Health Sciences; Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Chachrit Khunsriraksakul
- Bioinformatics and Genomics PhD Program; Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
- Institute for Personalized Medicine; Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Havell Markus
- Bioinformatics and Genomics PhD Program; Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
- Institute for Personalized Medicine; Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Dieyi Chen
- Department of Public Health Sciences; Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Fan Zhang
- Bioinformatics and Genomics PhD Program; Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Fang Chen
- Department of Public Health Sciences; Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Xiaowei Zhan
- Department of Statistical Science, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, US
- Quantitative Biomedical Research Center, Department of Population and Data Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, US
- Center for Genetics of Host Defense, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, US
| | - Laura Carrel
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA.
| | - Dajiang J Liu
- Department of Public Health Sciences; Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Bioinformatics and Genomics PhD Program; Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Department of Statistical Science, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, US.
| | - Bibo Jiang
- Department of Public Health Sciences; Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA.
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11
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Chandy M, Hill T, Jimenez-Tellez N, Wu JC, Sarles SE, Hensel E, Wang Q, Rahman I, Conklin DJ. Addressing Cardiovascular Toxicity Risk of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems in the Twenty-First Century: "What Are the Tools Needed for the Job?" and "Do We Have Them?". Cardiovasc Toxicol 2024; 24:435-471. [PMID: 38555547 DOI: 10.1007/s12012-024-09850-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/19/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024]
Abstract
Cigarette smoking is positively and robustly associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD), including hypertension, atherosclerosis, cardiac arrhythmias, stroke, thromboembolism, myocardial infarctions, and heart failure. However, after more than a decade of ENDS presence in the U.S. marketplace, uncertainty persists regarding the long-term health consequences of ENDS use for CVD. New approach methods (NAMs) in the field of toxicology are being developed to enhance rapid prediction of human health hazards. Recent technical advances can now consider impact of biological factors such as sex and race/ethnicity, permitting application of NAMs findings to health equity and environmental justice issues. This has been the case for hazard assessments of drugs and environmental chemicals in areas such as cardiovascular, respiratory, and developmental toxicity. Despite these advances, a shortage of widely accepted methodologies to predict the impact of ENDS use on human health slows the application of regulatory oversight and the protection of public health. Minimizing the time between the emergence of risk (e.g., ENDS use) and the administration of well-founded regulatory policy requires thoughtful consideration of the currently available sources of data, their applicability to the prediction of health outcomes, and whether these available data streams are enough to support an actionable decision. This challenge forms the basis of this white paper on how best to reveal potential toxicities of ENDS use in the human cardiovascular system-a primary target of conventional tobacco smoking. We identify current approaches used to evaluate the impacts of tobacco on cardiovascular health, in particular emerging techniques that replace, reduce, and refine slower and more costly animal models with NAMs platforms that can be applied to tobacco regulatory science. The limitations of these emerging platforms are addressed, and systems biology approaches to close the knowledge gap between traditional models and NAMs are proposed. It is hoped that these suggestions and their adoption within the greater scientific community will result in fresh data streams that will support and enhance the scientific evaluation and subsequent decision-making of tobacco regulatory agencies worldwide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Chandy
- Robarts Research Institute, Western University, London, N6A 5K8, Canada
| | - Thomas Hill
- Division of Nonclinical Science, Center for Tobacco Products, US Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, 20993, USA
| | - Nerea Jimenez-Tellez
- Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94304, USA
| | - Joseph C Wu
- Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA
- Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94304, USA
| | - S Emma Sarles
- Biomedical and Chemical Engineering PhD Program, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, 14623, USA
| | - Edward Hensel
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, 14623, USA
| | - Qixin Wang
- Department of Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA
| | - Irfan Rahman
- Department of Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA
| | - Daniel J Conklin
- Division of Environmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Center for Cardiometabolic Science, Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute, University of Louisville, 580 S. Preston St., Delia Baxter, Rm. 404E, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA.
