Frequency of pathogenic germline variants in cancer susceptibility genes in 1336 renal cell carcinoma cases

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) occurs in a number of cancer predisposition syndromes, but the genetic architecture of susceptibility to RCC is not well defined. We investigated the frequency of pathogenic and likely pathogenic (P/LP) germline variants in cancer susceptibility genes (CSGs) within a large series of unselected RCC participants. Whole-genome sequencing data on 1336 RCC participants and 5834 controls recruited to the UK 100 000 Genomes Project, a nationwide multicentre study, was analyzed to identify rare P/LP short variants (single nucleotide variants and insertions/deletions ranging from 1 to 50 base pairs) and structural variants in 121 CSGs. Among 1336 RCC participants [mean: 61.3 years (±12 SD), range: 13-88 years; 64% male], 85 participants [6.4%; 95% CI (5.1, 7.8)] had one or more P/LP germline variant in a wider range of CSGs than previously recognized. A further 64 intragenic variants in CSGs previously associated with RCC were classified as a variant of uncertain significance (VUS) (24 'hot VUSs') and were considered to be of potential clinical relevance as further evaluation might results in their reclassification. Most patients with P variants in well-established CSGs known to predispose to renal cell carcinoma (RCC-CSGs) were aged <50 years. Burden test analysis for filtered variants in CSGs demonstrated a significant excess of CHEK2 variants in European RCC participants compared with the healthy European controls (P = 0.0019). Approximately, 6% of the patients with RCC unselected for family history have a germline variant requiring additional follow-up analysis. To improve diagnostic yield, we suggest expanding the panel of RCC-CSGs tested to include CHEK2 and all SDHx subunits and raising the eligibility criteria for age-based testing.

Elongin C (ELOC/TCEB1)-associated von Hippel-Lindau disease

Around 95% of patients with clinical features that meet the diagnostic criteria for von Hippel-Lindau disease (VHL) have a detectable inactivating germline variant in VHL. The VHL protein (pVHL) functions as part of the E3 ubiquitin ligase complex comprising pVHL, elongin C, elongin B, cullin 2 and ring box 1 (VCB-CR complex), which plays a key role in oxygen sensing and degradation of hypoxia-inducible factors. To date, only variants in VHL have been shown to cause VHL disease. We undertook trio analysis by whole-exome sequencing in a proband with VHL disease but without a detectable VHL mutation. Molecular studies were also performed on paired DNA extracted from the proband's kidney tumour and blood and bioinformatics analysis of sporadic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) dataset was undertaken. A de novo pathogenic variant in ELOC NM_005648.4(ELOC):c.236A>G (p.Tyr79Cys) gene was identified in the proband. ELOC encodes elongin C, a key component [C] of the VCB-CR complex. The p.Tyr79Cys substitution is a mutational hotspot in sporadic VHL-competent RCC and has previously been shown to mimic the effects of pVHL deficiency on hypoxic signalling. Analysis of an RCC from the proband showed similar findings to that in somatically ELOC-mutated RCC (expression of hypoxia-responsive proteins, no somatic VHL variants and chromosome 8 loss). These findings are consistent with pathogenic ELOC variants being a novel cause for VHL disease and suggest that genetic testing for ELOC variants should be performed in individuals with suspected VHL disease with no detectable VHL variant.

Evidence that autosomal recessive spastic cerebral palsy-1 (CPSQ1) is caused by a missense variant in HPDL

A subset of individuals diagnosed with cerebral palsy will have an underlying genetic diagnosis. Previously, a missense variant in GAD1 was described as a candidate mutation in a single family diagnosed with autosomal recessive spastic cerebral palsy-1 (CPSQ1; OMIM 603513). Following the ascertainment of a further branch of the CPSQ1 kindred, we found that the previously reported GAD1 variant did not segregate with the neurological disease phenotype in the recently ascertained branch of the kindred. Following genetic linkage studies to map autozygous regions and whole-exome sequencing, a missense variant (c.527 T > C; p. Leu176Pro, rs773333490) in the HPDL gene was detected and found to segregate with disease status in both branches of the kindred. HPDL encodes a 371-amino acid protein (4-Hydroxyphenylpyruvate Dioxygenase Like) that localizes to mitochondria but whose function is uncertain. Recently, biallelic loss of function variants and missense substitution-causing variants in HPDL were reported to cause a childhood onset progressive spastic movement disorder with a variable presentation. These findings suggest that HPDL-related neurological disease may mimic spastic cerebral palsy and that GAD1 should not be included in diagnostic gene panels for inherited cerebral palsy.

Multi-layered population structure in Island Southeast Asians

The history of human settlement in Southeast Asia has been complex and involved several distinct dispersal events. Here, we report the analyses of 1825 individuals from Southeast Asia including new genome-wide genotype data for 146 individuals from three Mainland Southeast Asian (Burmese, Malay and Vietnamese) and four Island Southeast Asian (Dusun, Filipino, Kankanaey and Murut) populations. While confirming the presence of previously recognised major ancestry components in the Southeast Asian population structure, we highlight the Kankanaey Igorots from the highlands of the Philippine Mountain Province as likely the closest living representatives of the source population that may have given rise to the Austronesian expansion. This conclusion rests on independent evidence from various analyses of autosomal data and uniparental markers. Given the extensive presence of trade goods, cultural and linguistic evidence of Indian influence in Southeast Asia starting from 2.5 kya, we also detect traces of a South Asian signature in different populations in the region dating to the last couple of thousand years.

