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Whiffin N, Karczewski KJ, Zhang X, Chothani S, Smith MJ, Evans DG, Roberts AM, Quaife NM, Schafer S, Rackham O, Alföldi J, O'Donnell-Luria AH, Francioli LC, Cook SA, Barton PJR, MacArthur DG, Ware JS. Characterising the loss-of-function impact of 5' untranslated region variants in 15,708 individuals. Nat Commun 2020; 11:2523. [PMID: 32461616 PMCID: PMC7253449 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-10717-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2019] [Accepted: 05/23/2019] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Upstream open reading frames (uORFs) are tissue-specific cis-regulators of protein translation. Isolated reports have shown that variants that create or disrupt uORFs can cause disease. Here, in a systematic genome-wide study using 15,708 whole genome sequences, we show that variants that create new upstream start codons, and variants disrupting stop sites of existing uORFs, are under strong negative selection. This selection signal is significantly stronger for variants arising upstream of genes intolerant to loss-of-function variants. Furthermore, variants creating uORFs that overlap the coding sequence show signals of selection equivalent to coding missense variants. Finally, we identify specific genes where modification of uORFs likely represents an important disease mechanism, and report a novel uORF frameshift variant upstream of NF2 in neurofibromatosis. Our results highlight uORF-perturbing variants as an under-recognised functional class that contribute to penetrant human disease, and demonstrate the power of large-scale population sequencing data in studying non-coding variant classes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Whiffin
- National Heart and Lung Institute and MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Imperial College London, Du Cane Road, London, W12 0NN, UK.
- NIHR Royal Brompton Cardiovascular Research Centre, Royal Brompton and Harefield National Health Service Foundation Trust, Sydney Street, London, SW3 6NP, UK.
- Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA.
| | - Konrad J Karczewski
- Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
- Analytical and Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Xiaolei Zhang
- National Heart and Lung Institute and MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Imperial College London, Du Cane Road, London, W12 0NN, UK
- NIHR Royal Brompton Cardiovascular Research Centre, Royal Brompton and Harefield National Health Service Foundation Trust, Sydney Street, London, SW3 6NP, UK
| | - Sonia Chothani
- Program in Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders, Duke-NUS Medical School, 8 College Road, Singapore, 169857, Singapore
| | - Miriam J Smith
- NW Genomic Laboratory Hub, Centre for Genomic Medicine, Division of Evolution and Genomic Science, St Mary's Hospital, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9WL, UK
| | - D Gareth Evans
- NW Genomic Laboratory Hub, Centre for Genomic Medicine, Division of Evolution and Genomic Science, St Mary's Hospital, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9WL, UK
| | - Angharad M Roberts
- National Heart and Lung Institute and MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Imperial College London, Du Cane Road, London, W12 0NN, UK
- NIHR Royal Brompton Cardiovascular Research Centre, Royal Brompton and Harefield National Health Service Foundation Trust, Sydney Street, London, SW3 6NP, UK
| | - Nicholas M Quaife
- National Heart and Lung Institute and MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Imperial College London, Du Cane Road, London, W12 0NN, UK
- NIHR Royal Brompton Cardiovascular Research Centre, Royal Brompton and Harefield National Health Service Foundation Trust, Sydney Street, London, SW3 6NP, UK
| | - Sebastian Schafer
- Program in Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders, Duke-NUS Medical School, 8 College Road, Singapore, 169857, Singapore
- National Heart Centre Singapore, 5 Hospital Drive, Singapore, 169609, Singapore
| | - Owen Rackham
- Program in Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders, Duke-NUS Medical School, 8 College Road, Singapore, 169857, Singapore
| | - Jessica Alföldi
- Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
- Analytical and Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Anne H O'Donnell-Luria
- Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
- Division of Genetics and Genomics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Laurent C Francioli
- Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
- Analytical and Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Stuart A Cook
- National Heart and Lung Institute and MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Imperial College London, Du Cane Road, London, W12 0NN, UK
- Program in Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders, Duke-NUS Medical School, 8 College Road, Singapore, 169857, Singapore
- National Heart Centre Singapore, 5 Hospital Drive, Singapore, 169609, Singapore
| | - Paul J R Barton
- National Heart and Lung Institute and MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Imperial College London, Du Cane Road, London, W12 0NN, UK
- NIHR Royal Brompton Cardiovascular Research Centre, Royal Brompton and Harefield National Health Service Foundation Trust, Sydney Street, London, SW3 6NP, UK
| | - Daniel G MacArthur
- Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
- Analytical and Translational Genetics Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Centre for Population Genomics, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, and UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- Centre for Population Genomics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia
| | - James S Ware
- National Heart and Lung Institute and MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, Imperial College London, Du Cane Road, London, W12 0NN, UK
- NIHR Royal Brompton Cardiovascular Research Centre, Royal Brompton and Harefield National Health Service Foundation Trust, Sydney Street, London, SW3 6NP, UK
- Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 415 Main Street, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
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