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12
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Xu X, Khunsriraksakul C, Eales JM, Rubin S, Scannali D, Saluja S, Talavera D, Markus H, Wang L, Drzal M, Maan A, Lay AC, Prestes PR, Regan J, Diwadkar AR, Denniff M, Rempega G, Ryszawy J, Król R, Dormer JP, Szulinska M, Walczak M, Antczak A, Matías-García PR, Waldenberger M, Woolf AS, Keavney B, Zukowska-Szczechowska E, Wystrychowski W, Zywiec J, Bogdanski P, Danser AHJ, Samani NJ, Guzik TJ, Morris AP, Liu DJ, Charchar FJ, Tomaszewski M. Genetic imputation of kidney transcriptome, proteome and multi-omics illuminates new blood pressure and hypertension targets. Nat Commun 2024; 15:2359. [PMID: 38504097 PMCID: PMC10950894 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46132-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: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Genetic mechanisms of blood pressure (BP) regulation remain poorly defined. Using kidney-specific epigenomic annotations and 3D genome information we generated and validated gene expression prediction models for the purpose of transcriptome-wide association studies in 700 human kidneys. We identified 889 kidney genes associated with BP of which 399 were prioritised as contributors to BP regulation. Imputation of kidney proteome and microRNAome uncovered 97 renal proteins and 11 miRNAs associated with BP. Integration with plasma proteomics and metabolomics illuminated circulating levels of myo-inositol, 4-guanidinobutanoate and angiotensinogen as downstream effectors of several kidney BP genes (SLC5A11, AGMAT, AGT, respectively). We showed that genetically determined reduction in renal expression may mimic the effects of rare loss-of-function variants on kidney mRNA/protein and lead to an increase in BP (e.g., ENPEP). We demonstrated a strong correlation (r = 0.81) in expression of protein-coding genes between cells harvested from urine and the kidney highlighting a diagnostic potential of urinary cell transcriptomics. We uncovered adenylyl cyclase activators as a repurposing opportunity for hypertension and illustrated examples of BP-elevating effects of anticancer drugs (e.g. tubulin polymerisation inhibitors). Collectively, our studies provide new biological insights into genetic regulation of BP with potential to drive clinical translation in hypertension.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoguang Xu
- Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | | | - James M Eales
- Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Sebastien Rubin
- Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - David Scannali
- Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Sushant Saluja
- Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - David Talavera
- Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Havell Markus
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Lida Wang
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Maciej Drzal
- Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Akhlaq Maan
- Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Abigail C Lay
- Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Priscilla R Prestes
- Health Innovation and Transformation Centre, Federation University Australia, Ballarat, Australia
| | - Jeniece Regan
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Avantika R Diwadkar
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Matthew Denniff
- Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
| | - Grzegorz Rempega
- Department of Urology, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
| | - Jakub Ryszawy
- Department of Urology, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
| | - Robert Król
- Department of General, Vascular and Transplant Surgery, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
| | - John P Dormer
- Department of Cellular Pathology, University Hospitals of Leicester, Leicester, UK
| | - Monika Szulinska
- Department of Obesity, Metabolic Disorders Treatment and Clinical Dietetics, Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| | - Marta Walczak
- Department of Internal Diseases, Metabolic Disorders and Arterial Hypertension, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| | - Andrzej Antczak
- Department of Urology and Uro-oncology, Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| | - Pamela R Matías-García
- Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Center Munich, Neuherberg, Germany
- Research Unit Molecular Epidemiology, Helmholtz Center Munich, Neuherberg, Germany
- German Research Center for Cardiovascular Disease (DZHK), partner site Munich Heart Alliance, Munich, Germany
| | - Melanie Waldenberger
- Institute of Epidemiology, Helmholtz Center Munich, Neuherberg, Germany
- Research Unit Molecular Epidemiology, Helmholtz Center Munich, Neuherberg, Germany
- German Research Center for Cardiovascular Disease (DZHK), partner site Munich Heart Alliance, Munich, Germany
| | - Adrian S Woolf
- Division of Cell Matrix Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- Royal Manchester Children's Hospital and Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK
| | - Bernard Keavney
- Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
- Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust Manchester, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester, UK
| | | | - Wojciech Wystrychowski
- Department of General, Vascular and Transplant Surgery, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
| | - Joanna Zywiec
- Department of Internal Medicine, Diabetology and Nephrology, Zabrze, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland
| | - Pawel Bogdanski
- Department of Obesity, Metabolic Disorders Treatment and Clinical Dietetics, Karol Marcinkowski University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| | - A H Jan Danser
- Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Pharmacology and Vascular Medicine, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Nilesh J Samani
- Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
- NIHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK
| | - Tomasz J Guzik
- Department of Internal Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland
- Centre for Cardiovascular Sciences, Queen's Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Center for Medical Genomics OMICRON, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland
| | - Andrew P Morris
- Centre for Genetics and Genomics Versus Arthritis, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Division of Musculoskeletal & Dermatological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Dajiang J Liu
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Fadi J Charchar
- Health Innovation and Transformation Centre, Federation University Australia, Ballarat, Australia
- Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK
- Department of Physiology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Maciej Tomaszewski
- Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Biology and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
- Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust Manchester, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester, UK.