Mountain gorilla genomes reveal the impact of long-term population decline and inbreeding

Mountain gorillas are an endangered great ape subspecies and a prominent focus for conservation, yet we know little about their genomic diversity and evolutionary past. We sequenced whole genomes from multiple wild individuals and compared the genomes of all four Gorilla subspecies. We found that the two eastern subspecies have experienced a prolonged population decline over the past 100,000 years, resulting in very low genetic diversity and an increased overall burden of deleterious variation. A further recent decline in the mountain gorilla population has led to extensive inbreeding, such that individuals are typically homozygous at 34% of their sequence, leading to the purging of severely deleterious recessive mutations from the population. We discuss the causes of their decline and the consequences for their future survival.

Genome-wide analysis of cold adaptation in indigenous Siberian populations

Following the dispersal out of Africa, where hominins evolved in warm environments for millions of years, our species has colonised different climate zones of the world, including high latitudes and cold environments. The extent to which human habitation in (sub-)Arctic regions has been enabled by cultural buffering, short-term acclimatization and genetic adaptations is not clearly understood. Present day indigenous populations of Siberia show a number of phenotypic features, such as increased basal metabolic rate, low serum lipid levels and increased blood pressure that have been attributed to adaptation to the extreme cold climate. In this study we introduce a dataset of 200 individuals from ten indigenous Siberian populations that were genotyped for 730,525 SNPs across the genome to identify genes and non-coding regions that have undergone unusually rapid allele frequency and long-range haplotype homozygosity change in the recent past. At least three distinct population clusters could be identified among the Siberians, each of which showed a number of unique signals of selection. A region on chromosome 11 (chr11:66–69 Mb) contained the largest amount of clustering of significant signals and also the strongest signals in all the different selection tests performed. We present a list of candidate cold adaption genes that showed significant signals of positive selection with our strongest signals associated with genes involved in energy regulation and metabolism (CPT1A, LRP5, THADA) and vascular smooth muscle contraction (PRKG1). By employing a new method that paints phased chromosome chunks by their ancestry we distinguish local Siberian-specific long-range haplotype signals from those introduced by admixture.

FOXP2 targets show evidence of positive selection in European populations

Forkhead box P2 (FOXP2) is a highly conserved transcription factor that has been implicated in human speech and language disorders and plays important roles in the plasticity of the developing brain. The pattern of nucleotide polymorphisms in FOXP2 in modern populations suggests that it has been the target of positive (Darwinian) selection during recent human evolution. In our study, we searched for evidence of selection that might have followed FOXP2 adaptations in modern humans. We examined whether or not putative FOXP2 targets identified by chromatin-immunoprecipitation genomic screening show evidence of positive selection. We developed an algorithm that, for any given gene list, systematically generates matched lists of control genes from the Ensembl database, collates summary statistics for three frequency-spectrum-based neutrality tests from the low-coverage resequencing data of the 1000 Genomes Project, and determines whether these statistics are significantly different between the given gene targets and the set of controls. Overall, there was strong evidence of selection of FOXP2 targets in Europeans, but not in the Han Chinese, Japanese, or Yoruba populations. Significant outliers included several genes linked to cellular movement, reproduction, development, and immune cell trafficking, and 13 of these constituted a significant network associated with cardiac arteriopathy. Strong signals of selection were observed for CNTNAP2 and RBFOX1, key neurally expressed genes that have been consistently identified as direct FOXP2 targets in multiple studies and that have themselves been associated with neurodevelopmental disorders involving language dysfunction.

Insights into hominid evolution from the gorilla genome sequence

Gorillas are humans’ closest living relatives after chimpanzees, and are of comparable importance for the study of human origins and evolution. Here we present the assembly and analysis of a genome sequence for the western lowland gorilla, and compare the whole genomes of all extant great ape genera. We propose a synthesis of genetic and fossil evidence consistent with placing the human-chimpanzee and human-chimpanzee-gorilla speciation events at approximately 6 and 10 million years ago (Mya). In 30% of the genome, gorilla is closer to human or chimpanzee than the latter are to each other; this is rarer around coding genes, indicating pervasive selection throughout great ape evolution, and has functional consequences in gene expression. A comparison of protein coding genes reveals approximately 500 genes showing accelerated evolution on each of the gorilla, human and chimpanzee lineages, and evidence for parallel acceleration, particularly of genes involved in hearing. We also compare the western and eastern gorilla species, estimating an average sequence divergence time 1.75 million years ago, but with evidence for more recent genetic exchange and a population bottleneck in the eastern species. The use of the genome sequence in these and future analyses will promote a deeper understanding of great ape biology and evolution.

