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Li X, Fernandes BS, Liu A, Lu Y, Chen J, Zhao Z, Dai Y. GRPa-PRS: A risk stratification method to identify genetically-regulated pathways in polygenic diseases. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2024:2023.06.19.23291621. [PMID: 37425929 PMCID: PMC10327215 DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.19.23291621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/11/2023]
Abstract
Background Polygenic risk scores (PRS) are tools used to evaluate an individual's susceptibility to polygenic diseases based on their genetic profile. A considerable proportion of people carry a high genetic risk but evade the disease. On the other hand, some individuals with a low risk of eventually developing the disease. We hypothesized that unknown counterfactors might be involved in reversing the PRS prediction, which might provide new insights into the pathogenesis, prevention, and early intervention of diseases. Methods We built a novel computational framework to identify genetically-regulated pathways (GRPas) using PRS-based stratification for each cohort. We curated two AD cohorts with genotyping data; the discovery (disc) and the replication (rep) datasets include 2722 and 2854 individuals, respectively. First, we calculated the optimized PRS model based on the three recent AD GWAS summary statistics for each cohort. Then, we stratified the individuals by their PRS and clinical diagnosis into six biologically meaningful PRS strata, such as AD cases with low/high risk and cognitively normal (CN) with low/high risk. Lastly, we imputed individual genetically-regulated expression (GReX) and identified differential GReX and GRPas between risk strata using gene-set enrichment and variational analyses in two models, with and without APOE effects. An orthogonality test was further conducted to verify those GRPas are independent of PRS risk. To verify the generalizability of other polygenic diseases, we further applied a default model of GRPa-PRS for schizophrenia (SCZ). Results For each stratum, we conducted the same procedures in both the disc and rep datasets for comparison. In AD, we identified several well-known AD-related pathways, including amyloid-beta clearance, tau protein binding, and astrocyte response to oxidative stress. Additionally, we discovered resilience-related GRPs that are orthogonal to AD PRS, such as the calcium signaling pathway and divalent inorganic cation homeostasis. In SCZ, pathways related to mitochondrial function and muscle development were highlighted. Finally, our GRPa-PRS method identified more consistent differential pathways compared to another variant-based pathway PRS method. Conclusions We developed a framework, GRPa-PRS, to systematically explore the differential GReX and GRPas among individuals stratified by their estimated PRS. The GReX-level comparison among those strata unveiled new insights into the pathways associated with disease risk and resilience. Our framework is extendable to other polygenic complex diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyang Li
- Center for Precision Health, McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Brisa S. Fernandes
- Center for Precision Health, McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Andi Liu
- Center for Precision Health, McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Yimei Lu
- Nevada Institute of Personalized Medicine, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
| | - Jingchun Chen
- Nevada Institute of Personalized Medicine, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
| | - Zhongming Zhao
- Center for Precision Health, McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Yulin Dai
- Center for Precision Health, McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
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Johnston KJA, Cote AC, Hicks E, Johnson J, Huckins LM. Genetically Regulated Gene Expression in the Brain Associated With Chronic Pain: Relationships With Clinical Traits and Potential for Drug Repurposing. Biol Psychiatry 2024; 95:745-761. [PMID: 37678542 PMCID: PMC10924073 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.08.023] [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: 12/28/2022] [Revised: 07/20/2023] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Chronic pain is a common, poorly understood condition. Genetic studies including genome-wide association studies have identified many relevant variants, which