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13
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Lappalainen T, Li YI, Ramachandran S, Gusev A. Genetic and molecular architecture of complex traits. Cell 2024; 187:1059-1075. [PMID: 38428388 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.01.023] [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: 10/03/2023] [Revised: 12/20/2023] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 03/03/2024]
Abstract
Human genetics has emerged as one of the most dynamic areas of biology, with a broadening societal impact. In this review, we discuss recent achievements, ongoing efforts, and future challenges in the field. Advances in technology, statistical methods, and the growing scale of research efforts have all provided many insights into the processes that have given rise to the current patterns of genetic variation. Vast maps of genetic associations with human traits and diseases have allowed characterization of their genetic architecture. Finally, studies of molecular and cellular effects of genetic variants have provided insights into biological processes underlying disease. Many outstanding questions remain, but the field is well poised for groundbreaking discoveries as it increases the use of genetic data to understand both the history of our species and its applications to improve human health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tuuli Lappalainen
- New York Genome Center, New York, NY, USA; Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Gene Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Yang I Li
- Section of Genetic Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA; Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Sohini Ramachandran
- Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Center for Computational Molecular Biology, and the Data Science Institute, Brown University, Providence, RI 029129, USA
| | - Alexander Gusev
- Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA
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14
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Evans P, Nagai T, Konkashbaev A, Zhou D, Knapik EW, Gamazon ER. Transcriptome-Wide Association Studies (TWAS): Methodologies, Applications, and Challenges. Curr Protoc 2024; 4:e981. [PMID: 38314955 PMCID: PMC10846672 DOI: 10.1002/cpz1.981] [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] [Indexed: 02/07/2024]
Abstract
Transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) methodologies aim to identify genetic effects on phenotypes through the mediation of gene transcription. In TWAS, in silico models of gene expression are trained as functions of genetic variants and then applied to genome-wide association study (GWAS) data. This post-GWAS analysis identifies gene-trait associations with high interpretability, enabling follow-up functional genomics studies and the development of genetics-anchored resources. We provide an overview of commonly used TWAS approaches, their advantages and limitations, and some widely used applications. © 2024 Wiley Periodicals LLC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Evans
- Division of Genetic Medicine and Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Taylor Nagai
- Division of Genetic Medicine and Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Anuar Konkashbaev
- Division of Genetic Medicine and Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Dan Zhou
- Division of Genetic Medicine and Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Ela W Knapik
- Division of Genetic Medicine and Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
| | - Eric R Gamazon
- Division of Genetic Medicine and Vanderbilt Genetics Institute, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee
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15
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Wang L, Lu Y, Li D, Zhou Y, Yu L, Mesa Eguiagaray I, Campbell H, Li X, Theodoratou E. The landscape of the methodology in drug repurposing using human genomic data: a systematic review. Brief Bioinform 2024; 25:bbad527. [PMID: 38279645 PMCID: PMC10818097 DOI: 10.1093/bib/bbad527] [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: 07/17/2023] [Revised: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/28/2024] Open
Abstract
The process of drug development is expensive and time-consuming. In contrast, drug repurposing can be introduced to clinical practice more quickly and at a reduced cost. Over the last decade, there has been a significant expansion of large biobanks that link genomic data to electronic health record data, public availability of various databases containing biological and clinical information and rapid development of novel methodologies and algorithms in integrating different sources of data. This review aims to provide a thorough summary of different strategies that utilize genomic data to seek drug-repositioning opportunities. We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE databases to identify eligible studies up until 1 May 2023, with a total of 102 studies finally included after two-step parallel screening. We summarized commonly used strategies for drug repurposing, including Mendelian randomization, multi-omic-based and network-based studies and illustrated each strategy with examples, as well as the data sources implemented. By leveraging existing knowledge and infrastructure to expedite the drug discovery process and reduce costs, drug repurposing potentially identifies new therapeutic uses for approved drugs in a more efficient and targeted manner. However, technical challenges when integrating different types of data and biased or incomplete understanding of drug interactions are important hindrances that cannot be disregarded in the pursuit of identifying novel therapeutic applications. This review offers an overview of drug repurposing methodologies, providing valuable insights and guiding future directions for advancing drug repurposing studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lijuan Wang
- Centre for Global Health, Usher Institute, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- School of Public Health and the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Ying Lu
- School of Public Health and the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Doudou Li
- School of Public Health and the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Yajing Zhou
- School of Public Health and the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Lili Yu
- School of Public Health and the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Ines Mesa Eguiagaray
- Centre for Global Health, Usher Institute, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Harry Campbell
- Centre for Global Health, Usher Institute, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Xue Li
- School of Public Health and the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
