Browsing by Author "Gunasekaran, Tamil Iniyan"

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    APOE Promoter Polymorphism-219T/G is an Effect Modifier of the Influence of APOE ε4 on Alzheimer's Disease Risk in a Multiracial Sample
    (MDPI, 2019-08-16) Choi, Kyu Yeong; Lee, Jang Jae; Gunasekaran, Tamil Iniyan; Kang, Sarang; Lee, Wooje; Jeong, Jangho; Lim, Ho Jae; Zhang, Xiaoling; Zhu, Congcong; Won, So-Yoon; Choi, Yu Yong; Seo, Eun Hyun; Lee, Seok Cheol; Gim, Jungsoo; Chung, Ji Yeon; Chong, Ari; Byun, Min Soo; Seo, Sujin; Ko, Pan-Woo; Han, Ji-Won; McLean, Catriona; Farrell, John; Lunetta, Kathryn L.; Miyashita, Akinori; Hara, Norikazu; Won, Sungho; Choi, Seong-Min; Ha, Jung-Min; Jeong, Jee Hyang; Kuwano, Ryozo; Song, Min Kyung; An, Seong Soo A.; Lee, Young Min; Park, Kyung Won; Lee, Ho-Won; Choi, Seong Hye; Rhee, Sangmyung; Song, Woo Keun; Lee, Jung Sup; Mayeux, Richard; Haines, Jonathan L.; Pericak-Vance, Margaret A.; Choo, IL Han; Nho, Kwangsik; Kim, Ki-Woong; Lee, Dong Young; Kim, SangYun; Kim, Byeong C.; Kim, Hoowon; Jun, Gyungah R.; Schellenberg, Gerard D.; Ikeuchi, Takeshi; Farrer, Lindsay A.; Lee, Kun Ho; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of Medicine
    Variants in the APOE gene region may explain ethnic differences in the association of Alzheimer's disease (AD) with ε4. Ethnic differences in allele frequencies for three APOE region SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) were identified and tested for association in 19,398 East Asians (EastA), including Koreans and Japanese, 15,836 European ancestry (EuroA) individuals, and 4985 African Americans, and with brain imaging measures of cortical atrophy in sub-samples of Koreans and EuroAs. Among ε4/ε4 individuals, AD risk increased substantially in a dose-dependent manner with the number of APOE promoter SNP rs405509 T alleles in EastAs (TT: OR (odds ratio) = 27.02, p = 8.80 × 10-94; GT: OR = 15.87, p = 2.62 × 10-9) and EuroAs (TT: OR = 18.13, p = 2.69 × 10-108; GT: OR = 12.63, p = 3.44 × 10-64), and rs405509-T homozygotes had a younger onset and more severe cortical atrophy than those with G-allele. Functional experiments using APOE promoter fragments demonstrated that TT lowered APOE expression in human brain and serum. The modifying effect of rs405509 genotype explained much of the ethnic variability in the AD/ε4 association, and increasing APOE expression might lower AD risk among ε4 homozygotes.
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    Beyond GWAS: Investigating Structural Variants and Their Segregation in Familial Alzheimer’s Disease
    (Wiley, 2025-01-09) Gunasekaran, Tamil Iniyan; Reyes-Dumeyer, Dolly; Corvelo, André; Clarke, Wayne E.; Evani, Uday S.; Byrska-Bishop, Marta S.; Basile, Anna O.; Runnels, Alexi; Musunuri, Rajeeva O.; Narzisi, Giuseppe; Faber, Kelley M.; Goate, Alison M.; Boeve, Brad F.; Cruchaga, Carlos; Pericak-Vance, Margaret A.; Haines, Jonathan L.; Rosenberg, Roger N.; Tsuang, Debby W.; Rivera Mejia, Diones; Medrano, Martin; Lantigua, Rafael A.; Sweet, Robert; Bennett, David A.; Wilson, Robert S.; Foroud, Tatiana M.; Dalgard, Clifton L.; Mayeux, Richard; Zody, Michael; Vardarajan, Badri N.; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Background: Late‐Onset Alzheimer’s Disease (LOAD) is characterized by genetic heterogeneity and there is no single model explaining the genetic mode of inheritance. To date, more than 70 genetic loci associated with AD have been identified but they explain only a small proportion of AD heritability. Structural variants (SVs) may explain some of the missing AD heritability, and specifically, their segregation in AD families has yet to be investigated. Method: We analyzed WGS data from 197 NHW families (926 subjects, 58.5% affected) and 214 CH families (1,340 subjects, 59.17% affected). Manta, Absinthe, and MELT were used for large insertions/deletions calling from short‐read WGS, combined with Sniffles2 calls from 4 ONT‐sequenced genomes and an external SV call set from HGSVC on 32 PacBio‐sequenced genomes from the 1000 Genomes Project. Genotyping produced a unified project‐level VCF. We identified 45,251 insertions and 76,566 deletions genome‐wide. Variants were tested for segregation and pathogenicity using Annot‐SV, cadd‐SV, and Variant Effect Predictor. Segregation required SV presence in all affected family members and only in unaffected members five years younger than average disease onset. Result: We identified 453 insertions and 598 deletions segregating in 78.68% and 87.31% of NHW families, respectively. In CH families, 432 insertions and 460 deletions were segregating in 75.23% and 72.90% of the families, respectively. Genes overlapping with the SVs exhibited high expression levels in brain tissues. Notably, around 93% of insertions and 76% of deletions segregating in NHW and CH families were less than 1 kilobase pair (1kbp) in length. A total of 79 insertions and 96 deletions were found to be segregating in both NHW and CH families. Interestingly, a segregating insertion was observed in CH families overlapping within the CACNA2D3 gene, which was previously reported in a CH GWAS for clinical AD. A deletion segregating in NHW overlapped with the PSEN1, and another in a CH family overlapped with the PTK2B gene. Conclusion: Our findings suggested that there are several SVs associated with familial AD across CH and NHW families. Prioritizing the SVs based on their effects on gene function and expression will be helpful in understanding their contributions in AD.
