1
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Herrera-Luis E, Benke K, Volk H, Ladd-Acosta C, Wojcik GL. Gene-environment interactions in human health. Nat Rev Genet 2024:10.1038/s41576-024-00731-z. [PMID: 38806721 DOI: 10.1038/s41576-024-00731-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/03/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024]
Abstract
Gene-environment interactions (G × E), the interplay of genetic variation with environmental factors, have a pivotal impact on human complex traits and diseases. Statistically, G × E can be assessed by determining the deviation from expectation of predictive models based solely on the phenotypic effects of genetics or environmental exposures. Despite the unprecedented, widespread and diverse use of G × E analytical frameworks, heterogeneity in their application and reporting hinders their applicability in public health. In this Review, we discuss study design considerations as well as G × E analytical frameworks to assess polygenic liability dependent on the environment, to identify specific genetic variants exhibiting G × E, and to characterize environmental context for these dynamics. We conclude with recommendations to address the most common challenges and pitfalls in the conceptualization, methodology and reporting of G × E studies, as well as future directions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esther Herrera-Luis
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Kelly Benke
- Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Heather Volk
- Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Christine Ladd-Acosta
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Genevieve L Wojcik
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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2
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Kemper KE, Sidorenko J, Wang H, Hayes BJ, Wray NR, Yengo L, Keller MC, Goddard M, Visscher PM. Genetic influence on within-person longitudinal change in anthropometric traits in the UK Biobank. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3776. [PMID: 38710707 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47802-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 05/08/2024] Open
Abstract
The causes of temporal fluctuations in adult traits are poorly understood. Here, we investigate the genetic determinants of within-person trait variability of 8 repeatedly measured anthropometric traits in 50,117 individuals from the UK Biobank. We found that within-person (non-directional) variability had a SNP-based heritability of 2-5% for height, sitting height, body mass index (BMI) and weight (P ≤ 2.4 × 10-3). We also analysed longitudinal trait change and show a loss of both average height and weight beyond about 70 years of age. A variant tracking the Alzheimer's risk APOE- E 4 allele (rs429358) was significantly associated with weight loss ( β = -0.047 kg per yr, s.e. 0.007, P = 2.2 × 10-11), and using 2-sample Mendelian Randomisation we detected a relationship consistent with causality between decreased lumbar spine bone mineral density and height loss (bxy = 0.011, s.e. 0.003, P = 3.5 × 10-4). Finally, population-level variance quantitative trait loci (vQTL) were consistent with within-person variability for several traits, indicating an overlap between trait variability assessed at the population or individual level. Our findings help elucidate the genetic influence on trait-change within an individual and highlight disease risks associated with these changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn E Kemper
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
| | - Julia Sidorenko
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Huanwei Wang
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Ben J Hayes
- Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Naomi R Wray
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Loic Yengo
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Matthew C Keller
- Institute for Behavioral Genetics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
| | - Michael Goddard
- Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia
- Biosciences Research Division, Agriculture Victoria, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
| | - Peter M Visscher
- Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
- Big Data Institute, Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Information and Discovery, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
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3
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Assary E, Coleman J, Hemani G, van Der Veijer M, Howe L, Palviainen T, Grasby K, Ahlskog R, Nygaard M, Cheesman R, Lim K, Reynolds C, Ordoñana J, Colodro-Conde L, Gordon S, Madrid-Valero J, Thalamuthu A, Hottenga JJ, Mengel-From J, Armstrong NJ, Sachdev P, Lee T, Brodaty H, Trollor J, Wright M, Ames D, Catts V, Latvala A, Vuoksimaa E, Mallard T, Harden K, Tucker-Drob E, Oskarsson S, Hammond C, Christensen K, Taylor M, Lundström S, Larsson H, Karlsson R, Pedersen N, Mather K, Medland S, Boomsma D, Martin N, Plomin R, Bartels M, Lichtenstein P, Kaprio J, Eley T, Davies N, Munroe P, Keers R. Genetics of environmental sensitivity to psychiatric and neurodevelopmental phenotypes: evidence from GWAS of monozygotic twins. RESEARCH SQUARE 2024:rs.3.rs-4333635. [PMID: 38746362 PMCID: PMC11092831 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4333635/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Individual sensitivity to environmental exposures may be genetically influenced. This genotype-by-environment interplay implies differences in phenotypic variance across genotypes. However, environmental sensitivity genetic variants have proven challenging to detect. GWAS of monozygotic twin differences is a family-based variance analysis method, which is more robust to systemic biases that impact population-based methods. We combined data from up to 21,792 monozygotic twins (10,896 pairs) from 11 studies to conduct the largest GWAS meta-analysis of monozygotic phenotypic differences in children and adolescents/adults for seven psychiatric and neurodevelopmental phenotypes: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, autistic traits, anxiety and depression symptoms, psychotic-like experiences, neuroticism, and wellbeing. The SNP-heritability of variance in these phenotypes were estimated (h2: 0% to 18%), but were imprecise. We identified a total of 13 genome-wide significant associations (SNP, gene, and gene-set), including genes related to stress-reactivity for depression, growth factor-related genes for autistic traits and catecholamine uptake-related genes for psychotic-like experiences. Monozygotic twins are an important new source of evidence about the genetics of environmental sensitivity.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jonathan Coleman
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London
| | | | | | | | - Teemu Palviainen
- Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM, University of Helsinki, Helsinki
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Karen Mather
- Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing, Psychiatry, University of New South Wales (UNSW)
| | | | - D Boomsma
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | | | - Robert Plomin
- Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London
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Bass AJ, Bian S, Wingo AP, Wingo TS, Cutler DJ, Epstein MP. Identifying latent genetic interactions in genome-wide association studies using multiple traits. Genome Med 2024; 16:62. [PMID: 38664839 PMCID: PMC11044415 DOI: 10.1186/s13073-024-01329-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2023] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
The "missing" heritability of complex traits may be partly explained by genetic variants interacting with other genes or environments that are difficult to specify, observe, and detect. We propose a new kernel-based method called Latent Interaction Testing (LIT) to screen for genetic interactions that leverages pleiotropy from multiple related traits without requiring the interacting variable to be specified or observed. Using simulated data, we demonstrate that LIT increases power to detect latent genetic interactions compared to univariate methods. We then apply LIT to obesity-related traits in the UK Biobank and detect variants with interactive effects near known obesity-related genes (URL: https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=lit ).