| | - Evropi Theodoratou
- Centre for Global Health, Usher Institute, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Cancer Research UK Edinburgh Centre, The University of Edinburgh MRC Institute of Genetics and Cancer, Edinburgh, UK
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16
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Carnes MU, Quach BC, Zhou L, Han S, Tao R, Mandal M, Deep-Soboslay A, Marks JA, Page GP, Maher BS, Jaffe AE, Won H, Bierut LJ, Hyde TM, Kleinman JE, Johnson EO, Hancock DB. Smoking-informed methylation and expression QTLs in human brain and colocalization with smoking-associated genetic loci. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2023:2023.09.18.23295431. [PMID: 37790540 PMCID: PMC10543041 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.18.23295431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
Smoking is a leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality. Smoking is heritable, and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of smoking behaviors have identified hundreds of significant loci. Most GWAS-identified variants are noncoding with unknown neurobiological effects. We used genome-wide genotype, DNA methylation, and RNA sequencing data in postmortem human nucleus accumbens (NAc) to identify cis-methylation/expression quantitative trait loci (meQTLs/eQTLs), investigate variant-by-cigarette smoking interactions across the genome, and overlay QTL evidence at smoking GWAS-identified loci to evaluate their regulatory potential. Active smokers (N=52) and nonsmokers (N=171) were defined based on cotinine biomarker levels and next-of-kin reporting. We simultaneously tested variant and variant-by-smoking interaction effects on methylation and expression, separately, adjusting for biological and technical covariates and using a two-stage multiple testing approach with eigenMT and Bonferroni corrections. We found >2 million significant meQTL variants (padj<0.05) corresponding to 41,695 unique CpGs. Results were largely driven by main effects; five meQTLs, mapping to NUDT12, FAM53B, RNF39, and ADRA1B, showed a significant interaction with smoking. We found 57,683 significant eQTLs for 958 unique eGenes (padj<0.05) and no smoking interactions. Colocalization analyses identified loci with smoking-associated GWAS variants that overlapped meQTLs/eQTLs, suggesting that these heritable factors may influence smoking behaviors through functional effects on methylation/expression. One locus containing MUSTIN1 and ITIH4 colocalized across all data types (GWAS + meQTL + eQTL). In this first genome-wide meQTL map in the human NAc, the enriched overlap with smoking GWAS-identified genetic loci provides evidence that gene regulation in the brain helps explain the neurobiology of smoking behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan Ulmer Carnes
- Genomics and Translational Research Center, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
| | - Bryan C. Quach
- Genomics and Translational Research Center, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
| | - Linran Zhou
- Genomics and Translational Research Center, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
| | - Shizhong Han
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD), Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Ran Tao
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD), Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Meisha Mandal
- Genomics and Translational Research Center, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
| | | | - Jesse A. Marks
- Genomics and Translational Research Center, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
| | - Grier P. Page
- Genomics and Translational Research Center, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
- Fellow Program, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
| | - Brion S. Maher
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Andrew E. Jaffe
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD), Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Hyejung Won
- Department of Genetics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Laura J. Bierut
- Department of Psychiatry, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri
| | - Thomas M. Hyde
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD), Baltimore, Maryland
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
- Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Joel E. Kleinman
- Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD), Baltimore, Maryland
| | - Eric O. Johnson
- Genomics and Translational Research Center, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
- Fellow Program, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
| | - Dana B. Hancock
- Genomics and Translational Research Center, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
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17
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Mai J, Lu M, Gao Q, Zeng J, Xiao J. Transcriptome-wide association studies: recent advances in methods, applications and available databases. Commun Biol 2023; 6:899. [PMID: 37658226 PMCID: PMC10474133 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05279-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 08/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Genome-wide association study has identified fruitful variants impacting heritable traits. Nevertheless, identifying critical genes underlying those significant variants has been a great task. Transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) is an instrumental post-analysis to detect significant gene-trait associations focusing on modeling transcription-level regulations, which has made numerous progresses in recent years. Leveraging from expression quantitative loci (eQTL) regulation information, TWAS has advantages in detecting functioning genes regulated by disease-associated variants, thus providing insight into mechanisms of diseases and other phenotypes. Considering its vast potential, this review article comprehensively summarizes TWAS, including the methodology, applications and available resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jialin Mai
- National Genomics Data Center, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, 100101, China
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Mingming Lu
- National Genomics Data Center, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, 100101, China
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Qianwen Gao
- National Genomics Data Center, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, 100101, China
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, 100101, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Jingyao Zeng
- National Genomics Data Center, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, 100101, China.
