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Neale N, Lona-Durazo F, Ryten M, Gagliano Taliun SA. Leveraging sex-genetic interactions to understand brain disorders: recent advances and current gaps. Brain Commun 2024; 6:fcae192. [PMID: 38894947 PMCID: PMC11184352 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcae192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2024] [Revised: 04/11/2024] [Accepted: 05/30/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024] Open
Abstract
It is established that there are sex differences in terms of prevalence, age of onset, clinical manifestations, and response to treatment for a variety of brain disorders, including neurodevelopmental, psychiatric, and neurodegenerative disorders. Cohorts of increasing sample sizes with diverse data types collected, including genetic, transcriptomic and/or phenotypic data, are providing the building blocks to permit analytical designs to test for sex-biased genetic variant-trait associations, and for sex-biased transcriptional regulation. Such molecular assessments can contribute to our understanding of the manifested phenotypic differences between the sexes for brain disorders, offering the future possibility of delivering personalized therapy for females and males. With the intention of raising the profile of this field as a research priority, this review aims to shed light on the importance of investigating sex-genetic interactions for brain disorders, focusing on two areas: (i) variant-trait associations and (ii) transcriptomics (i.e. gene expression, transcript usage and regulation). We specifically discuss recent advances in the field, current gaps and provide considerations for future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikita Neale
- Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Québec, H3C 3J7 Canada
| | - Frida Lona-Durazo
- Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Québec, H3C 3J7 Canada
- Research Centre, Montreal Heart Institute, Québec, H1T 1C8 Canada
| | - Mina Ryten
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Medicine, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, WC1N 1EH London, UK
- Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) Collaborative Research Network, Chevy Chase, 20815 MD, USA
- NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, Bloomsbury, WC1N 1EH London, UK
| | - Sarah A Gagliano Taliun
- Research Centre, Montreal Heart Institute, Québec, H1T 1C8 Canada
- Department of Medicine & Department of Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Québec, H3C 3J7 Canada
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2
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Helkkula P, Hassan S, Saarentaus E, Vartiainen E, Ruotsalainen S, Leinonen JT, Palotie A, Karjalainen J, Kurki M, Ripatti S, Tukiainen T. Genome-wide association study of varicose veins identifies a protective missense variant in GJD3 enriched in the Finnish population. Commun Biol 2023; 6:71. [PMID: 36653477 PMCID: PMC9849365 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-04285-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Varicose veins is the most common manifestation of chronic venous disease that displays female-biased incidence. To identify protein-inactivating variants that could guide identification of drug target genes for varicose veins and genetic evidence for the disease prevalence difference between the sexes, we conducted a genome-wide association study of varicose veins in Finns using the FinnGen dataset with 17,027 cases and 190,028 controls. We identified 50 associated genetic loci (P < 5.0 × 10-8) of which 29 were novel including one near ERG with female-specificity (rs2836405-G, OR[95% CI] = 1.09[1.05-1.13], P = 3.1 × 10-8). These also include two X-chromosomal (ARHGAP6 and SRPX) and two autosomal novel loci (TGFB2 and GJD3) with protein-coding lead variants enriched above 56-fold in Finns over non-Finnish non-Estonian Europeans. A low-frequency missense variant in GJD3 (p.Pro59Thr) is exclusively associated with a lower risk for varicose veins (OR = 0.62 [0.55-0.70], P = 1.0 × 10-14) in a phenome-wide scan of the FinnGen data. The absence of observed pleiotropy and its membership of the connexin gene family underlines GJD3 as a potential connexin-modulating therapeutic strategy for varicose veins. Our results provide insights into varicose veins etiopathology and highlight the power of isolated populations, including Finns, to discover genetic variants that inform therapeutic development.
