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Browsing by Author "Kunkle, Brian W."
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Item A locus at 19q13.31 significantly reduces the ApoE ε4 risk for Alzheimer's Disease in African Ancestry(Public Library of Science, 2022-07-05) Rajabli, Farid; Beecham, Gary W.; Hendrie, Hugh C.; Baiyewu, Olusegun; Ogunniyi, Adesola; Gao, Sujuan; Kushch, Nicholas A.; Lipkin-Vasquez, Marina; Hamilton-Nelson, Kara L.; Young, Juan I.; Dykxhoorn, Derek M.; Nuytemans, Karen; Kunkle, Brian W.; Wang, Liyong; Jin, Fulai; Liu, Xiaoxiao; Feliciano-Astacio, Briseida E.; Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project; Alzheimer’s Disease Genetic Consortium; Schellenberg, Gerard D.; Dalgard, Clifton L.; Griswold, Anthony J.; Byrd, Goldie S.; Reitz, Christiane; Cuccaro, Michael L.; Haines, Jonathan L.; Pericak-Vance, Margaret A.; Vance, Jeffery M.; Psychiatry, School of MedicineAfrican descent populations have a lower Alzheimer disease risk from ApoE ε4 compared to other populations. Ancestry analysis showed that the difference in risk between African and European populations lies in the ancestral genomic background surrounding the ApoE locus (local ancestry). Identifying the mechanism(s) of this protection could lead to greater insight into the etiology of Alzheimer disease and more personalized therapeutic intervention. Our objective is to follow up the local ancestry finding and identify the genetic variants that drive this risk difference and result in a lower risk for developing Alzheimer disease in African ancestry populations. We performed association analyses using a logistic regression model with the ApoE ε4 allele as an interaction term and adjusted for genome-wide ancestry, age, and sex. Discovery analysis included imputed SNP data of 1,850 Alzheimer disease and 4,331 cognitively intact African American individuals. We performed replication analyses on 63 whole genome sequenced Alzheimer disease and 648 cognitively intact Ibadan individuals. Additionally, we reproduced results using whole-genome sequencing of 273 Alzheimer disease and 275 cognitively intact admixed Puerto Rican individuals. A further comparison was done with SNP imputation from an additional 8,463 Alzheimer disease and 11,365 cognitively intact non-Hispanic White individuals. We identified a significant interaction between the ApoE ε4 allele and the SNP rs10423769_A allele, (β = -0.54,SE = 0.12,p-value = 7.50x10-6) in the discovery data set, and replicated this finding in Ibadan (β = -1.32,SE = 0.52,p-value = 1.15x10-2) and Puerto Rican (β = -1.27,SE = 0.64,p-value = 4.91x10-2) individuals. The non-Hispanic Whites analyses showed an interaction trending in the "protective" direction but failing to pass a 0.05 significance threshold (β = -1.51,SE = 0.84,p-value = 7.26x10-2). The presence of the rs10423769_A allele reduces the odds ratio for Alzheimer disease risk from 7.2 for ApoE ε4/ε4 carriers lacking the A allele to 2.1 for ApoE ε4/ε4 carriers with at least one A allele. This locus is located approximately 2 mB upstream of the ApoE locus, in a large cluster of pregnancy specific beta-1 glycoproteins on chromosome 19 and lies within a long noncoding RNA, ENSG00000282943. This study identified a new African-ancestry specific locus that reduces the risk effect of ApoE ε4 for developing Alzheimer disease. The mechanism of the interaction with ApoEε4 is not known but suggests a novel mechanism for reducing the risk for ε4 carriers opening the possibility for potential ancestry-specific therapeutic intervention.Item Associations of Sex, Race, and Apolipoprotein E Alleles With Multiple Domains of Cognition Among Older Adults(American Medical Association, 2023) Walters, Skylar; Contreras, Alex G.; Eissman, Jaclyn M.; Mukherjee, Shubhabrata; Lee, Michael L.; Choi, Seo-Eun; Scollard, Phoebe; Trittschuh, Emily H.; Mez, Jesse B.; Bush, William S.; Kunkle, Brian W.; Naj, Adam C.; Peterson, Amalia; Gifford, Katherine A.; Cuccaro, Michael L.; Cruchaga, Carlos; Pericak-Vance, Margaret A.; Farrer, Lindsay A.; Wang, Li-San; Haines, Jonathan L.; Jefferson, Angela L.; Kukull, Walter A.; Keene, C. Dirk; Saykin, Andrew J.; Thompson, Paul M.; Martin, Eden R.; Bennett, David A.; Barnes, Lisa L.; Schneider, Julie A.; Crane, Paul K.; Hohman, Timothy J.; Dumitrescu, Logan; Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative; Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium; Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of MedicineImportance: Sex differences are established in associations between apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 and cognitive impairment in Alzheimer