have yet to be translated into full understanding of chronic pain. Transcriptome-wide association studies using transcriptomic imputation methods such as S-PrediXcan can help bridge this genotype-phenotype gap. METHODS We carried out transcriptomic imputation using S-PrediXcan to identify genetically regulated gene expression associated with multisite chronic pain in 13 brain tissues and whole blood. Then, we imputed genetically regulated gene expression for over 31,000 Mount Sinai BioMe participants and performed a phenome-wide association study to investigate clinical relationships in chronic pain-associated gene expression changes. RESULTS We identified 95 experiment-wide significant gene-tissue associations (p < 7.97 × 10-7), including 36 unique genes and an additional 134 gene-tissue associations reaching within-tissue significance, including 53 additional unique genes. Of the 89 unique genes in total, 59 were novel for multisite chronic pain and 18 are established drug targets. Chronic pain genetically regulated gene expression for 10 unique genes was significantly associated with cardiac dysrhythmia, metabolic syndrome, disc disorders/dorsopathies, joint/ligament sprain, anemias, and neurologic disorder phecodes. Phenome-wide association study analyses adjusting for mean pain score showed that associations were not driven by mean pain score. CONCLUSIONS We carried out the largest transcriptomic imputation study of any chronic pain trait to date. Results highlight potential causal genes in chronic pain development and tissue and direction of effect. Several gene results were also drug targets. Phenome-wide association study results showed significant associations for phecodes including cardiac dysrhythmia and metabolic syndrome, thereby indicating potential shared mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keira J A Johnston
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
| | - Alanna C Cote
- Pamela Sklar Division of Psychiatric Genetics, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Emily Hicks
- Pamela Sklar Division of Psychiatric Genetics, Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York
| | - Jessica Johnson
- School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
| | - Laura M Huckins
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
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Jia K, Shen J. Transcriptome-wide association studies associated with Crohn's disease: challenges and perspectives. Cell Biosci 2024; 14:29. [PMID: 38403629 PMCID: PMC10895848 DOI: 10.1186/s13578-024-01204-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 02/04/2024] [Indexed: 02/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Crohn's disease (CD) is regarded as a lifelong progressive disease affecting all segments of the intestinal tract and multiple organs. Based on genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and gene expression data, transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS) can help identify susceptibility genes associated with pathogenesis and disease behavior. In this review, we overview seven reported TWASs of CD, summarize their study designs, and discuss the key methods and steps used in TWAS, which affect the prioritization of susceptibility genes. This article summarized the screening of tissue-specific susceptibility genes for CD, and discussed the reported potential pathological mechanisms of overlapping susceptibility genes related to CD in a certain tissue type. We observed that ileal lipid-related metabolism and colonic extracellular vesicles may be involved in the pathogenesis of CD by performing GO pathway enrichment analysis for susceptibility genes. We further pointed the low reproducibility of TWAS associated with CD and discussed the reasons for these issues, strategies for solving them. In the future, more TWAS are needed to be designed into large-scale, unified cohorts, unified analysis pipelines, and fully classified databases of expression trait loci.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keyu Jia
- Laboratory of Medicine, Baoshan Branch, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Nephrology department, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1058 Huanzhen Northroad, Shanghai, 200444, China
| | - Jun Shen
- Laboratory of Medicine, Baoshan Branch, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Nephrology department, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 1058 Huanzhen Northroad, Shanghai, 200444, China.