A systematic survey of loss-of-function variants in human protein-coding genes

Genome-sequencing studies indicate that all humans carry many genetic variants predicted to cause loss of function (LoF) of protein-coding genes, suggesting unexpected redundancy in the human genome. Here we apply stringent filters to 2951 putative LoF variants obtained from 185 human genomes to determine their true prevalence and properties. We estimate that human genomes typically contain ~100 genuine LoF variants with ~20 genes completely inactivated. We identify rare and likely deleterious LoF alleles, including 26 known and 21 predicted severe disease-causing variants, as well as common LoF variants in nonessential genes. We describe functional and evolutionary differences between LoF-tolerant and recessive disease genes and a method for using these differences to prioritize candidate genes found in clinical sequencing studies.

The promise and reality of personal genomics

The publication of the highest-quality and best-annotated personal genome yet tells us much about sequencing technology, something about genetic ancestry, but still little of medical relevance.

A genome-wide survey of the prevalence and evolutionary forces acting on human nonsense SNPs

Nonsense SNPs introduce premature termination codons into genes and can result in the absence of a gene product or in a truncated and potentially harmful protein, so they are often considered disadvantageous and are associated with disease susceptibility. As such, we might expect the disrupted allele to be rare and, in healthy people, observed only in a heterozygous state. However, some, like those in the CASP12 and ACTN3 genes, are known to be present at high frequencies and to occur often in a homozygous state and seem to have been advantageous in recent human evolution. To evaluate the selective forces acting on nonsense SNPs as a class, we have carried out a large-scale experimental survey of nonsense SNPs in the human genome by genotyping 805 of them (plus control synonymous SNPs) in 1,151 individuals from 56 worldwide populations. We identified 169 genes containing nonsense SNPs that were variable in our samples, of which 99 were found with both copies inactivated in at least one individual. We found that the sampled humans differ on average by 24 genes (out of about 20,000) because of these nonsense SNPs alone. As might be expected, nonsense SNPs as a class were found to be slightly disadvantageous over evolutionary timescales, but a few nevertheless showed signs of being possibly advantageous, as indicated by unusually high levels of population differentiation, long haplotypes, and/or high frequencies of derived alleles. This study underlines the extent of variation in gene content within humans and emphasizes the importance of understanding this type of variation.

Insights into modern disease from our distant evolutionary past

An EMBO workshop entitled 'Human Evolution and Disease' was held recently (6-9 December 2006, Hyderabad, India) where 141 scientists from many disciplines came together to discuss recent studies of human variation, origins and dispersal, natural selection and disease susceptibility. The meeting tackled the subject of human evolution and disease from the different perspectives of archaeology, linguistics, genetics and genomics based on both new and publicly available data sets. In this report, we highlight the latest fashion crazes in the discipline, in particular, the use of large public data sets and new methods to analyse modern human variation and the links between human evolution and disease susceptibility.

A shared Y-chromosomal heritage between Muslims and Hindus in India

Arab forces conquered the Indus Delta region in 711 AD: and, although a Muslim state was established there, their influence was barely felt in the rest of South Asia at that time. By the end of the tenth century, Central Asian Muslims moved into India from the northwest and expanded throughout the subcontinent. Muslim communities are now the largest minority religion in India, comprising more than 138 million people in a predominantly Hindu population of over one billion. It is unclear whether the Muslim expansion in India was a purely cultural phenomenon or had a genetic impact on the local population. To address this question from a male perspective, we typed eight microsatellite loci and 16 binary markers from the Y chromosome in 246 Muslims from Andhra Pradesh, and compared them to published data on 4,204 males from East Asia, Central Asia, other parts of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Iran, the Middle East, Turkey, Egypt and Morocco. We find that the Muslim populations in general are genetically closer to their non-Muslim geographical neighbors than to other Muslims in India, and that there is a highly significant correlation between genetics and geography (but not religion). Our findings indicate that, despite the documented practice of marriage between Muslim men and Hindu women, Islamization in India did not involve large-scale replacement of Hindu Y chromosomes. The Muslim expansion in India was predominantly a cultural change and was not accompanied by significant gene flow, as seen in other places, such as China and Central Asia.

Spread of an inactive form of caspase-12 in humans is due to recent positive selection

The human caspase-12 gene is polymorphic for the presence or absence of a stop codon, which results in the occurrence of both active (ancestral) and inactive (derived) forms of the gene in the population. It has been shown elsewhere that carriers of the inactive gene are more resistant to severe sepsis. We have now investigated whether the inactive form has spread because of neutral drift or positive selection. We determined its distribution in a worldwide sample of 52 populations and resequenced the gene in 77 individuals from the HapMap Yoruba, Han Chinese, and European populations. There is strong evidence of positive selection from low diversity, skewed allele-frequency spectra, and the predominance of a single haplotype. We suggest that the inactive form of the gene arose in Africa approximately 100-500 thousand years ago (KYA) and was initially neutral or almost neutral but that positive selection beginning approximately 60-100 KYA drove it to near fixation. We further propose that its selective advantage was sepsis resistance in populations that experienced more infectious diseases as population sizes and densities increased.