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Zouache MA, Richards BT, Pappas CM, Anstadt RA, Liu J, Corsetti T, Matthews S, Seager NA, Schmitz-Valckenberg S, Fleckenstein M, Hubbard WC, Thomas J, Hageman JL, Williams BL, Hageman GS. Levels of complement factor H-related 4 protein do not influence susceptibility to age-related macular degeneration or its course of progression. Nat Commun 2024; 15:443. [PMID: 38200010 PMCID: PMC10781981 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44605-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Dysregulation of the alternative pathway (AP) of the complement system is a significant contributor to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a primary cause of irreversible vision loss worldwide. Here, we assess the contribution of the liver-produced complement factor H-related 4 protein (FHR-4) to AMD initiation and course of progression. We show that FHR-4 variation in plasma and at the primary location of AMD-associated pathology, the retinal pigment epithelium/Bruch's membrane/choroid interface, is entirely explained by three independent quantitative trait loci (QTL). Using two distinct cohorts composed of a combined 14,965 controls and 20,741 cases, we ascertain that independent QTLs for FHR-4 are distinct from variants causally associated with AMD, and that FHR-4 variation is not independently associated with disease. Additionally, FHR-4 does not appear to influence AMD progression course among patients with disease driven predominantly by AP dysregulation. Modulation of FHR-4 is therefore unlikely to be an effective therapeutic strategy for AMD.
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Affiliation(s)
- M A Zouache
- Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine, John A. Moran Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
| | - B T Richards
- Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine, John A. Moran Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - C M Pappas
- Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine, John A. Moran Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - R A Anstadt
- Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine, John A. Moran Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - J Liu
- Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine, John A. Moran Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - T Corsetti
- Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine, John A. Moran Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - S Matthews
- Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine, John A. Moran Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - N A Seager
- Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine, John A. Moran Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - S Schmitz-Valckenberg
- Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine, John A. Moran Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - M Fleckenstein
- Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine, John A. Moran Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - W C Hubbard
- Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine, John A. Moran Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - J Thomas
- Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine, John A. Moran Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - J L Hageman
- Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine, John A. Moran Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - B L Williams
- Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine, John A. Moran Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - G S Hageman
- Sharon Eccles Steele Center for Translational Medicine, John A. Moran Eye Center, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
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