The rs1333049 polymorphism on locus 9p21.3 and extreme longevity in Spanish and Japanese cohorts

The role of longevity-related genetic variant interactions as predictors of survival after 85 years of age

Genome-wide association studies and candidate gene studies have identified several genetic variants that might play a role in achieving longevity. This study investigates interactions between pairs of those single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and their effect on survival above the age of 85 in a sample of 327 Croatian individuals. Although none of the SNPs individually showed a significant effect on survival in this sample, 14 of the 359 interactions tested (between SNPs not in LD) reached the level of nominal significance (p<0.05), showing a potential effect on late-life survival. Notably, SH2B3 rs3184504 interacted with different SNPs near TERC, TP53 rs1042522 with different SNPs located near the CDKN2B gene, and CDKN2B rs1333049 with different SNPs in FOXO3, as well as with LINC02227 rs2149954. The other interaction pairs with a possible effect on survival were FOXO3 rs2802292 and ERCC2 rs50871, IL6 rs1800795 and GHRHR rs2267723, LINC02227 rs2149954 and PARK7 rs225119, as well as PARK7 rs225119 and PTPN1 rs6067484. These interactions remained significant when tested together with a set of health-related variables that also had a significant effect on survival above 85 years. In conclusion, our results confirm the central role of genetic regulation of insulin signalling and cell cycle control in longevity.

Genes Involved in DNA Damage Cell Pathways and Health of the Oldest-Old (85+)

Some sources report a connection of cellular senescence with chronic pathological conditions; however, the association between particular cellular processes and general health is rarely examined. This study aims to test the relationship of general health with DNA damage pathways that play a crucial role in senescence. The association of ten selected SNPs with subjective and objective general health and functional ability indicators has been tested in 314 oldest-old people from Croatia. Multivariate logistic regression was employed to simultaneously test the impact of variables potentially influencing targeted health and functional ability variables. The best model, explaining 37.1% of the variance, has six independent significant predictors of functional ability scores: rs16847897 in TERC, rs533984 in MRE11A, and rs4977756 in CDKN2B, chronic disease count, Mini-Mental State Examination scores, and age at surveying. In conclusion, the examined ten loci involved in DNA damage repair pathways showed a more significant association with self-rated health and functional ability than with the number of disease or prescribed medicaments. The more frequent, longevity-related homozygote (GG) in rs16847897 was associated with all three aspects of self-assessments-health, mobility, and independence-indicating that this TERC locus might have a true impact on the overall vitality of the oldest-old persons.

New findings in the roles of Cyclin-dependent Kinase inhibitors 2B Antisense RNA 1 (CDKN2B-AS1) rs1333049 G/C and rs4977574 A/G variants on the risk to coronary heart disease

The relationship between Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitors 2B Antisense RNA 1 (CDKN2B-AS1) variants rs1333049 G/C and rs4977574 A/G and the risk of coronary heart disease is unclear. We conducted an update analysis incorporating odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals to assess the correlation. Furthermore, we used in silico analysis to investigate the genes and proteins that interact with CDKN2B. Fifty case-control studies with a sample size of 35,915 cases and 48,873 controls were involved. We revealed that the rs1333049 C allele could increase the risk of coronary heart disease in the overall analysis (allele comparison, OR = 1.13, 95%CI = 1.05–1.21, P = 0.001; homozygous contrast, OR = 1.29, 95%CI = 1.11–1.49, P = 0.001; dominant comparison, OR = 1.14, 95%CI = 1.03–1.27, P = 0.011; recessive comparison, OR = 1.21, 95%CI = 1.10–1.34, P < 0.001). In subgroup analysis, positive correlations were detected in studies involving West and East Asians and in population-based control studies. The rs4977574 G allele was also a risk factor for coronary heart disease (allelic comparison, P = 0.001; heterozygous comparison, P = 0.003; homozygous comparison, P < 0.001; dominant comparison, P = 0.001). These results indicate correlation of CDKN2B-AS1 rs1333049 G/C and rs4977574 A/G variants may be correlated with the risk of coronary heart disease.

