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Tian J, Jia K, Wang T, Guo L, Xuan Z, Michaelis EK, Swerdlow RH, Du H. Hippocampal transcriptome-wide association study and pathway analysis of mitochondrial solute carriers in Alzheimer's disease. Transl Psychiatry 2024; 14:250. [PMID: 38858380 PMCID: PMC11164935 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-024-02958-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2024] [Revised: 05/14/2024] [Accepted: 05/21/2024] [Indexed: 06/12/2024] Open
Abstract
The etiopathogenesis of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) is increasingly recognized as the result of the combination of the aging process, toxic proteins, brain dysmetabolism, and genetic risks. Although the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in the pathogenesis of AD has been well-appreciated, the interaction between mitochondrial function and genetic variability in promoting dementia is still poorly understood. In this study, by tissue-specific transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) and further meta-analysis, we examined the genetic association between mitochondrial solute carrier family (SLC25) genes and AD in three independent cohorts and identified three AD-susceptibility genes, including SLC25A10, SLC25A17, and SLC25A22. Integrative analysis using neuroimaging data and hippocampal TWAS-predicted gene expression of the three susceptibility genes showed an inverse correlation of SLC25A22 with hippocampal atrophy rate in AD patients, which outweighed the impacts of sex, age, and apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4). Furthermore, SLC25A22 downregulation demonstrated an association with AD onset, as compared with the other two transcriptome-wide significant genes. Pathway and network analysis related hippocampal SLC25A22 downregulation to defects in neuronal function and development, echoing the enrichment of SLC25A22 expression in human glutamatergic neurons. The most parsimonious interpretation of the results is that we have identified AD-susceptibility genes in the SLC25 family through the prediction of hippocampal gene expression. Moreover, our findings mechanistically yield insight into the mitochondrial cascade hypothesis of AD and pave the way for the future development of diagnostic tools for the early prevention of AD from a perspective of precision medicine by targeting the mitochondria-related genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Tian
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Kun Jia
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Tienju Wang
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Lan Guo
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Zhenyu Xuan
- Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA
| | - Elias K Michaelis
- Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
| | - Russell H Swerdlow
- Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA
| | - Heng Du
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA.
- Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
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Shen S, Sobczyk MK, Paternoster L, Brown SJ. From GWASs toward Mechanistic Understanding with Case Studies in Dermatogenetics. J Invest Dermatol 2024; 144:1189-1199.e8. [PMID: 38782533 DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2024.03.013] [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: 11/21/2023] [Revised: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Many human skin diseases result from the complex interplay of genetic and environmental mechanisms that are largely unknown. GWASs have yielded insight into the genetic aspect of complex disease by highlighting regions of the genome or specific genetic variants associated with disease. Leveraging this information to identify causal genes and cell types will provide insight into fundamental biology, inform diagnostics, and aid drug discovery. However, the etiological mechanisms from genetic variant to disease are still unestablished in most cases. There now exists an unprecedented wealth of data and computational methods for variant interpretation in a functional context. It can be challenging to decide where to start owing to a lack of consensus on the best way to identify causal genetic mechanisms. This article highlights 3 key aspects of genetic variant interpretation: prioritizing causal genes, cell types, and pathways. We provide a practical overview of the main methods and datasets, giving examples from recent atopic dermatitis studies to provide a blueprint for variant interpretation. A collection of resources, including brief description and links to the packages and web tools, is provided for researchers looking to start in silico follow-up genetic analysis of associated genetic variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Shen
- Centre for Genomic & Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Institute for Evolution and Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
| | - Maria K Sobczyk
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Lavinia Paternoster
- MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Sara J Brown