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Key Laboratory of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Ministry of Health, Inflammatory Bowel Research Center, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Institute of Digestive Disease, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
- NHC Key Laboratory of Digestive Diseases, Renji Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Baoshan Branch, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
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Jagirdhar GSK, Perez JA, Perez AB, Surani S. Integration and implementation of precision medicine in the multifaceted inflammatory bowel disease. World J Gastroenterol 2023; 29:5211-5225. [PMID: 37901450 PMCID: PMC10600960 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i36.5211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2023] [Revised: 07/31/2023] [Accepted: 09/06/2023] [Indexed: 09/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a complex disease with variability in genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors affecting disease presentation and course. Precision medicine has the potential to play a crucial role in managing IBD by tailoring treatment plans based on the heterogeneity of clinical and temporal variability of patients. Precision medicine is a population-based approach to managing IBD by integrating environmental, genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic factors. It is a recent and rapidly developing medicine. The widespread adoption of precision medicine worldwide has the potential to result in the early detection of diseases, optimal utilization of healthcare resources, enhanced patient outcomes, and, ultimately, improved quality of life for individuals with IBD. Though precision medicine is promising in terms of better quality of patient care, inadequacies exist in the ongoing research. There is discordance in study conduct, and data collection, utilization, interpretation, and analysis. This review aims to describe the current literature on precision medicine, its multiomics approach, and future directions for its application in IBD.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jose Andres Perez
- Department of Medicine, Saint Francis Health Systems, Tulsa, OK 74133, United States
| | - Andrea Belen Perez
- Department of Research, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, United States
| | - Salim Surani
- Department of Medicine and Pharmacology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77413, United States
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Liang M, An B, Deng T, Du L, Li K, Cao S, Du Y, Xu L, Zhang L, Gao X, Cao Y, Zhao Y, Li J, Gao H. Incorporating genome-wide and transcriptome-wide association studies to identify genetic elements of longissimus dorsi muscle in Huaxi cattle. Front Genet 2023; 13:982433. [PMID: 36685878 PMCID: PMC9852892 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.982433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2022] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Locating the genetic variation of important livestock and poultry economic traits is essential for genetic improvement in breeding programs. Identifying the candidate genes for the productive ability of Huaxi cattle was one crucial element for practical breeding. Based on the genotype and phenotype data of 1,478 individuals and the RNA-seq data of 120 individuals contained in 1,478 individuals, we implemented genome-wide association studies (GWAS), transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS), and Fisher's combined test (FCT) to identify the candidate genes for the carcass trait, the weight of longissimus dorsi muscle (LDM). The results indicated that GWAS, TWAS, and FCT identified seven candidate genes for LDM altogether: PENK was located by GWAS and FCT, PPAT was located by TWAS and FCT, and XKR4, MTMR3, FGFRL1, DHRS4, and LAP3 were only located by one of the methods. After functional analysis of these candidate genes and referring to the reported studies, we found that they were mainly functional in the progress of the development of the body and the growth of muscle cells. Combining advanced breeding techniques such as gene editing with our study will significantly accelerate the genetic improvement for the future breeding of Huaxi cattle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mang Liang
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Bingxing An
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Tianyu Deng
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Lili Du
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Keanning Li
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Sheng Cao
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yueying Du
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Lingyang Xu
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Lupei Zhang
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xue Gao
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Yang Cao
- Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
| | - Yuming Zhao
- Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changchun, China
| | - Junya Li
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Huijiang Gao
- Institute of Animal Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China,*Correspondence: Huijiang Gao,