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, 100101, China.
| | - Jingfa Xiao
- National Genomics Data Center, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, 100101, China.
- CAS Key Laboratory of Genome Sciences and Information, Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and China National Center for Bioinformation, Beijing, 100101, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
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18
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Felsky D, Cannitelli A, Pipitone J. Whole Person Modeling: a transdisciplinary approach to mental health research. DISCOVER MENTAL HEALTH 2023; 3:16. [PMID: 37638348 PMCID: PMC10449734 DOI: 10.1007/s44192-023-00041-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2023] [Accepted: 08/10/2023] [Indexed: 08/29/2023]
Abstract
The growing global burden of mental illness has prompted calls for innovative research strategies. Theoretical models of mental health include complex contributions of biological, psychosocial, experiential, and other environmental influences. Accordingly, neuropsychiatric research has self-organized into largely isolated disciplines working to decode each individual contribution. However, research directly modeling objective biological measurements in combination with cognitive, psychological, demographic, or other environmental measurements is only now beginning to proliferate. This review aims to (1) to describe the landscape of modern mental health research and current movement towards integrative study, (2) to provide a concrete framework for quantitative integrative research, which we call Whole Person Modeling, (3) to explore existing and emerging techniques and methods used in Whole Person Modeling, and (4) to discuss our observations about the scarcity, potential value, and untested aspects of highly transdisciplinary research in general. Whole Person Modeling studies have the potential to provide a better understanding of multilevel phenomena, deliver more accurate diagnostic and prognostic tests to aid in clinical decision making, and test long standing theoretical models of mental illness. Some current barriers to progress include challenges with interdisciplinary communication and collaboration, systemic cultural barriers to transdisciplinary career paths, technical challenges in model specification, bias, and data harmonization, and gaps in transdisciplinary educational programs. We hope to ease anxiety in the field surrounding the often mysterious and intimidating world of transdisciplinary, data-driven mental health research and provide a useful orientation for students or highly specialized researchers who are new to this area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Felsky
- Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 250 College Street, Toronto, ON M5T 1R8 Canada
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON Canada
- Division of Biostatistics, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON Canada
- Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Hospital, Toronto, ON Canada
- Faculty of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON Canada
| | - Alyssa Cannitelli
- Krembil Centre for Neuroinformatics, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 250 College Street, Toronto, ON M5T 1R8 Canada
- Faculty of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON Canada
| | - Jon Pipitone
- Department of Psychiatry, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON Canada
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19
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Karabegović I, Maas SCE, Shuai Y, Ikram MA, Stricker B, Aerts J, Brusselle G, Lahousse L, Voortman T, Ghanbari M. Smoking-related dysregulation of plasma circulating microRNAs: the Rotterdam study. Hum Genomics 2023; 17:61. [PMID: 37430296 DOI: 10.1186/s40246-023-00504-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 06/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/12/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression. Differential miRNA expression, which is widely shown to be associated with the pathogenesis of various diseases, can be influenced by lifestyle factors, including smoking. This study aimed to investigate the plasma miRNA signature of smoking habits, the potential effect of smoking cessation on miRNA levels, and relate the findings with lung cancer incidence. RESULTS A targeted RNA-sequencing approach measured plasma miRNA levels in 2686 participants from the population-based Rotterdam study cohort. The association between cigarette smoking (current versus never) and 591 well-expressed miRNAs was assessed via adjusted linear regression models, identifying 41 smoking-associated miRNAs that passed the Bonferroni-corrected threshold (P < 0.05/591 = 8.46 × 10-5). Moreover, we found 42 miRNAs with a significant association (P < 8.46 × 10-5) between current (reference group) and former smokers. Then, we used adjusted linear regression models to explore the effect of smoking cessation time on miRNA expression levels. The expression levels of two miRNAs were significantly different within 5 years of cessation (P < 0.05/41 = 1.22 × 10-3) from current smokers, while for cessation time between 5 and 15 years we found 19 miRNAs to be significantly different from current smokers, and finally, 38 miRNAs were significantly different after more than 15 years of cessation time (P < 1.22 × 10-3). These results imply the reversibility of the smoking effect on plasma levels of at least 38 out of the 41 smoking-miRNAs following smoking cessation. Next, we found 8 out of the 41 smoking-related miRNAs to be nominally associated (P < 0.05) with the incidence of lung cancer. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrates smoking-related dysregulation of plasma miRNAs, which might have a potential for reversibility when comparing different smoking cessation groups. The identified miRNAs are involved in several cancer-related pathways and include 8 miRNAs associated with lung cancer incidence. Our results may lay the groundwork for further investigation of miRNAs as potential mechanism linking smoking, gene expression and cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irma Karabegović