- Centre for Genomic & Experimental Medicine, Institute of Genetics and Cancer, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Department of Dermatology, NHS Lothian, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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De Almeida SD, Richter GM, de Coo A, Jepsen S, Kapferer-Seebacher I, Dommisch H, Berger K, Laudes M, Lieb W, Loos BG, van der Velde N, van Schoor N, de Groot L, Blanco J, Carracedo A, Cruz R, Schaefer AS. A genome-wide association study meta-analysis in a European sample of stage III/IV grade C periodontitis patients ≤35 years of age identifies new risk loci. J Clin Periodontol 2024; 51:431-440. [PMID: 38140892 DOI: 10.1111/jcpe.13922] [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: 09/06/2023] [Revised: 11/07/2023] [Accepted: 12/02/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023]
Abstract
AIM Few genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been conducted for severe forms of periodontitis (stage III/IV grade C), and the number of known risk genes is scarce. To identify further genetic risk variants to improve the understanding of the disease aetiology, a GWAS meta-analysis in cases with a diagnosis at ≤35 years of age was performed. MATERIALS AND METHODS Genotypes from German, Dutch and Spanish GWAS studies of III/IV-C periodontitis diagnosed at age ≤35 years were imputed using TopMed. After quality control, a meta-analysis was conducted on 8,666,460 variants in 1306 cases and 7817 controls with METAL. Variants were prioritized using FUMA for gene-based tests, functional annotation and a transcriptome-wide association study integrating eQTL data. RESULTS The study identified a novel genome-wide significant association in the FCER1G gene (p = 1.0 × 10-9 ), which was previously suggestively associated with III/IV-C periodontitis. Six additional genes showed suggestive association with p < 10-5 , including the known risk gene SIGLEC5. HMCN2 showed the second strongest association in this study (p = 6.1 × 10-8 ). CONCLUSIONS This study expands the set of known genetic loci for severe periodontitis with an age of onset ≤35 years. The putative functions ascribed to the associated genes highlight the significance of oral barrier tissue stability, wound healing and tissue regeneration in the aetiology of these periodontitis forms and suggest the importance of tissue regeneration in maintaining oral health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Diz De Almeida
- Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER-ISCIII), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Gesa M Richter
- Department of Periodontology, Oral Medicine and Oral Surgery, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Alicia de Coo
- Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Søren Jepsen
- Department of Periodontology, Operative and Preventive Dentistry, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
| | - Ines Kapferer-Seebacher
- Department of Dental and Oral Medicine and Cranio-Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery, University Hospital for Conservative Dentistry and Periodontology, Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Henrik Dommisch
- Department of Periodontology, Oral Medicine and Oral Surgery, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Klaus Berger
- Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Matthias Laudes
- Institute of Diabetes and Clinical Metabolic Research, University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, Kiel, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Lieb
- Institute of Epidemiology, Christian-Albrechts-University, Kiel, Germany
| | - Bruno G Loos
- Department of Periodontology and Oral Biochemistry, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Nathalie van der Velde
- Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Internal Medicine Section of Geriatrics, Amsterdam Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Natasja van Schoor
- Department of Epidemiology and Data Science, Amsterdam University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Lisette de Groot
- Division of Human Nutrition, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Juan Blanco
- Research Group of Medical-Surgery Dentistry (OMEQUI), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Angel Carracedo
- Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER-ISCIII), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Fundación Pública Galega de Medicina Xenómica, Sistema Galego de Saúde (SERGAS) Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Genetics Research Group, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago (IDIS), Santiago de Compostela, Spain
| | - Raquel Cruz
- Centro Singular de Investigación en Medicina Molecular y Enfermedades Crónicas (CIMUS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER-ISCIII), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
| | - Arne S Schaefer
