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Shang L, Smith JA, Zhao W, Kho M, Turner ST, Mosley TH, Kardia SLR, Zhou X. Genetic Architecture of Gene Expression in European and African Americans: An eQTL Mapping Study in GENOA. Am J Hum Genet 2020; 106:496-512. [PMID: 32220292 PMCID: PMC7118581 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2020.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2019] [Accepted: 03/06/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Most existing expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) mapping studies have been focused on individuals of European ancestry and are underrepresented in other populations including populations with African ancestry. Lack of large-scale well-powered eQTL mapping studies in populations with African ancestry can both impede the dissemination of eQTL mapping results that would otherwise benefit individuals with African ancestry and hinder the comparable analysis for understanding how gene regulation is shaped through evolution. We fill this critical knowledge gap by performing a large-scale in-depth eQTL mapping study on 1,032 African Americans (AA) and 801 European Americans (EA) in the GENOA cohort. We identified a total of 354,931 eSNPs in AA and 371,309 eSNPs in EA, with 112,316 eSNPs overlapped between the two. We found that eQTL harboring genes (eGenes) are enriched in metabolic pathways and tend to have higher SNP heritability compared to non-eGenes. We found that eGenes that are common in the two populations tend to be less conserved than eGenes that are unique to one population, which are less conserved than non-eGenes. Through conditional analysis, we found that eGenes in AA tend to harbor more independent eQTLs than eGenes in EA, suggesting potentially diverse genetic architecture underlying expression variation in the two populations. Finally, the large sample sizes in GENOA allow us to construct accurate expression prediction models in both AA and EA, facilitating powerful transcriptome-wide association studies. Overall, our results represent an important step toward revealing the genetic architecture underlying expression variation in African Americans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lulu Shang
- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Jennifer A Smith
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Wei Zhao
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Minjung Kho
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Stephen T Turner
- Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA
| | - Thomas H Mosley
- Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS 39126, USA
| | - Sharon L R Kardia
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
| | - Xiang Zhou
- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
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Single nucleotide polymorphisms of microRNA in cardiovascular diseases. Clin Chim Acta 2018; 478:101-110. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cca.2017.12.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2017] [Revised: 12/18/2017] [Accepted: 12/22/2017] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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Teng MS, Hsu LA, Juan SH, Lin WC, Lee MC, Su CW, Wu S, Ko YL. A GDF15 3' UTR variant, rs1054564, results in allele-specific translational repression of GDF15 by hsa-miR-1233-3p. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0183187. [PMID: 28806401 PMCID: PMC5555568 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0183187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2017] [Accepted: 07/31/2017] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) is a strong predictor of cardiovascular events and mortality in individuals with or without cardiovascular diseases. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in microRNA (miRNA) target sites, also known as miRSNPs, are known to enhance or weaken miRNA-mRNA interactions and have been linked to diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the functional significance of the miRSNP rs1054564 in regulating GDF15 levels. Two rs1054564-containing binding sites for hsa-miR-873-5p and hsa-miR-1233-3p were identified in the 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of the GDF15 transcript using bioinformatics tools. Their activities were further characterized by in vitro reporter assays. Bioinformatics prediction suggested that miRNA binding sites harboring the rs1054564-G allele had lower free energies than those with the C allele and therefore were better targets with higher affinities for both hsa-miR-873-5p and hsa-miR-1233-3p. Reporter assays showed that luciferase activity was significantly decreased by rs1054564-G-containing 3′ UTRs for both miRNAs (P < 0.05) and was restored by miRNA inhibitors. Comparing the fold suppression of the two miRNAs, only that of hsa-miR-1233-3p showed significant changes between the rs1054564-G- and C-containing 3′ UTRs (P = 0.034). In addition, western blots showed that transfection of both miRNA mimics significantly decreased endogenous GDF15 expression in a melanoma cell line (P < 0.05). Taken together, our findings demonstrate that GDF15 is a target of hsa-miR-873-5p and hsa-miR-1233-3p and that the rs1054564-C allele partially abolishes hsa-miR-1233-3p-mediated translational suppression of GDF15. These results suggest that rs1054564 confers allele-specific translational repression of GDF15 via hsa-miR-1233-3p. Our work thus provides biological insight into the previously reported clinical association between rs1054564 and plasma GDF15 levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming-Sheng Teng
- Department of Research, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, New Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Lung-An Hsu
- The First Cardiovascular Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Taoyuan, Taiwan
| | - Shu-Hui Juan
- Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Wen-Chi Lin
- Department of Life Science, Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Ming-Cheng Lee
- Department of Research, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, New Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Cheng-Wen Su
- Department of Research, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, New Taipei City, Taiwan
| | - Semon Wu
- Department of Research, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, New Taipei City, Taiwan
- Department of Life Science, Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan
- * E-mail: (SW); (YLK)
| | - Yu-Lin Ko
- Department of Research, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, New Taipei City, Taiwan
- Cardiovascular Center and Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine and Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, New Taipei City, Taiwan
- School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan
- * E-mail: (SW); (YLK)
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Álvarez-Álvarez MM, Zanetti D, Carreras-Torres R, Moral P, Athanasiadis G. A survey of sub-Saharan gene flow into the Mediterranean at risk loci for coronary artery disease. Eur J Hum Genet 2017; 25:472-476. [PMID: 28098150 DOI: 10.1038/ejhg.2016.200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2016] [Revised: 11/24/2016] [Accepted: 12/14/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
This study tries to find detectable signals of gene flow of Sub-Saharan origin into the Mediterranean in four genomic regions previously associated with coronary artery disease. A total of 366 single-nucleotide polymorphisms were genotyped in 772 individuals from 10 Mediterranean countries. Population structure analyses were performed, in which a noticeable Sub-Saharan component was found in the studied samples. The overall percentage of this Sub-Saharan component presents differences between the two Mediterranean coasts. D-statistics suggest possible Sub-Saharan introgression into one of the studied genomic regions (10q11). We also found differences in linkage disequilibrium patterns between the two Mediterranean coasts, possibly attributable to differential Sub-Saharan admixture. Our results confirm the potentially important role of human demographic history when performing epidemiological studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel M Álvarez-Álvarez
- Faculty of Biology, Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Biodiversity Research Institute, University of Barcelona,Barcelona, Spain
| | - Daniela Zanetti
- Faculty of Biology, Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Biodiversity Research Institute, University of Barcelona,Barcelona, Spain
| | - Robert Carreras-Torres
- Faculty of Biology, Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Biodiversity Research Institute, University of Barcelona,Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pedro Moral
- Faculty of Biology, Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Biodiversity Research Institute, University of Barcelona,Barcelona, Spain
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