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Reales G, Amos CI, Benveniste O, Chinoy H, De Bleecker J, De Paepe B, Doria A, Gregersen PK, Lamb JA, Limaye V, Lundberg IE, Machado PM, Maurer B, Miller FW, Molberg Ø, Pachman LM, Padyukov L, Radstake TR, Reed AM, Rider LG, Rothwell S, Selva-O'Callaghan A, Vencovský J, Wedderburn LR, Wallace C. Discovery of new myositis genetic associations through leveraging other immune-mediated diseases. HGG ADVANCES 2024; 5:100336. [PMID: 39044428 PMCID: PMC11350499 DOI: 10.1016/j.xhgg.2024.100336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2024] [Revised: 07/16/2024] [Accepted: 07/16/2024] [Indexed: 07/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have been successful at finding associations between genetic variants and human traits, including the immune-mediated diseases (IMDs). However, the requirement of large sample sizes for discovery poses a challenge for learning about less common diseases, where increasing volunteer numbers might not be feasible. An example of this is myositis (or idiopathic inflammatory myopathies [IIM]s), a group of rare, heterogeneous autoimmune diseases affecting skeletal muscle and other organs, severely impairing life quality. Here, we applied a feature engineering method to borrow information from larger IMD GWASs to find new genetic associations with IIM and its subgroups. Combining this approach with two clustering methods, we found 17 IMDs genetically close to IIM, including some common comorbid conditions, such as systemic sclerosis and Sjögren's syndrome, as well as hypo- and hyperthyroidism. All IIM subtypes were genetically similar within this framework. Next, we colocalized IIM signals that overlapped IMD signals, and found seven potentially novel myositis associations mapped to immune-related genes, including BLK, IRF5/TNPO3, and ITK/HAVCR2, implicating a role for both B and T cells in IIM. This work proposes a new paradigm of genetic discovery in rarer diseases by leveraging information from more common IMD, and can be expanded to other conditions and traits beyond IMD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillermo Reales
- Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease (CITIID), University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | | | - Olivier Benveniste
- Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Immunology, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France
| | - Hector Chinoy
- Department of Rheumatology, Salford Royal Hospital, Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Salford, UK; Division of Musculoskeletal and Dermatological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Jan De Bleecker
- Department of Neurology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Neuromuscular Reference Center, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Boel De Paepe
- Department of Neurology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Neuromuscular Reference Center, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Andrea Doria
- Rheumatology Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Peter K Gregersen
- The Robert S. Boas Center for Genomics and Human Genetics, The Feinstein Institute, Manhasset, NY, USA
| | - Janine A Lamb
- Epidemiology and Public Health Group, Division of Population Health, Health Services Research & Primary Care, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Vidya Limaye
- Rheumatology Unit, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia; Discipline of Medicine, Adelaide University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Ingrid E Lundberg
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Pedro M Machado
- Department of Neuromuscular Diseases, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology. London, UK; Centre for Rheumatology, UCL Division of Medicine, University College London, London, UK
| | - Britta Maurer
- Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Frederick W Miller
- Environmental Autoimmunity Group, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Øyvind Molberg
- Department of Rheumatology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
| | - Lauren M Pachman
- Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Leonid Padyukov
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Timothy R Radstake
- Department of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology, University Medical Center, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Ann M Reed
- Department of Pediatrics, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Lisa G Rider
- Environmental Autoimmunity Group, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Simon Rothwell
- Centre for Genetics and Genomics Versus Arthritis, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Albert Selva-O'Callaghan
- Internal Medicine Department, Vall d'Hebron General Hospital, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jiri Vencovský
- Institute of Rheumatology and Department of Rheumatology, First Medical Faculty, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Lucy R Wedderburn
- Centre for Adolescent Rheumatology Versus Arthritis, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK; NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, UK
| | - Chris Wallace
- Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Disease (CITIID), University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; MRC Biostatistics Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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