- Department of Periodontology, Oral Medicine and Oral Surgery, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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Liu C, Chen Z, Zhang Z, Wang Z, Guo X, Pan Y, Wang Q. Unveiling the Genetic Mechanism of Meat Color in Pigs through GWAS, Multi-Tissue, and Single-Cell Transcriptome Signatures Exploration. Int J Mol Sci 2024; 25:3682. [PMID: 38612491 PMCID: PMC11012088 DOI: 10.3390/ijms25073682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2024] [Revised: 03/22/2024] [Accepted: 03/23/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Meat color traits directly influence consumer acceptability and purchasing decisions. Nevertheless, there is a paucity of comprehensive investigation into the genetic mechanisms underlying meat color traits in pigs. Utilizing genome-wide association studies (GWAS) on five meat color traits and the detection of selection signatures in pig breeds exhibiting distinct meat color characteristics, we identified a promising candidate SNP, 6_69103754, exhibiting varying allele frequencies among pigs with different meat color characteristics. This SNP has the potential to affect the redness and chroma index values of pork. Moreover, transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) analysis revealed the expression of candidate genes associated with meat color traits in specific tissues. Notably, the largest number of candidate genes were observed from transcripts derived from adipose, liver, lung, spleen tissues, and macrophage cell type, indicating their crucial role in meat color development. Several shared genes associated with redness, yellowness, and chroma indices traits were identified, including RINL in adipose tissue, ENSSSCG00000034844 and ITIH1 in liver tissue, TPX2 and MFAP2 in lung tissue, and ZBTB17, FAM131C, KIFC3, NTPCR, and ENGSSSCG00000045605 in spleen tissue. Furthermore, single-cell enrichment analysis revealed a significant association between the immune system and meat color. This finding underscores the significance of the immune system associated with meat color. Overall, our study provides a comprehensive analysis of the genetic mechanisms underlying meat color traits, offering valuable insights for future breeding efforts aimed at improving meat quality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng Liu
- Department of Animal Science, College of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, 866# Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou 310058, China; (C.L.); (Z.C.); (Z.Z.); (Z.W.); (X.G.); (Y.P.)
| | - Zitao Chen
- Department of Animal Science, College of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, 866# Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou 310058, China; (C.L.); (Z.C.); (Z.Z.); (Z.W.); (X.G.); (Y.P.)
| | - Zhe Zhang
- Department of Animal Science, College of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, 866# Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou 310058, China; (C.L.); (Z.C.); (Z.Z.); (Z.W.); (X.G.); (Y.P.)
| | - Zhen Wang
- Department of Animal Science, College of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, 866# Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou 310058, China; (C.L.); (Z.C.); (Z.Z.); (Z.W.); (X.G.); (Y.P.)
| | - Xiaoling Guo
- Department of Animal Science, College of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, 866# Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou 310058, China; (C.L.); (Z.C.); (Z.Z.); (Z.W.); (X.G.); (Y.P.)
| | - Yuchun Pan
- Department of Animal Science, College of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, 866# Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou 310058, China; (C.L.); (Z.C.); (Z.Z.); (Z.W.); (X.G.); (Y.P.)
- Hainan Institute, Zhejiang University, Yongyou Industry Park, Yazhou Bay Sci-Tech City, Sanya 572000, China
| | - Qishan Wang
- Department of Animal Science, College of Animal Science, Zhejiang University, 866# Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou 310058, China; (C.L.); (Z.C.); (Z.Z.); (Z.W.); (X.G.); (Y.P.)
- Hainan Institute, Zhejiang University, Yongyou Industry Park, Yazhou Bay Sci-Tech City, Sanya 572000, China
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Liang Y, Nyasimi F, Im HK. On the problem of inflation in transcriptome-wide association studies. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.10.17.562831. [PMID: 37904952 PMCID: PMC10614931 DOI: 10.1101/2023.10.17.562831] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2023]
Abstract
Hundreds of thousands of loci have been associated with complex traits via genome-wide association studies (GWAS), but an understanding of the mechanistic connection between GWAS loci and disease remains elusive. Genetic predictors of molecular traits are useful for identifying the mediating roles of molecular traits and prioritizing actionable targets for intervention, as demonstrated in transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) and related studies. Given the widespread polygenicity of complex traits, it is imperative to understand the effect of polygenicity on the validity of these mediator-trait association tests. We found that for highly polygenic target traits, the standard test based on linear regression is inflated E χ twas 2 > 1 . This inflation has implications for all TWAS and related methods where the complex trait can be highly polygenic-even if the mediating trait is sparse. We derive an asymptotic expression of the inflation, estimate the inflation for gene expression, metabolites, and brain image derived features, and propose a solution to correct the inflation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanyu Liang
- Section of Genetic Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Festus Nyasimi
- Section of Genetic Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Hae Kyung Im
- Section of Genetic Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
- Computing Environment and Life Sciences Directorate, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, United States of America
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