Abbreviations CDK: Cyclin Dependent Kinase; CCND: G1/S-specific cyclin-D; CDKN: Cyclin Dependent Kinase Inhibitor; GWAS: Genome-wide association study; CDKN2B-AS1: Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitors 2B Antisense RNA 1; CHD: Coronary heart disease; MAF: minor allele frequencies; HWE: Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium of controls; CI: confidence interval; COL8A2: Collagen type VIII alpha 2 chain; HB: Hospital-based; ORs: odds ratios; ITGA11: Integrin subunit alpha 11; LTBP: Latent transforming factor beta binding protein; PB: Population-based; IBC: Itmat Broad Care; NA: Not applicable; PCR-RFLP: polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism; MI: Myocardial Infarction; SNP: single nucleotide polymorphism; SMAD: Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog; RT-PCR: Real-time polymerase chain reaction; UK: United Kingdom

Effects of CDKN2B-AS1 polymorphisms on the susceptibility to coronary heart disease

Background

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is one of the most severe cardiovascular diseases. Cyclin‐dependent kinase inhibitor 2B antisense RNA 1 (CDKN2B‐AS1) is a significant susceptibility locus for cardiovascular disease by regulating inflammation response and cell cycle. The aim of this study was to assess whether CDKN2B‐AS1 polymorphisms are associated with CHD risk in the Chinese Han population.

Methods

A total of 501 CHD patients and 496 healthy controls were recruited from Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine Affiliated Haikou Hospital, five CDKN2B‐AS1 polymorphisms (rs10115049, rs75227345, rs2383205, rs10738606, and rs1333049) were analyzed by the Agena MassARRAY platform. The association of CDKN2B‐AS1 polymorphisms and CHD risk was determined by odd ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using logistic regression.

Results

CDKN2B‐AS1 rs10738606 was significantly associated with CHD under codominant (p = .03), dominant (p = .019), recessive (p = .010), additive (p = .003), and allele (p = .003) models. Gender‐based subgroup tests showed that four polymorphisms (rs75227345, rs2383205, rs10738606 and rs1333049) were associated with CHD in males (p < .05). And age‐based subgroup tests indicated that rs2383205 and rs10738606 were associated with CHD among individuals, respectively (p < .05). For CHD patients, rs1333049 decreased the risk of diabetes under heterozygote (p = .014) and dominant (p = .024) models.

Conclusions

In conclusion, CDKN2B‐AS1 polymorphisms were associated with CHD risk in the combined or subgroup tests, suggesting an important role of CDKN2B‐AS1 in CHD susceptibility.

Increased Arf/p53 activity in stem cells, aging and cancer

Arf/p53 pathway protects the cells against DNA damage induced by acute stress. This characteristic is the responsible for its tumor suppressor activity. Moreover, it regulates the chronic type of stress associated with aging. This is the basis of its anti‐aging activity. Indeed, increased gene dosage of Arf/p53 displays elongated longevity and delayed aging. At a cellular level, it has been recently shown that increased dosage of Arf/p53 delays age‐associated stem cell exhaustion and the subsequent decline in tissue homeostasis and regeneration. However, p53 can also promote aging if constitutively activated. In this context, p53 reduces tissue regeneration, which correlates with premature exhaustion of stem cells. We discuss here the current evidence linking the Arf/p53 pathway to the processes of aging and cancer through stem cell regulation.

Genome-Wide Scan Informed by Age-Related Disease Identifies Loci for Exceptional Human Longevity

We developed a new statistical framework to find genetic variants associated with extreme longevity. The method, informed GWAS (iGWAS), takes advantage of knowledge from large studies of age-related disease in order to narrow the search for SNPs associated with longevity. To gain support for our approach, we first show there is an overlap between loci involved in disease and loci associated with extreme longevity. These results indicate that several disease variants may be depleted in centenarians versus the general population. Next, we used iGWAS to harness information from 14 meta-analyses of disease and trait GWAS to identify longevity loci in two studies of long-lived humans. In a standard GWAS analysis, only one locus in these studies is significant (APOE/TOMM40) when controlling the false discovery rate (FDR) at 10%. With iGWAS, we identify eight genetic loci to associate significantly with exceptional human longevity at FDR < 10%. We followed up the eight lead SNPs in independent cohorts, and found replication evidence of four loci and suggestive evidence for one more with exceptional longevity. The loci that replicated (FDR < 5%) included APOE/TOMM40 (associated with Alzheimer’s disease), CDKN2B/ANRIL (implicated in the regulation of cellular senescence), ABO (tags the O blood group), and SH2B3/ATXN2 (a signaling gene that extends lifespan in Drosophila and a gene involved in neurological disease). Our results implicate new loci in longevity and reveal a genetic overlap between longevity and age-related diseases and traits, including coronary artery disease and Alzheimer’s disease. iGWAS provides a new analytical strategy for uncovering SNPs that influence extreme longevity, and can be applied more broadly to boost power in other studies of complex phenotypes.