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew J Bass
- Department of Human Genetics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
| | - Shijia Bian
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Aliza P Wingo
- Department of Psychiatry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Thomas S Wingo
- Department of Human Genetics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
- Department of Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - David J Cutler
- Department of Human Genetics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA
| | - Michael P Epstein
- Department of Human Genetics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
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5
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Durvasula A, Price AL. Distinct explanations underlie gene-environment interactions in the UK Biobank. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2024:2023.09.22.23295969. [PMID: 37790574 PMCID: PMC10543037 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.22.23295969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
The role of gene-environment (GxE) interaction in disease and complex trait architectures is widely hypothesized, but currently unknown. Here, we apply three statistical approaches to quantify and distinguish three different types of GxE interaction for a given trait and E variable. First, we detect locus-specific GxE interaction by testing for genetic correlation r g < 1 across E bins. Second, we detect genome-wide effects of the E variable on genetic variance by leveraging polygenic risk scores (PRS) to test for significant PRSxE in a regression of phenotypes on PRS, E, and PRSxE, together with differences in SNP-heritability across E bins. Third, we detect genome-wide proportional amplification of genetic and environmental effects as a function of the E variable by testing for significant PRSxE with no differences in SNP-heritability across E bins. Simulations show that these approaches achieve high sensitivity and specificity in distinguishing these three GxE scenarios. We applied our framework to 33 UK Biobank traits (25 quantitative traits and 8 diseases; average N = 325 K ) and 10 E variables spanning lifestyle, diet, and other environmental exposures. First, we identified 19 trait-E pairs with r g significantly < 1 (FDR<5%) (average r g = 0.95 ); for example, white blood cell count had r g = 0.95 (s.e. 0.01) between smokers and non-smokers. Second, we identified 28 trait-E pairs with significant PRSxE and significant SNP-heritability differences across E bins; for example, BMI had a significant PRSxE for physical activity (P=4.6e-5) with 5% larger SNP-heritability in the largest versus smallest quintiles of physical activity (P=7e-4). Third, we identified 15 trait-E pairs with significant PRSxE with no SNP-heritability differences across E bins; for example, waist-hip ratio adjusted for BMI had a significant PRSxE effect for time spent watching television (P=5e-3) with no SNP-heritability differences. Across the three scenarios, 8 of the trait-E pairs involved disease traits, whose interpretation is complicated by scale effects. Analyses using biological sex as the E variable produced additional significant findings in each of the three scenarios. Overall, we infer a significant contribution of GxE and GxSex effects to complex trait and disease variance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arun Durvasula
- Center for Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alkes L Price
- Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
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6
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Zhang X, Bell JT. Detecting genetic effects on phenotype variability to capture gene-by-environment interactions: a systematic method comparison. G3 (BETHESDA, MD.) 2024; 14:jkae022. [PMID: 38289865 PMCID: PMC10989912 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkae022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2023] [Revised: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 01/19/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Genetically associated phenotypic variability has been widely observed across organisms and traits, including in humans. Both gene-gene and gene-environment interactions can lead to an increase in genetically associated phenotypic variability. Therefore, detecting the underlying genetic variants, or variance Quantitative Trait Loci (vQTLs), can provide novel insights into complex traits. Established approaches to detect vQTLs apply different methodologies from variance-only approaches to mean-variance joint tests, but a comprehensive comparison of these methods is lacking. Here, we review available methods to detect vQTLs in humans, carry out a simulation study to assess their performance under different biological scenarios of gene-environment interactions, and apply the optimal approaches for vQTL identification to gene expression data. Overall, with a minor allele frequency (MAF) of less than 0.2, the squared residual value linear model (SVLM) and the deviation regression model (DRM) are optimal when the data follow normal and non-normal distributions, respectively. In addition, the Brown-Forsythe (BF) test is one of the optimal methods when the MAF is 0.2 or larger, irrespective of phenotype distribution. Additionally, a larger sample size and more balanced sample distribution in different exposure categories increase the power of BF, SVLM, and DRM. Our results highlight vQTL detection methods that perform optimally under realistic simulation settings and show that their relative performance depends on the phenotype distribution, allele frequency, sample size, and the type of exposure in the interaction model underlying the vQTL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaopu Zhang
- Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, St Thomas’ Hospital, Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7EH, UK
| | - Jordana T Bell
- Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, St Thomas’ Hospital, Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7EH, UK
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7
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Lin WY. Searching for gene-gene interactions through variance quantitative trait loci of 29 continuous Taiwan Biobank phenotypes. Front Genet 2024; 15:1357238. [PMID: 38516378 PMCID: PMC10956579 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1357238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction: After the era of genome-wide association studies (GWAS), thousands of genetic variants have been identified to exhibit main effects on human phenotypes. The next critical issue would be to explore the interplay between genes, the so-called "gene-gene interactions" (GxG) or epistasis. An exhaustive search for all single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) pairs is not recommended because this will induce a harsh penalty of multiple testing. Limiting the search of epistasis on SNPs reported by previous GWAS may miss essential interactions between SNPs without significant marginal effects. Moreover, most methods are computationally intensive and can be challenging to implement genome-wide. Methods: I here searched for GxG through variance quantitative trait loci (vQTLs) of 29 continuous Taiwan Biobank (TWB) phenotypes. A discovery cohort of 86,536 and a replication cohort of 25,460 TWB individuals were analyzed, respectively. Results: A total of 18 nearly independent vQTLs with linkage disequilibrium measure r 2 < 0.01 were identified and replicated from nine phenotypes. 15 significant GxG were found with p-values <1.1E-5 (in the discovery cohort) and false discovery rates <2% (in the replication cohort). Among these 15 GxG, 11 were detected for blood traits including red blood cells, hemoglobin, and hematocrit; 2 for total bilirubin; 1 for fasting glucose; and 1 for total cholesterol (TCHO). All GxG were observed for gene pairs on the same chromosome, except for the APOA5 (chromosome 11)-TOMM40 (chromosome 19) interaction for TCHO. Discussion: This study provided a computationally feasible way to search for GxG genome-wide and applied this approach to 29 phenotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wan-Yu Lin
- Institute of Health Data Analytics and Statistics, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
- Master of Public Health Degree Program, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
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8
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Zhou H, McPeek MS. Overcoming the "feast or famine" effect: improved interaction testing in genome-wide association studies. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.02.13.580168. [PMID: 38405994 PMCID: PMC10888770 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.13.580168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
