Browsing by Author "Jean-Francois, Melissa"

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    Extended genome-wide association study employing the African genome resources panel identifies novel susceptibility loci for Alzheimer's disease in individuals of African ancestry
    (Wiley, 2024) Ray, Nicholas R.; Kunkle, Brian W.; Hamilton-Nelson, Kara; Kurup, Jiji T.; Rajabli, Farid; Qiao, Min; Vardarajan, Badri N.; Cosacak, Mehmet I.; Kizil, Caghan; Jean-Francois, Melissa; Cuccaro, Michael; Reyes-Dumeyer, Dolly; Cantwell, Laura; Kuzma, Amanda; Vance, Jeffery M.; Gao, Sujuan; Hendrie, Hugh C.; Baiyewu, Olusegun; Ogunniyi, Adesola; Akinyemi, Rufus O.; Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium; Lee, Wan-Ping; Martin, Eden R.; Wang, Li-San; Beecham, Gary W.; Bush, William S.; Xu, Wanying; Jin, Fulai; Wang, Liyong; Farrer, Lindsay A.; Haines, Jonathan L.; Byrd, Goldie S.; Schellenberg, Gerard D.; Mayeux, Richard; Pericak-Vance, Margaret A.; Reitz, Christiane; Biostatistics and Health Data Science, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
    Introduction: Despite a two-fold risk, individuals of African ancestry have been underrepresented in Alzheimer's disease (AD) genomics efforts. Methods: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of 2,903 AD cases and 6,265 controls of African ancestry. Within-dataset results were meta-analyzed, followed by functional genomics analyses. Results: A novel AD-risk locus was identified in MPDZ on chromosome (chr) 9p23 (rs141610415, MAF = 0.002, p = 3.68×10-9). Two additional novel common and nine rare loci were identified with suggestive associations (P < 9×10-7). Comparison of association and linkage disequilibrium (LD) patterns between datasets with higher and lower degrees of African ancestry showed differential association patterns at chr12q23.2 (ASCL1), suggesting that this association is modulated by regional origin of local African ancestry. Discussion: These analyses identified novel AD-associated loci in individuals of African ancestry and suggest that degree of African ancestry modulates some associations. Increased sample sets covering as much African genetic diversity as possible will be critical to identify additional loci and deconvolute local genetic ancestry effects. Highlights: Genetic ancestry significantly impacts risk of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Although individuals of African ancestry are twice as likely to develop AD, they are vastly underrepresented in AD genomics studies. The Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Consortium has previously identified 16 common and rare genetic loci associated with AD in African American individuals. The current analyses significantly expand this effort by increasing the sample size and extending ancestral diversity by including populations from continental Africa. Single variant meta-analysis identified a novel genome-wide significant AD-risk locus in individuals of African ancestry at the MPDZ gene, and 11 additional novel loci with suggestive genome-wide significance at p < 9×10-7. Comparison of African American datasets with samples of higher degree of African ancestry demonstrated differing patterns of association and linkage disequilibrium at one of these loci, suggesting that degree and/or geographic origin of African ancestry modulates the effect at this locus. These findings illustrate the importance of increasing number and ancestral diversity of African ancestry samples in AD genomics studies to fully disentangle the genetic architecture underlying AD, and yield more effective ancestry-informed genetic screening tools and therapeutic interventions.