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Grants
- MC_PC_17228 Medical Research Council
- Academy of Finland (Suomen Akatemia)
- Sydäntutkimussäätiö (Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research)
- Academy of Finland Center of Excellence in Complex Disease Genetics (Grant No 312062), Sigrid Juselius Foundation (S.Ri. and T.T.), University of Helsinki HiLIFE Fellow and Grand Challenge grants (S.Ri.), University of Helsinki three-year research project grant (T.T.), FIMM-EMBL PhD program doctoral funding (S.H.), Nylands Nation, University of Helsinki (P.H.) The FinnGen project is funded by two grants from Business Finland (HUS 4685/31/2016 and UH 4386/31/2016) and the following industry partners: AbbVie Inc., AstraZeneca UK Ltd, Biogen MA Inc., Bristol Myers Squibb (and Celgene Corporation & Celgene International II Sàrl), Genentech Inc., Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp, Pfizer Inc., GlaxoSmithKline Intellectual Property Development Ltd., Sanofi US Services Inc., Maze Therapeutics Inc., Janssen Biotech Inc, Novartis AG, and Boehringer Ingelheim. Following biobanks are acknowledged for delivering biobank samples to FinnGen: Auria Biobank (www.auria.fi/biopankki), THL Biobank (www.thl.fi/biobank), Helsinki Biobank (www.helsinginbiopankki.fi), Biobank Borealis of Northern Finland (https://www.ppshp.fi/Tutkimus-ja-opetus/Biopankki/Pages/Biobank-Borealis-briefly-in-English.aspx), Finnish Clinical Biobank Tampere (www.tays.fi/en-US/Research_and_development/Finnish_Clinical_Biobank_Tampere), Biobank of Eastern Finland (www.ita-suomenbiopankki.fi/en), Central Finland Biobank (www.ksshp.fi/fi-FI/Potilaalle/Biopankki), Finnish Red Cross Blood Service Biobank (www.veripalvelu.fi/verenluovutus/biopankkitoiminta) and Terveystalo Biobank (www.terveystalo.com/fi/Yritystietoa/Terveystalo-Biopankki/Biopankki/).
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Affiliation(s)
- Pyry Helkkula
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Shabbeer Hassan
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Elmo Saarentaus
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Emilia Vartiainen
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Sanni Ruotsalainen
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Jaakko T Leinonen
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Aarno Palotie
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics and Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Juha Karjalainen
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Mitja Kurki
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Samuli Ripatti
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Public Health, Clinicum, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Taru Tukiainen
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
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3
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Brown M, Greenwood E, Zeng B, Powell JE, Gibson G. Effect of all-but-one conditional analysis for eQTL isolation in peripheral blood. Genetics 2023; 223:iyac162. [PMID: 36321965 PMCID: PMC9836021 DOI: 10.1093/genetics/iyac162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Expression quantitative trait locus detection has become increasingly important for understanding how noncoding variants contribute to disease susceptibility and complex traits. The major challenges in expression quantitative trait locus fine-mapping and causal variant discovery relate to the impact of linkage disequilibrium on signals due to one or multiple functional variants that lie within a credible set. We perform expression quantitative trait locus fine-mapping using the all-but-one approach, conditioning each signal on all others detected in an interval, on the Consortium for the Architecture of Gene Expression cohorts of microarray-based peripheral blood gene expression in 2,138 European-ancestry human adults. We contrast these results with traditional forward stepwise conditional analysis and a Bayesian localization method. All-but-one conditioning significantly modifies effect-size estimates for 51% of 2,351 expression quantitative trait locus peaks, but only modestly affects credible set size and location. On the other hand, both conditioning approaches result in unexpectedly low overlap with Bayesian credible sets, with just 57% peak concordance and between 50% and 70% SNP sharing, leading us to caution against the assumption that any one localization method is superior to another. We also cross reference our results with ATAC-seq data, cell-type-specific expression quantitative trait locus, and activity-by-contact-enhancers, leading to the proposal of a 5-tier approach to further reduce credible set sizes and prioritize likely causal variants for all known inflammatory bowel disease risk loci active in immune cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margaret Brown
- Center for Integrative Genomics, School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Emily Greenwood
- Center for Integrative Genomics, School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
| | - Biao Zeng
- Present address for Biao Zeng: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
| | - Joseph E Powell
- Present address for Joseph E Powell: Garvan-Weizmann Center for Cellular Genomics, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia
| | - Greg Gibson
- Center for Integrative Genomics, School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
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4