In genetic association analysis of complex traits, detection of interaction (either GxG or GxE) can help to elucidate the genetic architecture and biological mechanisms underlying the trait. Detection of interaction in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) can be methodologically challenging for various reasons, including a high burden of multiple comparisons when testing for epistasis between all possible pairs of a set of genomewide variants, as well as heteroscedasticity effects occurring in the presence of GxG or GxE interaction. In this paper, we address the problem of an even more striking phenomenon that we call the "feast or famine" effect that occurs when testing interaction in a genomewide context. As we verify, even in a simplified setting in which there is no interaction at all (and so no heteroscedasticity), in a GWAS to detect GxG or GxE interaction with a fixed genetic variant or environmental factor, the distribution of the genome-wide p-values under the null hypothesis is not the i.i.d. uniform one that is commonly assumed. Using standard methods, even if all SNPs are independent, some GWASs will have systematically underinflated p-values ("feast"), and others will have systematically overinflated p-values ("famine"), which can lead to false detection of interaction, reduced power, inconsistent results across studies, and failure to replicate true signal. This startling phenomenon is specific to detection of interaction in a GWAS, and it may partly explain why such detection has so far proved challenging and difficult to replicate. We show theoretically that the key cause of this phenomenon is which variables are conditioned on in the analysis, and this suggests an approach to correct the problem by changing the way the conditioning is done. Using this insight, we have developed the TINGA method to adjust the interaction test statistics to make their p-values closer to uniform under the null hypothesis. In simulations we show that TINGA both controls type 1 error and improves power. TINGA allows for covariates and population structure through use of a linear mixed model and accounts for heteroscedasticity. We apply TINGA to detection of epistasis in a study of flowering time in Arabidopsis thaliana.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huanlin Zhou
- Department of Statistics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A
| | - Mary Sara McPeek
- Department of Statistics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A
- Department of Human Genetics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A
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Miao J, Wu Y, Lu Q. Statistical methods for gene-environment interaction analysis. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COMPUTATIONAL STATISTICS 2024; 16:e1635. [PMID: 38699459 PMCID: PMC11064894 DOI: 10.1002/wics.1635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 05/05/2024]
Abstract
Most human complex phenotypes result from multiple genetic and environmental factors and their interactions. Understanding the mechanisms by which genetic and environmental factors interact offers valuable insights into the genetic architecture of complex traits and holds great potential for advancing precision medicine. The emergence of large population biobanks has led to the development of numerous statistical methods aiming at identifying gene-environment interactions (G × E). In this review, we present state-of-the-art statistical methodologies for G × E analysis. We will survey a spectrum of approaches for single-variant G × E mapping, followed by various techniques for polygenic G × E analysis. We conclude this review with a discussion on the future directions and challenges in G × E research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jiacheng Miao
- Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Yixuan Wu
- University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Qiongshi Lu
- Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
- Department of Statistics, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
- Center for Demography of Health and Aging, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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10
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Zhang J, Zhao H. eQTL studies: from bulk tissues to single cells. J Genet Genomics 2023; 50:925-933. [PMID: 37207929 PMCID: PMC10656365 DOI: 10.1016/j.jgg.2023.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2023] [Revised: 05/02/2023] [Accepted: 05/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
An expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) is a chromosomal region where genetic variants are associated with the expression levels of specific genes that can be both nearby or distant. The identifications of eQTLs for different tissues, cell types, and contexts have led to a better understanding of the dynamic regulations of gene expressions and implications of functional genes and variants for complex traits and diseases. Although most eQTL studies have been performed on data collected from bulk tissues, recent studies have demonstrated the importance of cell-type-specific and context-dependent gene regulations in biological processes and disease mechanisms. In this review, we discuss statistical methods that have been developed to enable the detection of cell-type-specific and context-dependent eQTLs from bulk tissues, purified cell types, and single cells. We also discuss the limitations of the current methods and future research opportunities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingfei Zhang
- Information Systems and Operations Management, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Hongyu Zhao
- Department of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT 208034, USA.
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He X, Li SM. Gene-environment interaction in myopia. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt 2023; 43:1438-1448. [PMID: 37486033 DOI: 10.1111/opo.13206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2023] [Revised: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023]
Abstract
Myopia is a health issue that has attracted global attention due to its high prevalence and vision-threatening complications. It is well known that the onset and progression of myopia are related to both genetic and environmental factors: more than 450 common genetic loci have been found to be associated with myopia, while near work and outdoor time are the main environmental risk factors. As for many complex traits, gene-environment interactions are implicated in myopia development. To date, several genetic loci have been found to interact with near work or educational level. Gene-environment interaction research on myopia could yield models that provide more accurate risk predictions, thus improving targeted treatments and preventive strategies. Additionally, such investigations might have the potential to reveal novel genetic information. In this review, we summarised the findings in this field and proposed some topics for future investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xi He
- Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Key Laboratory, Beijing, China
| | - Shi-Ming Li
- Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- Beijing Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Key Laboratory, Beijing, China
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12
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Noble AJ, Nowak JK, Adams AT, Uhlig HH, Satsangi J. Defining Interactions Between the Genome, Epigenome, and the Environment in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Progress and Prospects. Gastroenterology 2023; 165:44-60.e2. [PMID: 37062395 DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2023.03.238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 04/18/2023]
Abstract
Recent advances in our understanding of the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have highlighted the complex interplay between the genome, the epigenome, and the environment. Despite the exciting advances in genomics that have enabled the identification of over 200 susceptibility loci, these only account for a small proportion of the disease variance and the estimated heritability in IBD. It is likely that gene-environment (GxE) interactions contribute to "missing heritability" and these may act through epigenetic mechanisms. Several environmental factors, such as the microbiome, nutrition, and tobacco smoking, induce alterations in the epigenome of children and adults, which may impact disease susceptibility. Other mechanisms for GxE interactions are also directly pertinent in early life. We discuss a model in which environmental factors imprint disease risk in a window of susceptibility during infancy that may contribute to later disease onset, whereas other elements of the exposome act later in life and contribute directly to the pathogenesis and course of the disease. Understanding the mechanisms underlying GxE interactions may provide the basis for new therapeutic targets or preventative strategies for IBD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexandra J Noble