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Huang M, Xu H. Genetic susceptibility to autoimmunity-Current status and challenges. Adv Immunol 2022; 156:25-54. [PMID: 36410874 DOI: 10.1016/bs.ai.2022.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Autoimmune diseases (ADs) often arise from a combination of genetic and environmental triggers that disrupt the immune system's capability to properly tolerate body self-antigens. Familial studies provided the earliest insights into the risk loci of such diseases, while genome-wide association studies (GWAS) significantly broadened the horizons. A drug targeting a prominent pathological pathway can be applied to multiple indications sharing overlapping mechanisms. Advances in genomic technologies used in genetic studies provide critical insights into future research on gene-environment interactions in autoimmunity. This Review summarizes the history and recent advances in the understanding of genetic susceptibility to ADs and related immune disorders, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and their indications for the development of diagnostic or prognostic markers for translational applications.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Huji Xu
- School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China; Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, The Navel Medical University, Shanghai, China; Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
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Liu A, Manuel AM, Dai Y, Zhao Z. Prioritization of risk genes in multiple sclerosis by a refined Bayesian framework followed by tissue-specificity and cell type feature assessment. BMC Genomics 2022; 23:362. [PMID: 35545758 PMCID: PMC9092676 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-022-08580-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 04/22/2022] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating immune-mediated disease of the central nervous system that affects over 2 million people worldwide, resulting in a heavy burden to families and entire communities. Understanding the genetic basis underlying MS could help decipher the pathogenesis and shed light on MS treatment. We refined a recently developed Bayesian framework, Integrative Risk Gene Selector (iRIGS), to prioritize risk genes associated with MS by integrating the summary statistics from the largest GWAS to date (n = 115,803), various genomic features, and gene-gene closeness. RESULTS We identified 163 MS-associated prioritized risk genes (MS-PRGenes) through the Bayesian framework. We replicated 35 MS-PRGenes through two-sample Mendelian randomization (2SMR) approach by integrating data from GWAS and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) of 19 tissues. We demonstrated that MS-PRGenes had more substantial deleterious effects and disease risk. Moreover, single-cell enrichment analysis indicated MS-PRGenes were more enriched in activated macrophages and microglia macrophages than non-activated ones in control samples. Biological and drug enrichment analyses highlighted inflammatory signaling pathways. CONCLUSIONS In summary, we predicted and validated a high-confidence MS risk gene set from diverse genomic, epigenomic, eQTL, single-cell, and drug data. The MS-PRGenes could further serve as a benchmark of MS GWAS risk genes for future validation or genetic studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andi Liu
- grid.267308.80000 0000 9206 2401Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030 USA ,grid.267308.80000 0000 9206 2401Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030 USA
| | - Astrid M. Manuel
- grid.267308.80000 0000 9206 2401Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030 USA
| | - Yulin Dai
- grid.267308.80000 0000 9206 2401Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030 USA
| | - Zhongming Zhao
- grid.267308.80000 0000 9206 2401Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030 USA ,grid.267308.80000 0000 9206 2401Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030 USA ,grid.267308.80000 0000 9206 2401Human Genetics Center, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030 USA
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Lim JS, Hong M, Lam WST, Zhang Z, Teo ZL, Liu Y, Ng WY, Foo LL, Ting DSW. Novel technical and privacy-preserving technology for artificial intelligence in ophthalmology. Curr Opin Ophthalmol 2022; 33:174-187. [PMID: 35266894 DOI: 10.1097/icu.0000000000000846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW The application of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine and ophthalmology has experienced exponential breakthroughs in recent years in diagnosis, prognosis, and aiding clinical decision-making. The use of digital data has also heralded the need for privacy-preserving technology to protect patient confidentiality and to guard against threats such as adversarial attacks. Hence, this review aims to outline novel AI-based systems for ophthalmology use, privacy-preserving measures, potential challenges, and future directions of each. RECENT FINDINGS Several key AI algorithms used to improve disease detection and outcomes include: Data-driven, imagedriven, natural language processing (NLP)-driven, genomics-driven, and multimodality algorithms. However, deep learning systems are susceptible to adversarial attacks, and use of data for training models is associated with privacy concerns. Several data protection methods address these concerns in the form of blockchain technology, federated learning, and generative adversarial networks. SUMMARY AI-applications have vast potential to meet many eyecare needs, consequently reducing burden on scarce healthcare resources. A pertinent challenge would be to maintain data privacy and confidentiality while supporting AI endeavors, where data protection methods would need to rapidly evolve with AI technology needs. Ultimately, for AI to succeed in medicine and ophthalmology, a balance would need to be found between innovation and privacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jane S Lim
- Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore Eye Research Institute
| | | | - Walter S T Lam
- Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
| | - Zheting Zhang
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University
| | - Zhen Ling Teo
- Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore Eye Research Institute
| | - Yong Liu
- National University of Singapore, DukeNUS Medical School, Singapore
| | - Wei Yan Ng
- Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore Eye Research Institute
| | - Li Lian Foo
- Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore Eye Research Institute
| | - Daniel S W Ting
- Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore Eye Research Institute
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Sudhakar P, Alsoud D, Wellens J, Verstockt S, Arnauts K, Verstockt B, Vermeire S. Tailoring Multi-omics to Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: All for One and One for All. J Crohns Colitis 2022; 16:1306-1320. [PMID: 35150242 PMCID: PMC9426669 DOI: 10.1093/ecco-jcc/jjac027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2021] [Revised: 02/02/2022] [Accepted: 02/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] has a multifactorial origin and originates from a complex interplay of environmental factors with the innate immune system at the intestinal epithelial interface in a genetically susceptible individual. All these factors make its aetiology intricate and largely unknown. Multi-omic datasets obtained from IBD patients are required to gain further insights into IBD biology. We here review the landscape of multi-omic data availability in IBD and identify barriers and gaps for future research. We also outline the various technical and non-technical factors that influence the utility and interpretability of multi-omic datasets and thereby the study design of any research project generating such datasets. Coordinated generation of multi-omic datasets and their systemic integration with clinical phenotypes and environmental exposures will not only enhance understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of IBD but also improve therapeutic strategies. Finally, we provide recommendations to enable and facilitate generation of multi-omic datasets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Padhmanand Sudhakar
- Corresponding author: Padhmanand Sudhakar, Translational Research in Gastrointestinal Disorders [TARGID], ON I, Herestraat 49, box 701, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. Tel.: 0032 [0]16 19 49 40;
| | - Dahham Alsoud
- KU Leuven Department of Chronic Diseases, Metabolism and Ageing, Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders [TARGID], Leuven, Belgium
| | - Judith Wellens
- KU Leuven Department of Chronic Diseases, Metabolism and Ageing, Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders [TARGID], Leuven, Belgium
| | - Sare Verstockt
- KU Leuven Department of Chronic Diseases, Metabolism and Ageing, Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders [TARGID], Leuven, Belgium
| | - Kaline Arnauts
- KU Leuven Department of Chronic Diseases, Metabolism and Ageing, Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders [TARGID], Leuven, Belgium
| | - Bram Verstockt
- KU Leuven Department of Chronic Diseases, Metabolism and Ageing, Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders [TARGID], Leuven, Belgium,Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospitals Leuven, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Severine Vermeire
- KU Leuven Department of Chronic Diseases, Metabolism and Ageing, Translational Research Center for Gastrointestinal Disorders [TARGID], Leuven, Belgium,Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospitals Leuven, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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Association of CXCR6 with COVID-19 severity: delineating the host genetic factors in transcriptomic regulation. Hum Genet 2021; 140:1313-1328. [PMID: 34155559 PMCID: PMC8216591 DOI: 10.1007/s00439-021-02305-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2021] [Accepted: 06/13/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease that mainly affects the host respiratory system with ~ 80% asymptomatic or mild cases and ~ 5% severe cases. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified several genetic loci associated with the severe COVID-19 symptoms. Delineating the genetic variants and genes is important for better understanding its biological mechanisms. We implemented integrative approaches, including transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS), colocalization analysis, and functional element prediction analysis, to interpret the genetic risks using two independent GWAS datasets in lung and immune cells. To understand the context-specific molecular alteration, we further performed deep learning-based single-cell transcriptomic analyses on a bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) dataset from moderate and severe COVID-19 patients. We discovered and replicated the genetically regulated expression of CXCR6 and CCR9 genes. These two genes have a protective effect on lung, and a risk effect on whole blood, respectively. The colocalization analysis of GWAS and cis-expression quantitative trait loci highlighted the regulatory effect on CXCR6 expression in lung and immune cells. In the lung-resident memory CD8+ T (TRM) cells, we found a 2.24-fold decrease of cell proportion among CD8+ T cells and lower expression of CXCR6 in the severe patients than moderate patients. Pro-inflammatory transcriptional programs were highlighted in the TRM cellular trajectory from moderate to severe patients. CXCR6 from the 3p21.31 locus is associated with severe COVID-19. CXCR6 tends to have a lower expression in lung TRM cells of severe patients, which aligns with the protective effect of CXCR6 from TWAS analysis.