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Porcu E, Claringbould A, Weihs A, Lepik K, Richardson TG, Völker U, Santoni FA, Teumer A, Franke L, Reymond A, Kutalik Z. Limited evidence for blood eQTLs in human sexual dimorphism. Genome Med 2022; 14:89. [PMID: 35953856 PMCID: PMC9373355 DOI: 10.1186/s13073-022-01088-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 07/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The genetic underpinning of sexual dimorphism is very poorly understood. The prevalence of many diseases differs between men and women, which could be in part caused by sex-specific genetic effects. Nevertheless, only a few published genome-wide association studies (GWAS) were performed separately in each sex. The reported enrichment of expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) among GWAS-associated SNPs suggests a potential role of sex-specific eQTLs in the sex-specific genetic mechanism underlying complex traits. METHODS To explore this scenario, we combined sex-specific whole blood RNA-seq eQTL data from 3447 European individuals included in BIOS Consortium and GWAS data from UK Biobank. Next, to test the presence of sex-biased causal effect of gene expression on complex traits, we performed sex-specific transcriptome-wide Mendelian randomization (TWMR) analyses on the two most sexually dimorphic traits, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and testosterone levels. Finally, we performed power analysis to calculate the GWAS sample size needed to observe sex-specific trait associations driven by sex-biased eQTLs. RESULTS Among 9 million SNP-gene pairs showing sex-combined associations, we found 18 genes with significant sex-biased cis-eQTLs (FDR 5%). Our phenome-wide association study of the 18 top sex-biased eQTLs on >700 traits unraveled that these eQTLs do not systematically translate into detectable sex-biased trait-associations. In addition, we observed that sex-specific causal effects of gene expression on complex traits are not driven by sex-specific eQTLs. Power analyses using real eQTL- and causal-effect sizes showed that millions of samples would be necessary to observe sex-biased trait associations that are fully driven by sex-biased cis-eQTLs. Compensatory effects may further hamper their detection. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that sex-specific eQTLs in whole blood do not translate to detectable sex-specific trait associations of complex diseases, and vice versa that the observed sex-specific trait associations cannot be explained by sex-specific eQTLs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleonora Porcu
- Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. .,Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland. .,University Center for Primary Care and Public Health, Lausanne, Switzerland.
| | - Annique Claringbould
- University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands.,Structural and Computational Biology Unit, European Molecular Biology Laboratories (EMBL), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Antoine Weihs
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Kaido Lepik
- Institute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.,Estonian Genome Centre, Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
| | | | - Tom G Richardson
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit (IEU), Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.,Novo Nordisk Research Centre Oxford, Old Road Campus, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK
| | - Uwe Völker
- Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genomics, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.,DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), partner site Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Federico A Santoni
- Endocrine, Diabetes, and Metabolism Service, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland.,Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Alexander Teumer
- DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), partner site Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.,Institute for Community Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Lude Franke
- University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
| | - Alexandre Reymond
- Center for Integrative Genomics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
| | - Zoltán Kutalik
- Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland. .,University Center for Primary Care and Public Health, Lausanne, Switzerland. .,Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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5
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Bernabeu E, Canela-Xandri O, Rawlik K, Talenti A, Prendergast J, Tenesa A. Sex differences in genetic architecture in the UK Biobank. Nat Genet 2021; 53:1283-1289. [PMID: 34493869 DOI: 10.1038/s41588-021-00912-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2020] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Males and females present differences in complex traits and in the risk of a wide array of diseases. Genotype by sex (GxS) interactions are thought to account for some of these differences. However, the extent and basis of GxS are poorly understood. In the present study, we provide insights into both the scope and the mechanism of GxS across the genome of about 450,000 individuals of European ancestry and 530 complex traits in the UK Biobank. We found small yet widespread differences in genetic architecture across traits. We also found that, in some cases, sex-agnostic analyses may be missing trait-associated loci and looked into possible improvements in the prediction of high-level phenotypes. Finally, we studied the potential functional role of the differences observed through sex-biased gene expression and gene-level analyses. Our results suggest the need to consider sex-aware analyses for future studies to shed light onto possible sex-specific molecular mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Bernabeu
- The Roslin Institute, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian, UK
| | - Oriol Canela-Xandri
- Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Konrad Rawlik
- The Roslin Institute, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian, UK
| | - Andrea Talenti
- The Roslin Institute, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian, UK
| | - James Prendergast
- The Roslin Institute, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian, UK
| | - Albert Tenesa
- The Roslin Institute, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, The University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian, UK.