Longevity is a complex phenotype, and few genetic variants that affect lifespan have been identified. However, aging and disease are closely related, and a great deal is known about the genetic basis of disease risk. Here, we show using genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of longevity and disease that there is an overlap between loci involved in longevity and loci involved in several diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and coronary artery disease. We then develop a new statistical framework to find genetic variants associated with extreme longevity. The method, informed GWAS (iGWAS), takes advantage of knowledge from 14 large studies of disease and disease-related traits in order to narrow the search for SNPs associated with longevity. Using iGWAS, we found eight SNPs that are significant in our discovery cohorts, and we were able to validate four of these in replication studies of long-lived subjects. Our results implicate new loci in longevity and reveal a genetic overlap between longevity and age-related diseases and traits. Beyond the study of human longevity, iGWAS can be applied to boost statistical power in any GWAS of a target phenotype by using larger GWAS of genetically-related conditions.

The reduction of vascular disease risk mutations contributes to longevity in the Chinese population

Aim

Genetic factors play important roles in determining human lifespan. Although some “longevity genes” have been identified to be implicated in human longevity, many disease-associated variants were also observed in the long-lived individuals. The oldest old and their offspring usually have a lower prevalence of age-related diseases, which is likely attributed to a reduction or an absence of disease risk variants.

Methods and results

To test this hypothesis, 23 disease risk single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), identified by previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs), were selected and genotyped in 1074 samples consisting of 574 longevity subjects (over 90 years old) and 500 younger controls. Our results revealed that 5 SNPs (rs2144300, rs1864163, rs2200733, rs1967017, and rs7193343) displayed significantly lower allelic frequencies and odds ratios (ORs) in the longevity group than that in the control group. The frequencies of homozygous mutation genotypes and corresponding ORs of the rs1864163, rs2200733, rs127430, rs1967017, and rs12413409 were lower in the longevity subjects. Interestingly, most of the abovementioned SNPs convey susceptibility to cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is the leading cause of deaths in old adults but shows a much lower incidence in the longevity individuals and their offspring.

Conclusion

Taking into account the observation that the longevity subjects and their offspring have lower rate of cardiovascular mortality, it is then most plausible that the lack of disease risk variants, especially the CVD, is a genetic contributor to longevity in the Chinese population.

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23 disease risk gene polymorphisms were determined in 1074 subjects.

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5 polymorphisms displayed lower allelic frequencies in longevity subjects.

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Lack of disease risk variants contributes to longevity.

ApoE gene and exceptional longevity: Insights from three independent cohorts

The ApoE gene is associated with the risk of Alzheimer or cardiovascular disease but its influence on exceptional longevity (EL) is uncertain. Our primary purpose was to determine, using a case-control design, if the ApoE gene is associated with EL. We compared ApoE allele/genotype frequencies among the following cohorts: cases (centenarians, most with 1+ major disease condition; n=163, 100-111years) and healthy controls (n=1039, 20-85years) from Spain; disease-free cases (centenarians; n=79, 100-104years) and healthy controls (n=597, age 27-81years) from Italy; and cases (centenarians and semi-supercentenarians, most with 1+ major disease condition; n=729, 100-116years) and healthy controls (n=498, 23-59years) from Japan. Our main findings were twofold. First, the ε4-allele was negatively associated with EL in the three cohorts, with the following odds ratio (OR) values (adjusted by sex) having been found: 0.55 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.33, 0.94), P=0.030 (Spain); 0.41 (95%CI: 0.18, 0.99), P=0.05 (Italy); and 0.35 (95%CI: 0.26, 0.57), P<0.001 (Japan). Second, although no association was found in the Spanish cohort (OR=1.42 (95%CI: 0.89, 2.26), P=0.145), the ε2-allele was positively associated with EL in the Italian (OR=2.14 (95%CI: 1.18, 3.45), P=0.01) and Japanese subjects (OR=1.81 (95%CI: 1.25, 2.63), P=0.002). Notwithstanding the limitations of case-control designs, our data suggest that the ApoE might be a candidate to influence EL. The ε4-allele appears to decrease the likelihood of reaching EL among individuals of different ethnic/geographic origins. An additional, novel finding of our study was that the ε2-allele might favor EL, at least in the Italian and Japanese cohorts.