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Tarazona S, Arzalluz-Luque A, Conesa A. Undisclosed, unmet and neglected challenges in multi-omics studies. NATURE COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE 2021; 1:395-402. [PMID: 38217236 DOI: 10.1038/s43588-021-00086-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2021] [Accepted: 05/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/15/2024]
Abstract
Multi-omics approaches have become a reality in both large genomics projects and small laboratories. However, the multi-omics research community still faces a number of issues that have either not been sufficiently discussed or for which current solutions are still limited. In this Perspective, we elaborate on these limitations and suggest points of attention for future research. We finally discuss new opportunities and challenges brought to the field by the rapid development of single-cell high-throughput molecular technologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sonia Tarazona
- Department of Applied Statistics, Operations Research and Quality, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain
| | - Angeles Arzalluz-Luque
- Department of Applied Statistics, Operations Research and Quality, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain
| | - Ana Conesa
- Microbiology and Cell Science Department, Institute for Food and Agricultural Research, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
- Genetics Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
- Institute for Integrative Systems Biology, Spanish National Research Council, Valencia, Spain.
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Dai Y, Wang J, Jeong HH, Chen W, Jia P, Zhao Z. Association of CXCR6 with COVID-19 severity: Delineating the host genetic factors in transcriptomic regulation. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2021. [PMID: 33619490 PMCID: PMC7899454 DOI: 10.1101/2021.02.17.431554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease that mainly affects the host respiratory system with ~80% asymptomatic or mild cases and ~5% severe cases. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified several genetic loci associated with the severe COVID-19 symptoms. Delineating the genetic variants and genes is important for better understanding its biological mechanisms. Methods: We implemented integrative approaches, including transcriptome-wide association studies (TWAS), colocalization analysis and functional element prediction analysis, to interpret the genetic risks using two independent GWAS datasets in lung and immune cells. To understand the context-specific molecular alteration, we further performed deep learning-based single cell transcriptomic analyses on a bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) dataset from moderate and severe COVID-19 patients. Results: We discovered and replicated the genetically regulated expression of CXCR6 and CCR9 genes. These two genes have a protective effect on the lung and a risk effect on whole blood, respectively. The colocalization analysis of GWAS and cis-expression quantitative trait loci highlighted the regulatory effect on CXCR6 expression in lung and immune cells. In the lung resident memory CD8+ T (TRM) cells, we found a 3.32-fold decrease of cell proportion and lower expression of CXCR6 in the severe than moderate patients using the BALF transcriptomic dataset. Pro-inflammatory transcriptional programs were highlighted in TRM cells trajectory from moderate to severe patients. Conclusions: CXCR6 from the 3p21.31 locus is associated with severe COVID-19. CXCR6 tends to have a lower expression in lung TRM cells of severe patients, which aligns with the protective effect of CXCR6 from TWAS analysis. We illustrate one potential mechanism of host genetic factor impacting the severity of COVID-19 through regulating the expression of CXCR6 and TRM cell proportion and stability. Our results shed light on potential therapeutic targets for severe COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yulin Dai
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Junke Wang
- MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Hyun-Hwan Jeong
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Wenhao Chen
- Immunobiology and Transplant Science Center, Department of Surgery, Houston Methodist Research Institute and Institute for Academic Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Department of Surgery, Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Peilin Jia
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Zhongming Zhao
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX, USA.,Human Genetics Center, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
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13
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Dai Y, Hu R, Manuel AM, Liu A, Jia P, Zhao Z. CSEA-DB: an omnibus for human complex trait and cell type associations. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 49:D862-D870. [PMID: 33211888 PMCID: PMC7778923 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa1064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2020] [Revised: 10/18/2020] [Accepted: 10/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