- Institute of Genetics and Cancer, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK.
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6
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Melia T, Waxman DJ. Genetic factors contributing to extensive variability of sex-specific hepatic gene expression in Diversity Outbred mice. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0242665. [PMID: 33264334 PMCID: PMC7710091 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0242665] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2020] [Accepted: 11/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Sex-specific transcription characterizes hundreds of genes in mouse liver, many implicated in sex-differential drug and lipid metabolism and disease susceptibility. While the regulation of liver sex differences by growth hormone-activated STAT5 is well established, little is known about autosomal genetic factors regulating the sex-specific liver transcriptome. Here we show, using genotyping and expression data from a large population of Diversity Outbred mice, that genetic factors work in tandem with growth hormone to control the individual variability of hundreds of sex-biased genes, including many long non-coding RNA genes. Significant associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms and sex-specific gene expression were identified as expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs), many of which showed strong sex-dependent associations. Remarkably, autosomal genetic modifiers of sex-specific genes were found to account for more than 200 instances of gain or loss of sex-specificity across eight Diversity Outbred mouse founder strains. Sex-biased STAT5 binding sites and open chromatin regions with strain-specific variants were significantly enriched at eQTL regions regulating correspondingly sex-specific genes, supporting the proposed functional regulatory nature of the eQTL regions identified. Binding of the male-biased, growth hormone-regulated repressor BCL6 was most highly enriched at trans-eQTL regions controlling female-specific genes. Co-regulated gene clusters defined by overlapping eQTLs included sets of highly correlated genes from different chromosomes, further supporting trans-eQTL action. These findings elucidate how an unexpectedly large number of autosomal factors work in tandem with growth hormone signaling pathways to regulate the individual variability associated with sex differences in liver metabolism and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tisha Melia
- Department of Biology and Bioinformatics Program, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - David J. Waxman
- Department of Biology and Bioinformatics Program, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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7
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Lopes-Ramos CM, Quackenbush J, DeMeo DL. Genome-Wide Sex and Gender Differences in Cancer. Front Oncol 2020; 10:597788. [PMID: 33330090 PMCID: PMC7719817 DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2020.597788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2020] [Accepted: 10/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite their known importance in clinical medicine, differences based on sex and gender are among the least studied factors affecting cancer susceptibility, progression, survival, and therapeutic response. In particular, the molecular mechanisms driving sex differences are poorly understood and so most approaches to precision medicine use mutational or other genomic data to assign therapy without considering how the sex of the individual might influence therapeutic efficacy. The mandate by the National Institutes of Health that research studies include sex as a biological variable has begun to expand our understanding on its importance. Sex differences in cancer may arise due to a combination of environmental, genetic, and epigenetic factors, as well as differences in gene regulation, and expression. Extensive sex differences occur genome-wide, and ultimately influence cancer biology and outcomes. In this review, we summarize the current state of knowledge about sex-specific genetic and genome-wide influences in cancer, describe how differences in response to environmental exposures and genetic and epigenetic alterations alter the trajectory of the disease, and provide insights into the importance of integrative analyses in understanding the interplay of sex and genomics in cancer. In particular, we will explore some of the emerging analytical approaches, such as the use of network methods, that are providing a deeper understanding of the drivers of differences based on sex and gender. Better understanding these complex factors and their interactions will improve cancer prevention, treatment, and outcomes for all individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camila M Lopes-Ramos
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - John Quackenbush
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States.,Department of Data Science, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, United States.,Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Dawn L DeMeo
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.,Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