- Translational Gastroenterology Unit, Nuffield Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
| | - Jan K Nowak
- Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Metabolic Diseases, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland
| | - Alex T Adams
- Translational Gastroenterology Unit, Nuffield Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Biomedical Research Center, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Holm H Uhlig
- Translational Gastroenterology Unit, Nuffield Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Department of Pediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Biomedical Research Center, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Jack Satsangi
- Translational Gastroenterology Unit, Nuffield Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom; Biomedical Research Center, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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Suliman S, Nieto-Caballero VE, Asgari S, Lopez K, Iwany SK, Luo Y, Nathan A, Fernandez-Salinas D, Chiñas M, Huang CC, Zhang Z, León SR, Calderon RI, Lecca L, Murray M, Van Rhijn I, Raychaudhuri S, Moody DB, Gutierrez-Arcelus M. History of tuberculosis disease is associated with genetic regulatory variation in Peruvians. MEDRXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES 2023:2023.06.20.23291558. [PMID: 37425785 PMCID: PMC10327177 DOI: 10.1101/2023.06.20.23291558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/11/2023]
Abstract
A quarter of humanity is estimated to be latently infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) with a 5-10% risk of developing tuberculosis (TB) disease. Variability in responses to Mtb infection could be due to host or pathogen heterogeneity. Here, we focused on host genetic variation in a Peruvian population and its associations with gene regulation in monocyte-derived macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs). We recruited former household contacts of TB patients who previously progressed to TB (cases, n=63) or did not progress to TB (controls, n=63). Transcriptomic profiling of monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages measured the impact of genetic variants on gene expression by identifying expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL). We identified 330 and 257 eQTL genes in DCs and macrophages (False Discovery Rate (FDR) < 0.05), respectively. Five genes in DCs showed interaction between eQTL variants and TB progression status. The top eQTL interaction for a protein-coding gene was with FAH, the gene encoding fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase, which mediates the last step in mammalian tyrosine catabolism. FAH expression was associated with genetic regulatory variation in cases but not controls. Using public transcriptomic and epigenomic data of Mtb-infected monocyte-derived dendritic cells, we found that Mtb infection results in FAH downregulation and DNA methylation changes in the locus. Overall, this study demonstrates effects of genetic variation on gene expression levels that are dependent on history of infectious disease and highlights a candidate pathogenic mechanism through pathogen-response genes. Furthermore, our results point to tyrosine metabolism and related candidate TB progression pathways for further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Suliman
- Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation and Immunity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, Division of Experimental Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Gladstone-UCSF Institute of Genomic Immunology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Biohub, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Victor E. Nieto-Caballero
- Division of Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Undergraduate Program in Genomic Sciences, Center for Genomic Sciences, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Morelos 62210, Mexico
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Samira Asgari
- Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation and Immunity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Center for Data Sciences, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Institute for Genomic Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA
| | - Kattya Lopez
- Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation and Immunity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Socios En Salud Sucursal Peru, Lima, Peru
| | - Sarah K. Iwany
- Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation and Immunity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Yang Luo
- Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation and Immunity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Center for Data Sciences, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Aparna Nathan
- Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation and Immunity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Center for Data Sciences, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Daniela Fernandez-Salinas
- Division of Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Marcos Chiñas
- Division of Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Chuan-Chin Huang
- Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, and Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Zibiao Zhang
- Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, and Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Segundo R León
- Socios En Salud Sucursal Peru, Lima, Peru
- Medical Technology School and Global Health Research Institute, San Juan Bautista Private University, Lima, Perú
| | | | | | - Megan Murray
- Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, and Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ildiko Van Rhijn
- Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation and Immunity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Soumya Raychaudhuri
- Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation and Immunity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Center for Data Sciences, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - D. Branch Moody
- Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation and Immunity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Maria Gutierrez-Arcelus
- Division of Rheumatology, Inflammation and Immunity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Division of Immunology, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Center for Data Sciences, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
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14
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Genome-Wide Analysis of Dental Caries Variability Reveals Genotype-by-Environment Interactions. Genes (Basel) 2023; 14:genes14030736. [PMID: 36981009 PMCID: PMC10048401 DOI: 10.3390/genes14030736] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2023] [Revised: 03/09/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Genotype-by-environment interactions (GEI) may influence dental caries, although their effects are difficult to detect. Variance quantitative trait loci (vQTL) may serve as an indicator of underlying GEI effects. The aim of this study was to investigate GEI effects on dental caries by prioritizing variants from genome-wide vQTL analysis. First, we identified vQTLs from ~4.3 M genome-wide variants in three cohorts of white children aged 3–5 (n = 396, n = 328, n = 773) using Levene’s test. A total of 39 independent vQTLs with p < 1 × 10−6 were identified, some of which were located in or near genes with plausible biological roles in dental caries (IGFBP7, SLC5A8, and SHH involved in tooth development and enamel mineralization). Next, we used linear regression to test GEI effects on dental caries with the 39 prioritized variants and self-reported environmental factors (demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral, and dietary factors) in the three cohorts separately. We identified eight significant GEIs indicating that children with vQTL risk genotypes had higher caries experience if they had less educated parents, lower household/parental income, brushed their teeth less frequently, consumed sugar-sweetened beverages more frequently, were not breastfed, and were female. We reported the first genome-wide vQTL analysis of dental caries in children nominating several novel genes and GEI for further investigations.