During the past decade, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified many genetic variants with susceptibility to several thousands of complex diseases or traits. The genetic regulation of gene expression is highly tissue-specific and cell type-specific. Recently, single-cell technology has paved the way to dissect cellular heterogeneity in human tissues. Here, we present a reference database for GWAS trait-associated cell type-specificity, named Cell type-Specific Enrichment Analysis DataBase (CSEA-DB, available at https://bioinfo.uth.edu/CSEADB/). Specifically, we curated total of 5120 GWAS summary statistics data for a wide range of human traits and diseases followed by rigorous quality control. We further collected >900 000 cells from the leading consortia such as Human Cell Landscape, Human Cell Atlas, and extensive literature mining, including 752 tissue cell types from 71 adult and fetal tissues across 11 human organ systems. The tissues and cell types were annotated with Uberon and Cell Ontology. By applying our deTS algorithm, we conducted 10 250 480 times of trait-cell type associations, reporting a total of 598 (11.68%) GWAS traits with at least one significantly associated cell type. In summary, CSEA-DB could serve as a repository of association map for human complex traits and their underlying cell types, manually curated GWAS, and single-cell transcriptome resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yulin Dai
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Ruifeng Hu
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Astrid Marilyn Manuel
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Andi Liu
- Human Genetics Center, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Peilin Jia
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Zhongming Zhao
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Human Genetics Center, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX 77030, USA
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14
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Jia P, Dai Y, Hu R, Pei G, Manuel AM, Zhao Z. TSEA-DB: a trait-tissue association map for human complex traits and diseases. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:D1022-D1030. [PMID: 31680168 PMCID: PMC7145616 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkz957] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2019] [Revised: 10/07/2019] [Accepted: 10/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Assessing the causal tissues of human traits and diseases is important for better interpreting trait-associated genetic variants, understanding disease etiology, and improving treatment strategies. Here, we present a reference database for trait-associated tissue specificity based on genome-wide association study (GWAS) results, named Tissue-Specific Enrichment Analysis DataBase (TSEA-DB, available at https://bioinfo.uth.edu/TSEADB/). We collected GWAS summary statistics data for a wide range of human traits and diseases followed by rigorous quality control. The current version of TSEA-DB includes 4423 data sets from the UK Biobank (UKBB) and 596 from other resources (GWAS Catalog and literature mining), totaling 5019 unique GWAS data sets and 15 770 trait-associated gene sets. TSEA-DB aims to provide reference tissue(s) enriched with the genes from GWAS. To this end, we systematically performed a tissue-specific enrichment analysis using our recently developed tool deTS and gene expression profiles from two reference tissue panels: the GTEx panel (47 tissues) and the ENCODE panel (44 tissues). The comprehensive trait–tissue association results can be easily accessed, searched, visualized, analyzed, and compared across the studies and traits through our web site. TSEA-DB represents one of the many timely and comprehensive approaches in exploring human trait–tissue association.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peilin Jia
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Yulin Dai
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Ruifeng Hu
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Guangsheng Pei
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Astrid Marilyn Manuel
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Zhongming Zhao
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Human Genetics Center, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston, TX 77030, USA.,Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN 37203, USA
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15
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Nicholls HL, John CR, Watson DS, Munroe PB, Barnes MR, Cabrera CP. Reaching the End-Game for GWAS: Machine Learning Approaches for the Prioritization of Complex Disease Loci. Front Genet 2020; 11:350. [PMID: 32351543 PMCID: PMC7174742 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2020.00350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2019] [Accepted: 03/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have revealed thousands of genetic loci that underpin the complex biology of many human traits. However, the strength of GWAS - the ability to detect genetic association by linkage disequilibrium (LD) - is also its limitation. Whilst the ever-increasing study size and improved design have augmented the power of GWAS to detect effects, differentiation of causal variants or genes from other highly correlated genes associated by LD remains the real challenge. This has severely hindered the biological insights and clinical translation of GWAS findings. Although thousands of disease susceptibility loci have been reported, causal genes at these loci remain elusive. Machine learning (ML) techniques