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8
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Kassam I, Wu Y, Yang J, Visscher PM, McRae AF. Tissue-specific sex differences in human gene expression. Hum Mol Genet 2020; 28:2976-2986. [PMID: 31044242 DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddz090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2018] [Revised: 04/12/2019] [Accepted: 04/24/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite extensive sex differences in human complex traits and disease, the male and female genomes differ only in the sex chromosomes. This implies that most sex-differentiated traits are the result of differences in the expression of genes that are common to both sexes. While sex differences in gene expression have been observed in a range of different tissues, the biological mechanisms for tissue-specific sex differences (TSSDs) in gene expression are not well understood. A total of 30 640 autosomal and 1021 X-linked transcripts were tested for heterogeneity in sex difference effect sizes in n = 617 individuals across 40 tissue types in Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx). This identified 65 autosomal and 66 X-linked TSSD transcripts (corresponding to unique genes) at a stringent significance threshold. Results for X-linked TSSD transcripts showed mainly concordant direction of sex differences across tissues and replicate previous findings. Autosomal TSSD transcripts had mainly discordant direction of sex differences across tissues. The top cis-expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) across tissues for autosomal TSSD transcripts are located a similar distance away from the nearest androgen and estrogen binding motifs and the nearest enhancer, as compared to cis-eQTLs for transcripts with stable sex differences in gene expression across tissue types. Enhancer regions that overlap top cis-eQTLs for TSSD transcripts, however, were found to be more dispersed across tissues. These observations suggest that androgen and estrogen regulatory elements in a cis region may play a common role in sex differences in gene expression, but TSSD in gene expression may additionally be due to causal variants located in tissue-specific enhancer regions.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Yang Wu
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience
| | - Jian Yang
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience.,Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Peter M Visscher
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience.,Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Allan F McRae
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience.,Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
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9
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Allen SL, Bonduriansky R, Chenoweth SF. Genetic constraints on microevolutionary divergence of sex-biased gene expression. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 373:rstb.2017.0427. [PMID: 30150225 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/17/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The evolution of sex-specific phenotypes is an important dimension of diversification and local adaptation. The sex-dependent regulation of gene expression is considered a key genomic mechanism facilitating sex-dependent adaptation. In many species, genes with male-biased expression evolve faster in DNA sequence and expression level than genes with female-biased or sexually monomorphic expression. While positive selection may be responsible for rapid DNA sequence evolution, why expression of male-biased genes also evolves rapidly remains unclear. Beyond sex differences in selection, some aspects of the genetic architecture of gene expression could contribute to the rapid evolution of male-biased gene expression. First, male-biased genes might simply have greater standing genetic variance than female-biased genes. Second, male-biased genes could be less constrained by pleiotropy, either within or between sexes. Here, we evaluate these alternative explanations on an intraspecific scale using a series of quantitative genetic experiments conducted on natural variation in male and female gene expression in the fly Drosophila serrata Male-biased genes had significantly higher genetic variance than female-biased genes and were generally more narrowly expressed across tissues, suggesting lower within-individual pleiotropy. However, consistent with stronger constraints due to between-sex pleiotropy, their between-sex genetic correlations, rMF, were higher than for female-biased genes and more strongly negatively associated with sex bias. Using an extensive clinal dataset, we tested whether sex differences in gene expression divergence among populations have been shaped by pleiotropy. Here too, male-biased gene divergence was more strongly associated with between-sex pleiotropy than was female-biased gene divergence. Systematic differences in genetic variance and pleiotropy may be important factors influencing sex-specific adaptation arising through changes in gene expression.This article is part of the theme issue 'Linking local adaptation with the evolution of sex differences'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott L Allen
- The School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Australia