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15
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Zhang J, Zhao H. eQTL Studies: from Bulk Tissues to Single Cells. ARXIV 2023:arXiv:2302.11662v1. [PMID: 36866231 PMCID: PMC9980190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
An expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) is a chromosomal region where genetic variants are associated with the expression levels of certain genes that can be both nearby or distant. The identifications of eQTLs for different tissues, cell types, and contexts have led to better understanding of the dynamic regulations of gene expressions and implications of functional genes and variants for complex traits and diseases. Although most eQTL studies to date have been performed on data collected from bulk tissues, recent studies have demonstrated the importance of cell-type-specific and context-dependent gene regulations in biological processes and disease mechanisms. In this review, we discuss statistical methods that have been developed to enable the detections of cell-type-specific and context-dependent eQTLs from bulk tissues, purified cell types, and single cells. We also discuss the limitations of the current methods and future research opportunities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingfei Zhang
- Information Systems and Operations Management, Emory University
| | - Hongyu Zhao
- Department of Biostatistics, Yale University
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16
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Baek EJ, Jung HU, Chung JY, Jung HI, Kwon SY, Lim JE, Kim HK, Kang JO, Oh B. The effect of heteroscedasticity on the prediction efficiency of genome-wide polygenic score for body mass index. Front Genet 2022; 13:1025568. [PMID: 36419825 PMCID: PMC9676478 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.1025568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2022] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Globally, more than 1.9 billion adults are overweight. Thus, obesity is a serious public health issue. Moreover, obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, and cardiovascular disease. Recently, GWAS examining obesity and body mass index (BMI) have increasingly unveiled many aspects of the genetic architecture of obesity and BMI. Information on genome-wide genetic variants has been used to estimate the genome-wide polygenic score (GPS) for a personalized prediction of obesity. However, the prediction power of GPS is affected by various factors, including the unequal variance in the distribution of a phenotype, known as heteroscedasticity. Here, we calculated a GPS for BMI using LDpred2, which was based on the BMI GWAS summary statistics from a European meta-analysis. Then, we tested the GPS in 354,761 European samples from the UK Biobank and found an effective prediction power of the GPS on BMI. To study a change in the variance of BMI, we investigated the heteroscedasticity of BMI across the GPS via graphical and statistical methods. We also studied the homoscedastic samples for BMI compared to the heteroscedastic sample, randomly selecting samples with various standard deviations of BMI residuals. Further, we examined the effect of the genetic interaction of GPS with environment (GPS×E) on the heteroscedasticity of BMI. We observed the changing variance (i.e., heteroscedasticity) of BMI along the GPS. The heteroscedasticity of BMI was confirmed by both the Breusch-Pagan test and the Score test. Compared to the heteroscedastic sample, the homoscedastic samples from small standard deviation of BMI residuals showed a decreased heteroscedasticity and an improved prediction accuracy, suggesting a quantitatively negative correlation between the phenotypic heteroscedasticity and the prediction accuracy of GPS. To further test the effects of the GPS×E on heteroscedasticity, first we tested the genetic interactions of the GPS with 21 environments and found 8 significant GPS×E interactions on BMI. However, the heteroscedasticity of BMI was not ameliorated after adjusting for the GPS×E interactions. Taken together, our findings suggest that the heteroscedasticity of BMI exists along the GPS and is not affected by the GPS×E interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eun Ju Baek
- Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Hae-Un Jung
- Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Ju Yeon Chung
- Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Hye In Jung
- Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Shin Young Kwon
- Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Ji Eun Lim
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Han Kyul Kim
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Ji-One Kang
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
- *Correspondence: Ji-One Kang, ; Bermseok Oh,
| | - Bermseok Oh
- Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
- *Correspondence: Ji-One Kang, ; Bermseok Oh,
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17
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Hofmeister RJ, Rubinacci S, Ribeiro DM, Buil A, Kutalik Z, Delaneau O. Parent-of-Origin inference for biobanks. Nat Commun 2022; 13:6668. [PMID: 36335127 PMCID: PMC9637181 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34383-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 10/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Identical genetic variations can have different phenotypic effects depending on their parent of origin. Yet, studies focusing on parent-of-origin effects have been limited in terms of sample size due to the lack of parental genomes or known genealogies. We propose a probabilistic approach to infer the parent-of-origin of individual alleles that does not require parental genomes nor prior knowledge of genealogy. Our model uses Identity-By-Descent sharing with second- and third-degree relatives to assign alleles to parental groups and leverages chromosome X data in males to distinguish maternal from paternal groups. We combine this with robust haplotype inference and haploid imputation to infer the parent-of-origin for 26,393 UK Biobank individuals. We screen 99 phenotypes for parent-of-origin effects and replicate the discoveries of 6 GWAS studies, confirming signals on body mass index, type 2 diabetes, standing height and multiple blood biomarkers, including the known maternal effect at the MEG3/DLK1 locus on platelet phenotypes. We also report a novel maternal effect at the TERT gene on telomere length, thereby providing new insights on the heritability of this phenotype. All our summary statistics are publicly available to help the community to better characterize the molecular mechanisms leading to parent-of-origin effects and their implications for human health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin J Hofmeister
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Simone Rubinacci
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Diogo M Ribeiro
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Alfonso Buil
- Institute of Biological Psychiatry, Mental Health Services, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Zoltán Kutalik
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland.,University Center for Primary Care and Public Health, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Olivier Delaneau
- Department of Computational Biology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. .,Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne, Switzerland.
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18
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Kempermann G, Lopes JB, Zocher S, Schilling S, Ehret F, Garthe A, Karasinsky A, Brandmaier AM, Lindenberger U, Winter Y, Overall RW. The individuality paradigm: Automated longitudinal activity tracking of large cohorts of genetically identical mice in an enriched environment. Neurobiol Dis 2022; 175:105916. [DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2022.105916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2021] [Revised: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 11/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
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19
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Clark R, Pozarickij A, Hysi PG, Ohno-Matsui K, Williams C, Guggenheim JA. Education interacts with genetic variants near GJD2, RBFOX1, LAMA2, KCNQ5 and LRRC4C to confer susceptibility to myopia. PLoS Genet 2022; 18:e1010478. [PMID: 36395078 PMCID: PMC9671369 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010478] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2022] [Accepted: 10/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Myopia most often develops during school age, with the highest incidence in countries with intensive education systems. Interactions between genetic variants and educational exposure are hypothesized to confer susceptibility to myopia, but few such interactions have been identified. Here, we aimed to identify genetic variants that interact with education level to confer susceptibility to myopia. Two groups of unrelated participants of European ancestry from UK Biobank were studied. A 'Stage-I' sample of 88,334 participants whose refractive error (avMSE) was measured by autorefraction and a 'Stage-II' sample of 252,838 participants who self-reported their age-of-onset of spectacle wear (AOSW) but who did not undergo autorefraction. Genetic variants were prioritized via a 2-step screening process in the Stage-I sample: Step 1 was a genome-wide association study for avMSE; Step 2 was a variance heterogeneity analysis for avMSE. Genotype-by-education interaction tests were performed in the Stage-II sample, with University education coded as a binary exposure. On average, participants were 58 years-old and left full-time education when they were 18 years-old; 35% reported University level education. The 2-step screening strategy in the Stage-I sample prioritized 25 genetic variants (GWAS P < 1e-04; variance heterogeneity P < 5e-05). In the Stage-II sample, 19 of the 25 (76%) genetic variants demonstrated evidence of variance heterogeneity, suggesting the majority were true positives. Five genetic variants located near GJD2, RBFOX1, LAMA2, KCNQ5 and LRRC4C had evidence of a genotype-by-education interaction in the Stage-II sample (P < 0.002) and consistent evidence of a genotype-by-education interaction in the Stage-I sample. For all 5 variants, University-level education was associated with an increased effect of the risk allele. In this cohort, additional years of education were associated with an enhanced effect of genetic variants that have roles including axon guidance and the development of neuronal synapses and neural circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rosie Clark
- School of Optometry & Vision Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Alfred Pozarickij
- School of Optometry & Vision Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Pirro G. Hysi
- Section of Ophthalmology, School of Life Course Sciences, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, School of Life Course Sciences, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Kyoko Ohno-Matsui
- Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Cathy Williams
- Centre for Academic Child Health, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Jeremy A. Guggenheim
- School of Optometry & Vision Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
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20
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A quantile integral linear model to quantify genetic effects on phenotypic variability. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2212959119. [PMID: 36122202 PMCID: PMC9522331 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2212959119] [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: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Detecting genetic variants associated with the variance of complex traits, that is, variance quantitative trait loci (vQTLs), can provide crucial insights into the interplay between genes and environments and how they jointly shape human phenotypes in the population. We propose a quantile integral linear model (QUAIL) to estimate genetic effects on trait variability. Through extensive simulations and analyses of real data, we demonstrate that QUAIL provides computationally efficient and statistically powerful vQTL mapping that is robust to non-Gaussian phenotypes and confounding effects on phenotypic variability. Applied to UK Biobank (n = 375,791), QUAIL identified 11 vQTLs for body mass index (BMI) that have not been previously reported. Top vQTL findings showed substantial enrichment for interactions with physical activities and sedentary behavior. Furthermore, variance polygenic scores (vPGSs) based on QUAIL effect estimates showed superior predictive performance on both population-level and within-individual BMI variability compared to existing approaches. Overall, QUAIL is a unified framework to quantify genetic effects on the phenotypic variability at both single-variant and vPGS levels. It addresses critical limitations in existing approaches and may have broad applications in future gene-environment interaction studies.