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Dr Molewaterplein 40, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Silvana C E Maas
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Dr Molewaterplein 40, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO), 08035, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Yu Shuai
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Dr Molewaterplein 40, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - M Arfan Ikram
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Dr Molewaterplein 40, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Bruno Stricker
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Dr Molewaterplein 40, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Joachim Aerts
- Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Dr. Molewaterplein 40, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Guy Brusselle
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, Ghent University Hospital, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Lies Lahousse
- Department of Bioanalysis, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Trudy Voortman
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Dr Molewaterplein 40, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Division of Human Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University and Research, 6708 PB, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Mohsen Ghanbari
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Dr Molewaterplein 40, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
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20
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Khunsriraksakul C, Li Q, Markus H, Patrick MT, Sauteraud R, McGuire D, Wang X, Wang C, Wang L, Chen S, Shenoy G, Li B, Zhong X, Olsen NJ, Carrel L, Tsoi LC, Jiang B, Liu DJ. Multi-ancestry and multi-trait genome-wide association meta-analyses inform clinical risk prediction for systemic lupus erythematosus. Nat Commun 2023; 14:668. [PMID: 36750564 PMCID: PMC9905560 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36306-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 02/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Systemic lupus erythematosus is a heritable autoimmune disease that predominantly affects young women. To improve our understanding of genetic etiology, we conduct multi-ancestry and multi-trait meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies, encompassing 12 systemic lupus erythematosus cohorts from 3 different ancestries and 10 genetically correlated autoimmune diseases, and identify 16 novel loci. We also perform transcriptome-wide association studies, computational drug repurposing analysis, and cell type enrichment analysis. We discover putative drug classes, including a histone deacetylase inhibitor that could be repurposed to treat lupus. We also identify multiple cell types enriched with putative target genes, such as non-classical monocytes and B cells, which may be targeted for future therapeutics. Using this newly assembled result, we further construct polygenic risk score models and demonstrate that integrating polygenic risk score with clinical lab biomarkers improves the diagnostic accuracy of systemic lupus erythematosus using the Vanderbilt BioVU and Michigan Genomics Initiative biobanks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chachrit Khunsriraksakul
- Program in Bioinformatics and Genomics, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA
- Institute for Personalized Medicine, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA
| | - Qinmengge Li
- Department of Dermatology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Havell Markus
- Program in Bioinformatics and Genomics, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA
- Institute for Personalized Medicine, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA
| | - Matthew T Patrick
- Department of Dermatology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Renan Sauteraud
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA
| | - Daniel McGuire
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA
| | - Xingyan Wang
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA
| | - Chen Wang
- Program in Bioinformatics and Genomics, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA
| | - Lida Wang
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA
| | - Siyuan Chen
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA
| | - Ganesh Shenoy
- Department of Neurosurgery, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA
| | - Bingshan Li
- Department of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 37235, USA
| | - Xue Zhong
- Department of Medicine, Division of Genetic Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA
| | - Nancy J Olsen
- Department of Medicine, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA
| | - Laura Carrel
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA
| | - Lam C Tsoi
- Department of Dermatology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Bibo Jiang
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA
| | - Dajiang J Liu
- Program in Bioinformatics and Genomics, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA.
- Institute for Personalized Medicine, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA.
- Department of Public Health Sciences, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA.
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