| | - Russell Bonduriansky
- Evolution and Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Stephen F Chenoweth
- The School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia 4072, Australia
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10
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Otto GW, Kaisaki PJ, Brial F, Le Lay A, Cazier JB, Mott R, Gauguier D. Conserved properties of genetic architecture of renal and fat transcriptomes in rat models of insulin resistance. Dis Model Mech 2019; 12:dmm.038539. [PMID: 31213483 PMCID: PMC6679378 DOI: 10.1242/dmm.038539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2019] [Accepted: 05/20/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
To define renal molecular mechanisms that are affected by permanent hyperglycaemia and might promote phenotypes relevant to diabetic nephropathy, we carried out linkage analysis of genome-wide gene transcription in the kidneys of F2 offspring from the Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rat model of type 2 diabetes and normoglycaemic Brown Norway (BN) rats. We mapped 2526 statistically significant expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) in the cross. More than 40% of eQTLs mapped in the close vicinity of the linked transcripts, underlying possible cis-regulatory mechanisms of gene expression. We identified eQTL hotspots on chromosomes 5 and 9 regulating the expression of 80-165 genes, sex or cross direction effects, and enriched metabolic and immunological processes by segregating GK alleles. Comparative analysis with adipose tissue eQTLs in the same cross showed that 496 eQTLs, in addition to the top enriched biological pathways, are conserved in the two tissues. Extensive similarities in eQTLs mapped in the GK rat and in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) suggest a common aetiology of disease phenotypes common to the two strains, including insulin resistance, which is a prominent pathophysiological feature in both GK rats and SHRs. Our data shed light on shared and tissue-specific molecular mechanisms that might underlie aetiological aspects of insulin resistance in the context of spontaneously occurring hyperglycaemia and hypertension. Summary: Kidney and fat expression QTL mapping in rat models of spontaneously occurring insulin resistance associated with either diabetes or hypertension reveals conserved gene expression regulation, suggesting shared aetiology of disease phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georg W Otto
- Genetics and Genomic Medicine, University College London Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, United Kingdom
| | - Pamela J Kaisaki
- The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Headington, Oxford OX3 7BN, United Kingdom
| | - Francois Brial
- University Paris Descartes, INSERM UMR 1124, 45 rue des Saint-Pères, 75006 Paris, France
| | - Aurélie Le Lay
- University Paris Descartes, INSERM UMR 1124, 45 rue des Saint-Pères, 75006 Paris, France
| | - Jean-Baptiste Cazier
- Centre for Computational Biology, Medical School, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
| | - Richard Mott
- University College London Genetics Institute, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
| | - Dominique Gauguier
- The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Headington, Oxford OX3 7BN, United Kingdom .,University Paris Descartes, INSERM UMR 1124, 45 rue des Saint-Pères, 75006 Paris, France.,McGill University and Genome Quebec Innovation Centre, 740 Doctor Penfield Avenue, Montreal, QC H3A 0G1, Canada
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Mills NT, Maier R, Whitfield JB, Wright MJ, Colodro-Conde L, Byrne EM, Scott JG, Byrne GJ, Hansell NK, Vinkhuyzen AAE, CouvyDuchesne B, Montgomery GW, Henders AK, Martin NG, Wray NR, Benyamin B. Investigating the relationship between iron and depression. J Psychiatr Res 2017; 94:148-155. [PMID: 28715705 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2017.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2017] [Revised: 06/03/2017] [Accepted: 07/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Lower levels of circulating iron have been associated with depression. Our objective was to investigate the phenotypic and genetic relationship between measures of circulating levels of iron (serum iron, transferrin, transferrin saturation, and ferritin) and depressive symptoms. Data were available from ongoing studies at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute (QIMRB), including twin adolescents (mean age 15.1 years, standard deviation (SD) 3.2 years), and twin adults (mean age 23.2 years, SD 2.2 years). In the adolescent cohort, there were 3416 participants from 1688 families. In the adult cohort there were 9035 participants from 4533 families. We estimated heritabilities of, and phenotypic and genetic correlations between, traits. We conducted analyses that linked results from published large-scale genome-wide association studies (including iron and Major Depressive Disorder) with our study samples using single SNP and multi-SNP genetic risk score analyses, and LD score regression analyses. In both cohorts, measures of iron, transferrin, transferrin saturation, and log 10 of ferritin (L10Fer) were all highly heritable, while depressive measures were moderately heritable. In adolescents, depression measures were higher in those in the middle 10th versus top 10th percentile of transferrin saturation measures (p = 0.002). Genetic profile risk scores of the iron measures were not significantly associated with depression in study participants. LD score analyses showed no significant genetic relationship between iron and depression. Genetic factors strongly influence iron measures in adolescents and adults. Using several different strategies we find no evidence for a genetic contribution to the relationship between blood measures of iron and measures of depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie T Mills