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21
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Shi G. Genome-wide variance quantitative trait locus analysis suggests small interaction effects in blood pressure traits. Sci Rep 2022; 12:12649. [PMID: 35879408 PMCID: PMC9314370 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-16908-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 07/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Genome-wide variance quantitative trait loci (vQTL) analysis complements genome-wide association study (GWAS) and has the potential to identify novel variants associated with the trait, explain additional trait variance and lead to the identification of factors that modulate the genetic effects. I conducted genome-wide analysis of the UK Biobank data and identified 27 vQTLs associated with systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and pulse pressure (PP). The top single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are enriched for expression QTLs (eQTLs) or splicing QTLs (sQTLs) annotated by GTEx, suggesting their regulatory roles in mediating the associations with blood pressure (BP). Of the 27 vQTLs, 14 are known BP-associated QTLs discovered by GWASs. The heteroscedasticity effects of the 13 novel vQTLs are larger than their genetic main effects, which were not detected by existing GWASs. The total R-squared of the 27 top SNPs due to variance heteroscedasticity is 0.28%, compared with 0.50% owing to their main effects. The overall effect size of the variance heteroscedasticity is small in GWAS SNPs compared with their main effects. For the 411, 384 and 285 GWAS SNPs associated with SBP, DBP and PP, respectively, their heteroscedasticity effects were 0.52%, 0.43%, and 0.16%, and their main effects were 5.13%, 5.61%, and 3.75%, respectively. The number and effects of the vQTLs are small, which suggests that the effects of gene-environment and gene-gene interactions are small. The main effects of the SNPs remain the major source of genetic variance for BP, which would probably be true for other complex traits as well.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gang Shi
- School of Telecommunications Engineering, Xidian University, 2 South Taibai Road, Xi'an, 710071, Shaanxi, China.
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22
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Westerman KE, Majarian TD, Giulianini F, Jang DK, Miao J, Florez JC, Chen H, Chasman DI, Udler MS, Manning AK, Cole JB. Variance-quantitative trait loci enable systematic discovery of gene-environment interactions for cardiometabolic serum biomarkers. Nat Commun 2022; 13:3993. [PMID: 35810165 PMCID: PMC9271055 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31625-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2021] [Accepted: 06/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Gene-environment interactions represent the modification of genetic effects by environmental exposures and are critical for understanding disease and informing personalized medicine. These often induce differential phenotypic variance across genotypes; these variance-quantitative trait loci can be prioritized in a two-stage interaction detection strategy to greatly reduce the computational and statistical burden and enable testing of a broader range of exposures. We perform genome-wide variance-quantitative trait locus analysis for 20 serum cardiometabolic biomarkers by multi-ancestry meta-analysis of 350,016 unrelated participants in the UK Biobank, identifying 182 independent locus-biomarker pairs (p < 4.5×10-9). Most are concentrated in a small subset (4%) of loci with genome-wide significant main effects, and 44% replicate (p < 0.05) in the Women's Genome Health Study (N = 23,294). Next, we test each locus-biomarker pair for interaction across 2380 exposures, identifying 847 significant interactions (p < 2.4×10-7), of which 132 are independent (p < 0.05) after accounting for correlation between exposures. Specific examples demonstrate interaction of triglyceride-associated variants with distinct body mass- versus body fat-related exposures as well as genotype-specific associations between alcohol consumption and liver stress at the ADH1B gene. Our catalog of variance-quantitative trait loci and gene-environment interactions is publicly available in an online portal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth E Westerman
- Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
- Programs in Metabolism and Medical & Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Timothy D Majarian
- Programs in Metabolism and Medical & Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Franco Giulianini
- Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Dong-Keun Jang
- Programs in Metabolism and Medical & Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Jenkai Miao
- Division of Endocrinology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jose C Florez
- Programs in Metabolism and Medical & Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Diabetes Unit and Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Han Chen
- Human Genetics Center, Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA
- Center for Precision Health, School of Biomedical Informatics, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Daniel I Chasman
- Division of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Medical and Population Genetics Program, Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Miriam S Udler
- Programs in Metabolism and Medical & Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Diabetes Unit and Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Alisa K Manning
- Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit, Mongan Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
- Programs in Metabolism and Medical & Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Joanne B Cole
- Programs in Metabolism and Medical & Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Division of Endocrinology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
- Diabetes Unit and Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
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Johnson R, Sotoudeh R, Conley D. Polygenic Scores for Plasticity: A New Tool for Studying Gene-Environment Interplay. Demography 2022; 59:1045-1070. [PMID: 35553650 DOI: 10.1215/00703370-9957418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Fertility, health, education, and other outcomes of interest to demographers are the product of an individual's genetic makeup and their social environment. Yet, gene × environment (G×E) research deploys a limited toolkit on the genetic side to study the gene-environment interplay, relying on polygenic scores (PGSs) that reflect the influence of genetics on levels of an outcome. In this article, we develop a genetic summary measure better suited for G×E research: variance polygenic scores (vPGSs), which are PGSs that reflect genetic contributions to plasticity in outcomes. First, we use the UK Biobank (N ∼ 408,000 in the analytic sample) and the Health and Retirement Study (N ∼ 5,700 in the analytic sample) to compare four approaches to constructing PGSs for plasticity. The results show that widely used methods for discovering which genetic variants affect outcome variability fail to serve as distinctive new tools for G×E. Second, using the PGSs that do capture distinctive genetic contributions to plasticity, we analyze heterogeneous effects of a UK education reform on health and educational attainment. The results show the properties of a useful new tool for population scientists studying the interplay of nature and nurture and for population-based studies that are releasing PGSs to applied researchers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Johnson
- McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
| | | | - Dalton Conley
- Department of Sociology and Office of Population Research, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
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24
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Russell ND, Chow CY. The dynamic effect of genetic variation on the in vivo ER stress transcriptional response in different tissues. G3 GENES|GENOMES|GENETICS 2022; 12:6575908. [PMID: 35485945 PMCID: PMC9157157 DOI: 10.1093/g3journal/jkac104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2022] [Accepted: 04/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