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    Novel Alzheimer Disease Risk Loci and Pathways in African American Individuals Using the African Genome Resources Panel
    (American Medical Association, 2021-01-01) Kunkle, Brian W.; Schmidt, Michael; Klein, Hans-Ulrich; Naj, Adam C.; Hamilton-Nelson, Kara L.; Larson, Eric B.; Evans, Denis A.; De Jager, Phil L.; Crane, Paul K.; Buxbaum, Joe D.; Ertekin-Taner, Nilufer; Go, Rodney C.P.; Obisesan, Thomas O.; Kamboh, Ilyas; Bennett, David A.; Hall, Kathleen S.; Goate, Alison M.; Foroud, Tatiana M.; Martin, Eden R.; Wang, Li-Sao; Byrd, Goldie S.; Farrer, Lindsay A.; Haines, Jonathan L.; Schellenberg, Gerard D.; Mayeux, Richard; Pericak-Vance, Margaret A.; Reitz, Christiane; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Martinez, Izri; Ayodele, Temitope; Logue, Mark W.; Cantwell, Laura B.; Jean-Francois, Melissa; Kuzma, Amanda B.; Adams, L.D.; Vance, Jeffery M.; Cuccaro, Michael L.; Chung, Jaeyoon; Mez, Jesse; Lunetta, Kathryn L.; Jun, Gyungah R.; Lopez, Oscar L.; Hendrie, Hugh C.; Reiman, Eric M.; Kowall, Neil W.; Leverenz, James B.; Small, Scott A.; Levey, Allan I.; Golde, Todd E.; Saykin, Andrew J.; Starks, Takiyah D.; Albert, Marilyn S.; Hyman, Bradley T.; Petersen, Ronald C.; Sano, Mary; Wisniewski, Thomas; Vassar, Robert; Kaye, Jeffrey A.; Henderson, Victor W.; DeCarli, Charles; LaFerla, Frank M.; Brewer, James B.; Miller, Bruce L.; Swerdlow, Russell H.; Van Eldik, Linda J.; Paulson, Henry L.; Trojanowski, John Q.; Chui, Helena C.; Rosenberg, Roger N.; Craft, Suzanne; Grabowski, Thomas J.; Asthana, Sanjay; Morris, John C.; Strittmatter, Stephen M.; Kukull, Walter A.; Psychiatry, School of Medicine
    Importance: Compared with non-Hispanic White individuals, African American individuals from the same community are approximately twice as likely to develop Alzheimer disease. Despite this disparity, the largest Alzheimer disease genome-wide association studies to date have been conducted in non-Hispanic White individuals. In the largest association analyses of Alzheimer disease in African American individuals, ABCA7, TREM2, and an intergenic locus at 5q35 were previously implicated. Objective: To identify additional risk loci in African American individuals by increasing the sample size and using the African Genome Resource panel. Design, setting, and participants: This genome-wide association meta-analysis used case-control and family-based data sets from the Alzheimer Disease Genetics Consortium. There were multiple recruitment sites throughout the United States that included individuals with Alzheimer disease and controls of African American ancestry. Analysis began October 2018 and ended September 2019. Main outcomes and measures: Diagnosis of Alzheimer disease. Results: A total of 2784 individuals with Alzheimer disease (1944 female [69.8%]) and 5222 controls (3743 female [71.7%]) were analyzed (mean [SD] age at last evaluation, 74.2 [13.6] years). Associations with 4 novel common loci centered near the intracellular glycoprotein trafficking gene EDEM1 (3p26; P = 8.9 × 10-7), near the immune response gene ALCAM (3q13; P = 9.3 × 10-7), within GPC6 (13q31; P = 4.1 × 10-7), a gene critical for recruitment of glutamatergic receptors to the neuronal membrane, and within VRK3 (19q13.33; P = 3.5 × 10-7), a gene involved in glutamate neurotoxicity, were identified. In addition, several loci associated with rare variants, including a genome-wide significant intergenic locus near IGF1R at 15q26 (P = 1.7 × 10-9) and 6 additional loci with suggestive significance (P ≤ 5 × 10-7) such as API5 at 11p12 (P = 8.8 × 10-8) and RBFOX1 at 16p13 (P = 5.4 × 10-7) were identified. Gene expression data from brain tissue demonstrate association of ALCAM, ARAP1, GPC6, and RBFOX1 with brain β-amyloid load. Of 25 known loci associated with Alzheimer disease in non-Hispanic White individuals, only APOE, ABCA7, TREM2, BIN1, CD2AP, FERMT2, and WWOX were implicated at a nominal significance level or stronger in African American individuals. Pathway analyses strongly support the notion that immunity, lipid processing, and intracellular trafficking pathways underlying Alzheimer disease in African American individuals overlap with those observed in non-Hispanic White individuals. A new pathway emerging from these analyses is the kidney system, suggesting a novel mechanism for Alzheimer disease that needs further exploration. Conclusions and relevance: While the major pathways involved in Alzheimer disease etiology in African American individuals are similar to those in non-Hispanic White individuals, the disease-associated loci within these pathways differ.