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    Missense and loss-of-function variants at GWAS loci in familial Alzheimer's disease
    (Wiley, 2024) Gunasekaran, Tamil Iniyan; Reyes-Dumeyer, Dolly; Faber, Kelley M.; Goate, Alison; Boeve, Brad; Cruchaga, Carlos; Pericak-Vance, Margaret; Haines, Jonathan L.; Rosenberg, Roger; Tsuang, Debby; Mejia, Diones Rivera; Medrano, Martin; Lantigua, Rafael A.; Sweet, Robert A.; Bennett, David A.; Wilson, Robert S.; Alba, Camille; Dalgard, Clifton; Foroud, Tatiana; Vardarajan, Badri N.; Mayeux, Richard; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Background: Few rare variants have been identified in genetic loci from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of Alzheimer's disease (AD), limiting understanding of mechanisms, risk assessment, and genetic counseling. Methods: Using genome sequencing data from 197 families in the National Institute on Aging Alzheimer's Disease Family Based Study and 214 Caribbean Hispanic families, we searched for rare coding variants within known GWAS loci from the largest published study. Results: Eighty-six rare missense or loss-of-function (LoF) variants completely segregated in 17.5% of families, but in 91 (22.1%) families Apolipoprotein E (APOE)-𝜀4 was the only variant segregating. However, in 60.3% of families, APOE 𝜀4, missense, and LoF variants were not found within the GWAS loci. Discussion: Although APOE 𝜀4and several rare variants were found to segregate in both family datasets, many families had no variant accounting for their disease. This suggests that familial AD may be the result of unidentified rare variants. Highlights: Rare coding variants from GWAS loci segregate in familial Alzheimer's disease. Missense or loss of function variants were found segregating in nearly 7% of families. APOE-𝜀4 was the only segregating variant in 29.7% in familial Alzheimer's disease. In Hispanic and non-Hispanic families, different variants were found in segregating genes. No coding variants were found segregating in many Hispanic and non-Hispanic families.
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    A missense variant in SHARPIN mediates Alzheimer's disease-specific brain damages
    (Springer Nature, 2021-11-16) Park, Jun Young; Lee, Dongsoo; Lee, Jang Jae; Gim, Jungsoo; Gunasekaran, Tamil Iniyan; Choi, Kyu Yeong; Kang, Sarang; Do, Ah Ra; Jo, Jinyeon; Park, Juhong; Park, Kyungtaek; Li, Donghe; Lee, Sanghun; Kim, Hoowon; Dhanasingh, Immanuel; Ghosh, Suparna; Keum, Seula; Choi, Jee Hye; Song, Gyun Jee; Sael, Lee; Rhee, Sangmyung; Lovestone, Simon; Kim, Eunae; Moon, Seung Hwan; Kim, Byeong C.; Kim, SangYun; Saykin, Andrew J.; Nho, Kwangsik; Lee, Sung Haeng; Farrer, Lindsay A.; Jun, Gyungah R.; Won, Sungho; Lee, Kun Ho; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of Medicine
    Established genetic risk factors for Alzheimer's disease (AD) account for only a portion of AD heritability. The aim of this study was to identify novel associations between genetic variants and AD-specific brain atrophy. We conducted genome-wide association studies for brain magnetic resonance imaging measures of hippocampal volume and entorhinal cortical thickness in 2643 Koreans meeting the clinical criteria for AD (n = 209), mild cognitive impairment (n = 1449) or normal cognition (n = 985). A missense variant, rs77359862 (R274W), in the SHANK-associated RH Domain Interactor (SHARPIN) gene was associated with entorhinal cortical thickness (p = 5.0 × 10-9) and hippocampal volume (p = 5.1 × 10-12). It revealed an increased risk of developing AD in the mediation analyses. This variant was also associated with amyloid-β accumulation (p = 0.03) and measures of memory (p = 1.0 × 10-4) and executive function (p = 0.04). We also found significant association of other SHARPIN variants with hippocampal volume in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (rs3417062, p = 4.1 × 10-6) and AddNeuroMed (rs138412600, p = 5.9 × 10-5) cohorts. Further, molecular dynamics simulations and co-immunoprecipitation indicated that the variant significantly reduced the binding of linear ubiquitination assembly complex proteins, SHPARIN and HOIL-1 Interacting Protein (HOIP), altering the downstream NF-κB signaling pathway. These findings suggest that SHARPIN plays an important role in the pathogenesis of AD.