offer an opportunity to dissect the heterogeneity of variant and gene signals in the post-GWAS analysis phase. ML models for GWAS prioritization vary greatly in their complexity, ranging from relatively simple logistic regression approaches to more complex ensemble models such as random forests and gradient boosting, as well as deep learning models, i.e., neural networks. Paired with functional validation, these methods show important promise for clinical translation, providing a strong evidence-based approach to direct post-GWAS research. However, as ML approaches continue to evolve to meet the challenge of causal gene identification, a critical assessment of the underlying methodologies and their applicability to the GWAS prioritization problem is needed. This review investigates the landscape of ML applications in three parts: selected models, input features, and output model performance, with a focus on prioritizations of complex disease associated loci. Overall, we explore the contributions ML has made towards reaching the GWAS end-game with consequent wide-ranging translational impact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah L. Nicholls
- Clinical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
- Centre for Translational Bioinformatics, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Christopher R. John
- Centre for Translational Bioinformatics, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
- Centre for Experimental Medicine and Rheumatology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - David S. Watson
- Centre for Translational Bioinformatics, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
- Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Patricia B. Munroe
- Clinical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
- NIHR Barts Biomedical Research Centre, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Michael R. Barnes
- Clinical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
- Centre for Translational Bioinformatics, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
- NIHR Barts Biomedical Research Centre, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
- The Alan Turing Institute, British Library, London, United Kingdom
| | - Claudia P. Cabrera
- Clinical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
- Centre for Translational Bioinformatics, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
- NIHR Barts Biomedical Research Centre, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom
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16
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Dai Y, Hu R, Pei G, Zhang H, Zhao Z, Jia P. Diverse types of genomic evidence converge on alcohol use disorder risk genes. J Med Genet 2020; 57:733-743. [PMID: 32170004 DOI: 10.1136/jmedgenet-2019-106490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2019] [Revised: 01/08/2020] [Accepted: 02/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is one of the most common forms of substance use disorders with a strong contribution of genetic (50%-60%) and environmental factors. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified a number of AUD-associated variants, including those in alcohol metabolism genes. These genetic variants may modulate gene expression, making individuals more susceptible to AUD. A long-term alcohol consumption can also change the transcriptome patterns of subjects via epigenetic modulations. METHODS To explore the interactive effect of genetic and epigenetic factors on AUD, we conducted a secondary analysis by integrating GWAS, CNV, brain transcriptome and DNA methylation data to unravel novel AUD-associated genes/variants. We applied the mega-analysis of OR (MegaOR) method to prioritise AUD candidate genes (AUDgenes). RESULTS We identified a consensus set of 206 AUDgenes based on the multi-omics data. We demonstrated that these AUDgenes tend to interact with each other more frequent than chance expectation. Functional annotation analysis indicated that these AUDgenes were involved in substance dependence, synaptic transmission, glial cell proliferation and enriched in neuronal and liver cells. We obtained a multidimensional evidence that AUD is a polygenic disorder influenced by both genetic and epigenetic factors as well as the interaction of them. CONCLUSION We characterised multidimensional evidence of genetic, epigenetic and transcriptomic data in AUD. We found that 206 AUD associated genes were highly expressed in liver, brain cerebellum, frontal cortex, hippocampus and pituitary. Our studies provides important insights into the molecular mechanism of AUD and potential target genes for AUD treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yulin Dai
- School of Biomedical Science, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Ruifeng Hu
- School of Biomedical Science, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Guangsheng Pei
- School of Biomedical Science, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Huiping Zhang
- Department of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Department of Medicine (Biomedical Genetics), Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Zhongming Zhao
- School of Biomedical Science, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA.,Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Peilin Jia
- School of Biomedical Science, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, USA
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