The genetic regulation of gene expression varies greatly across tissue-type and individuals and can be strongly influenced by the environment. Many variants, under healthy control conditions, may be silent or even have the opposite effect under diseased stress conditions. This study uses an in vivo mouse model to investigate how the effect of genetic variation changes with cellular stress across different tissues. Endoplasmic reticulum stress occurs when misfolded proteins accumulate in the endoplasmic reticulum. This triggers the unfolded protein response, a large transcriptional response which attempts to restore homeostasis. This transcriptional response, despite being a conserved, basic cellular process, is highly variable across different genetic backgrounds, making it an ideal system to study the dynamic effects of genetic variation. In this study, we sought to better understand how genetic variation alters expression across tissues, in the presence and absence of endoplasmic reticulum stress. The use of different mouse strains and their F1s allow us to also identify context-specific cis- and trans- regulatory variation underlying variable transcriptional responses. We found hundreds of genes that respond to endoplasmic reticulum stress in a tissue- and/or genotype-dependent manner. The majority of the regulatory effects we identified were acting in cis-, which in turn, contribute to the variable endoplasmic reticulum stress- and tissue-specific transcriptional response. This study demonstrates the need for incorporating environmental stressors across multiple different tissues in future studies to better elucidate the effect of any particular genetic factor in basic biological pathways, like the endoplasmic reticulum stress response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikki D Russell
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah School of Medicine , Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Clement Y Chow
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Utah School of Medicine , Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
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25
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San-Cristobal R, de Toro-Martín J, Vohl MC. Appraisal of Gene-Environment Interactions in GWAS for Evidence-Based Precision Nutrition Implementation. Curr Nutr Rep 2022; 11:563-573. [PMID: 35948824 PMCID: PMC9750926 DOI: 10.1007/s13668-022-00430-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW This review aims to analyse the currently reported gene-environment (G × E) interactions in genome-wide association studies (GWAS), involving environmental factors such as lifestyle and dietary habits related to metabolic syndrome phenotypes. For this purpose, the present manuscript reviews the available GWAS registered on the GWAS Catalog reporting the interaction between environmental factors and metabolic syndrome traits. RECENT FINDINGS Advances in omics-related analytical and computational approaches in recent years have led to a better understanding of the biological processes underlying these G × E interactions. A total of 42 GWAS were analysed, reporting over 300 loci interacting with environmental factors. Alcohol consumption, sleep time, smoking habit and physical activity were the most studied environmental factors with significant G × E interactions. The implementation of more comprehensive GWAS will provide a better understanding of the metabolic processes that determine individual responses to environmental exposures and their association with the development of chronic diseases such as obesity and the metabolic syndrome. This will facilitate the development of precision approaches for better prevention, management and treatment of these diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo San-Cristobal
- grid.23856.3a0000 0004 1936 8390Centre Nutrition, Santé Et Société (NUTRISS), Institut Sur La Nutrition Et Les Aliments Fonctionnels (INAF), Université Laval, Québec, QC Canada ,grid.23856.3a0000 0004 1936 8390School of Nutrition, Université Laval, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6 Canada
| | - Juan de Toro-Martín
- grid.23856.3a0000 0004 1936 8390Centre Nutrition, Santé Et Société (NUTRISS), Institut Sur La Nutrition Et Les Aliments Fonctionnels (INAF), Université Laval, Québec, QC Canada ,grid.23856.3a0000 0004 1936 8390School of Nutrition, Université Laval, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6 Canada
| | - Marie-Claude Vohl
- grid.23856.3a0000 0004 1936 8390Centre Nutrition, Santé Et Société (NUTRISS), Institut Sur La Nutrition Et Les Aliments Fonctionnels (INAF), Université Laval, Québec, QC Canada ,grid.23856.3a0000 0004 1936 8390School of Nutrition, Université Laval, Quebec, QC G1V 0A6 Canada
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26
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Marderstein AR, Kulm S, Peng C, Tamimi R, Clark AG, Elemento O. A polygenic-score-based approach for identification of gene-drug interactions stratifying breast cancer risk. Am J Hum Genet 2021; 108:1752-1764. [PMID: 34363748 PMCID: PMC8456164 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2021.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 07/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
An individual's genetics can dramatically influence breast cancer (BC) risk. Although clinical measures for prevention do exist, non-invasive personalized measures for reducing BC risk are limited. Commonly used medications are a promising set of modifiable factors, but no previous study has explored whether a range of widely taken approved drugs modulate BC genetics. In this study, we describe a quantitative framework for exploring the interaction between the genetic susceptibility of BC and medication usage among UK Biobank women. We computed BC polygenic scores (PGSs) that summarize BC genetic risk and find that the PGS explains nearly three-times greater variation in disease risk within corticosteroid users compared to non-users. We map 35 genes significantly interacting with corticosteroid use (FDR < 0.1), highlighting the transcription factor NRF2 as a common regulator of gene-corticosteroid interactions in BC. Finally, we discover a regulatory variant strongly stratifying BC risk according to corticosteroid use. Within risk allele carriers, 18.2% of women taking corticosteroids developed BC, compared to 5.1% of the non-users (with an HR = 3.41 per-allele within corticosteroid users). In comparison, there are no differences in BC risk within the reference allele homozygotes. Overall, this work highlights the clinical relevance of gene-drug interactions in disease risk and provides a roadmap for repurposing biobanks in drug repositioning and precision medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew R Marderstein
- Tri-Institutional Program in Computational Biology and Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10021, USA; Institute of Computational Biomedicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10021, USA; Caryl and Israel Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10021, USA; Department of Computational Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
| | - Scott Kulm
- Institute of Computational Biomedicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10021, USA; Caryl and Israel Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10021, USA
| | - Cheng Peng
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Rulla Tamimi
- Population Health Sciences, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Andrew G Clark
- Tri-Institutional Program in Computational Biology and Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10021, USA; Department of Computational Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA.
| | - Olivier Elemento
- Tri-Institutional Program in Computational Biology and Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10021, USA; Institute of Computational Biomedicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10021, USA; Caryl and Israel Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY 10021, USA.