- Genetic Epidemiology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, 4006, Australia; Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5000, Australia; Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia.
| | - Robert Maier
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia; Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia
| | - John B Whitfield
- Genetic Epidemiology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, 4006, Australia
| | - Margaret J Wright
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia
| | - Lucia Colodro-Conde
- Psychiatric Genetics, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, 4006, Australia
| | - Enda M Byrne
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia; Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia
| | - James G Scott
- The University of Queensland, UQ Centre for Clinical Research, Herston, 4029, Australia; Metro North Mental Health, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, 4006, Australia; Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, The Park Centre for Mental Health, Brisbane, 4076, Australia
| | - Gerard J Byrne
- Academic Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Narelle K Hansell
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia
| | - Anna A E Vinkhuyzen
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia; Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia
| | - Baptiste CouvyDuchesne
- Genetic Epidemiology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, 4006, Australia; Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia; Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia
| | - Grant W Montgomery
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia; Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia
| | - Anjali K Henders
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia; Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia
| | - Nicholas G Martin
- Genetic Epidemiology, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, 4006, Australia
| | - Naomi R Wray
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia; Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia
| | - Beben Benyamin
- Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia; Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia
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Gershoni M, Pietrokovski S. The landscape of sex-differential transcriptome and its consequent selection in human adults. BMC Biol 2017; 15:7. [PMID: 28173793 PMCID: PMC5297171 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-017-0352-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 150] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2016] [Accepted: 01/19/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The prevalence of several human morbid phenotypes is sometimes much higher than intuitively expected. This can directly arise from the presence of two sexes, male and female, in one species. Men and women have almost identical genomes but are distinctly dimorphic, with dissimilar disease susceptibilities. Sexually dimorphic traits mainly result from differential expression of genes present in both sexes. Such genes can be subject to different, and even opposing, selection constraints in the two sexes. This can impact human evolution by differential selection on mutations with dissimilar effects on the two sexes. RESULTS We comprehensively mapped human sex-differential genetic architecture across 53 tissues. Analyzing available RNA-sequencing data from 544 adults revealed thousands of genes differentially expressed in the reproductive tracts and tissues common to both sexes. Sex-differential genes are related to various biological systems, and suggest new insights into the pathophysiology of diverse human diseases. We also identified a significant association between sex-specific gene transcription and reduced selection efficiency and accumulation of deleterious mutations, which might affect the prevalence of different traits and diseases. Interestingly, many of the sex-specific genes that also undergo reduced selection efficiency are essential for successful reproduction in men or women. This seeming paradox might partially explain the high incidence of human infertility. CONCLUSIONS This work provides a comprehensive overview of the sex-differential transcriptome and its importance to human evolution and human physiology in health and in disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moran Gershoni
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Shmuel Pietrokovski
- Department of Molecular Genetics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
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