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27
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Liu D, Ban HJ, El Sergani AM, Lee MK, Hecht JT, Wehby GL, Moreno LM, Feingold E, Marazita ML, Cha S, Szabo-Rogers HL, Weinberg SM, Shaffer JR. PRICKLE1 × FOCAD Interaction Revealed by Genome-Wide vQTL Analysis of Human Facial Traits. Front Genet 2021; 12:674642. [PMID: 34434215 PMCID: PMC8381734 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.674642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2021] [Accepted: 06/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The human face is a highly complex and variable structure resulting from the intricate coordination of numerous genetic and non-genetic factors. Hundreds of genomic loci impacting quantitative facial features have been identified. While these associations have been shown to influence morphology by altering the mean size and shape of facial measures, their effect on trait variance remains unclear. We conducted a genome-wide association analysis for the variance of 20 quantitative facial measurements in 2,447 European individuals and identified several suggestive variance quantitative trait loci (vQTLs). These vQTLs guided us to conduct an efficient search for gene-by-gene (G × G) interactions, which uncovered an interaction between PRICKLE1 and FOCAD affecting cranial base width. We replicated this G × G interaction signal at the locus level in an additional 5,128 Korean individuals. We used the hypomorphic Prickle1 Beetlejuice (Prickle1 Bj ) mouse line to directly test the function of Prickle1 on the cranial base and observed wider cranial bases in Prickle1 Bj/Bj . Importantly, we observed that the Prickle1 and Focadhesin proteins co-localize in murine cranial base chondrocytes, and this co-localization is abnormal in the Prickle1 Bj/Bj mutants. Taken together, our findings uncovered a novel G × G interaction effect in humans with strong support from both epidemiological and molecular studies. These results highlight the potential of studying measures of phenotypic variability in gene mapping studies of facial morphology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongjing Liu
- Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, United States
| | - Hyo-Jeong Ban
- Future Medicine Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Ahmed M. El Sergani
- Center for Craniofacial and Dental Genetics, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Myoung Keun Lee
- Center for Craniofacial and Dental Genetics, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Jacqueline T. Hecht
- Department of Pediatrics, McGovern Medical Center, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, United States
| | - George L. Wehby
- Department of Health Management and Policy, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States
| | - Lina M. Moreno
- Department of Orthodontics, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States
| | - Eleanor Feingold
- Department of Human Genetics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Department of Biostatistics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Mary L. Marazita
- Center for Craniofacial and Dental Genetics, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Department of Human Genetics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Department of Psychiatry, Clinical and Translational Science Institute, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Seongwon Cha
- Future Medicine Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Heather L. Szabo-Rogers
- Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Department of Developmental Biology, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Regenerative Medicine at the McGowan Institute, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Center for Craniofacial Regeneration, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - Seth M. Weinberg
- Center for Craniofacial and Dental Genetics, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Department of Human Genetics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
| | - John R. Shaffer
- Center for Craniofacial and Dental Genetics, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Department of Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Department of Human Genetics, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
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28
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Schmitz LL, Goodwin J, Miao J, Lu Q, Conley D. The impact of late-career job loss and genetic risk on body mass index: Evidence from variance polygenic scores. Sci Rep 2021; 11:7647. [PMID: 33828129 PMCID: PMC8027610 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-86716-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2020] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Unemployment shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic have reignited concerns over the long-term effects of job loss on population health. Past research has highlighted the corrosive effects of unemployment on health and health behaviors. This study examines whether the effects of job loss on changes in body mass index (BMI) are moderated by genetic predisposition using data from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study (HRS). To improve detection of gene-by-environment (G × E) interplay, we interacted layoffs from business closures-a plausibly exogenous environmental exposure-with whole-genome polygenic scores (PGSs) that capture genetic contributions to both the population mean (mPGS) and variance (vPGS) of BMI. Results show evidence of genetic moderation using a vPGS (as opposed to an mPGS) and indicate genome-wide summary measures of phenotypic plasticity may further our understanding of how environmental stimuli modify the distribution of complex traits in a population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren L Schmitz
- Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1225 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
| | - Julia Goodwin
- Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Jiacheng Miao
- Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Qiongshi Lu
- Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
- Department of Statistics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Dalton Conley
- Department of Sociology, Princeton University & NBER, Princeton, NJ, USA
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29
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Variable expression quantitative trait loci analysis of breast cancer risk variants. Sci Rep 2021; 11:7192. [PMID: 33785833 PMCID: PMC8009949 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-86690-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2020] [Accepted: 03/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Genome wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 180 variants associated with breast cancer risk, however the underlying functional mechanisms and biological pathways which confer disease susceptibility remain largely unknown. As gene expression traits are under genetic regulation we hypothesise that differences in gene expression variability may identify causal breast cancer susceptibility genes. We performed variable expression quantitative trait loci (veQTL) analysis using tissue-specific expression data from the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) Common Fund Project. veQTL analysis identified 70 associations (p < 5 × 10–8) consisting of 60 genes and 27 breast cancer risk variants, including 55 veQTL that were observed in breast tissue only. Pathway analysis of genes associated with breast-specific veQTL revealed an enrichment of four genes (CYP11B1, CYP17A1 HSD3B2 and STAR) involved in the C21-steroidal biosynthesis pathway that converts cholesterol to breast-related hormones (e.g. oestrogen). Each of these four genes were significantly more variable in individuals homozygous for rs11075995 (A/A) breast cancer risk allele located in the FTO gene, which encodes an RNA demethylase. The A/A allele was also found associated with reduced expression of FTO, suggesting an epi-transcriptomic mechanism may underlie the dysregulation of genes involved in hormonal biosynthesis leading to an increased risk of breast cancer. These findings provide evidence that genetic variants govern high levels of expression variance in breast tissue, thus building a more comprehensive insight into the underlying biology of breast cancer risk loci.
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