disease (AD). However, it is unclear whether sex-specific cognitive consequences of APOE are consistent across races and extend to the APOE ε2 allele. Objective: To investigate whether sex and race modify APOE ε4 and ε2 associations with cognition. Design, setting, and participants: This genetic association study included longitudinal cognitive data from 4 AD and cognitive aging cohorts. Participants were older than 60 years and self-identified as non-Hispanic White or non-Hispanic Black (hereafter, White and Black). Data were previously collected across multiple US locations from 1994 to 2018. Secondary analyses began December 2021 and ended September 2022. Main outcomes and measures: Harmonized composite scores for memory, executive function, and language were generated using psychometric approaches. Linear regression assessed interactions between APOE ε4 or APOE ε2 and sex on baseline cognitive scores, while linear mixed-effect models assessed interactions on cognitive trajectories. The intersectional effect of race was modeled using an APOE × sex × race interaction term, assessing whether APOE × sex interactions differed by race. Models were adjusted for age at baseline and corrected for multiple comparisons. Results: Of 32 427 participants who met inclusion criteria, there were 19 007 females (59%), 4453 Black individuals (14%), and 27 974 White individuals (86%); the mean (SD) age at baseline was 74 years (7.9). At baseline, 6048 individuals (19%) had AD, 4398 (14%) were APOE ε2 carriers, and 12 538 (38%) were APOE ε4 carriers. Participants missing APOE status were excluded (n = 9266). For APOE ε4, a robust sex interaction was observed on baseline memory (β = -0.071, SE = 0.014; P = 9.6 × 10-7), whereby the APOE ε4 negative effect was stronger in females compared with males and did not significantly differ among races. Contrastingly, despite the large sample size, no APOE ε2 × sex interactions on cognition were observed among all participants. When testing for intersectional effects of sex, APOE ε2, and race, an interaction was revealed on baseline executive function among individuals who were cognitively unimpaired (β = -0.165, SE = 0.066; P = .01), whereby the APOE ε2 protective effect was female-specific among White individuals but male-specific among Black individuals. Conclusions and relevance: In this study, while race did not modify sex differences in APOE ε4, the APOE ε2 protective effect could vary by race and sex. Although female sex enhanced ε4-associated risk, there was no comparable sex difference in ε2, suggesting biological pathways underlying ε4-associated risk are distinct from ε2 and likely intersect with age-related changes in sex biology.Item 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, School of MedicineIntroduction: 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.Item Genetic meta-analysis of diagnosed Alzheimer's disease identifies new risk loci and implicates Aβ, tau, immunity and lipid processing(Springer Nature, 2019-03) Kunkle, Brian W.; Grenier-Boley, Benjamin; Sims, Rebecca; Bis, Joshua C.; Damotte, Vincent; Naj, Adam C.; Boland, Anne; Vronskaya, Maria; van der Lee, Sven J.; Amlie-Wolf, Alexandre; Bellenguez, Céline; Frizatti, Aura; Chouraki, Vincent; Martin, Eden R.; Sleegers, Kristel; Badarinarayan, Nandini; Jakobsdottir, Johanna; Hamilton-Nelson, Kara L.; Moreno-Grau, Sonia; Olaso, Robert; Raybould, Rachel; Chen, Yuning; Kuzma, Amanda B.; Hiltunen, Mikko; Morgan, Taniesha; Ahmad, Shahzad; Vardarajan, Badri N.; Epelbaum, Jacques; Hoffmann, Per; Boada, Merce; Beecham, Gary W.; Garnier, Jean-Guillaume; Harold, Denise; Fitzpatrick, Annette L.; Valladares, Otto; Moutet, Marie-Laure; Gerrish, Amy; Smith, Albert V.; Qu, Liming; Bacq, Delphine; Denning, Nicola; Jian, Xueqiu; Zhao, Yi; Del Zompo, Maria; Fox, Nick C.; Choi, Seung-Hoan; Mateo, Ignacio; Hughes, Joseph T.; Adams, Hieab H.; Malamon, John; Sanchez-Garcia, Florentino; Patel, Yogen; Brody, Jennifer A.; Dombroski, Beth A.; Deniz Naranjo, Maria Candida; Daniilidou, Makrina; Eiriksdottir, Gudny; Mukherjee, Shubhabrata; Wallon, David; Uphill, James; Aspelund, Thor; Cantwell, Laura B.; Garzia, Fabienne; Galimberti, Daniela; Hofer, Edith; Butkiewicz, Mariusz; Fin, Bertrand; Scarpini, Elio; Sarnowski, Chloe; Bush, Will S.; Meslage, Stéphane; Kornhuber, Johannes; White, Charles C.; Song, Yuenjoo; Barber, Robert C.; Engelborghs, Sebastiaan; Sordon, Sabrina; Voijnovic, Dina; Adams, Perrie M.; Vandenberghe, Rik; Mayhaus, Manuel; Cupples, L. Adrienne; Albert, Marilyn S.; De Deyn, Peter P.; Gu, Wei; Himali, Jayanadra J.; Beekly, Duane; Squassina, Alessio; Hartmann, Annette M.; Orellana, Adelina; Blacker, Deborah; Rodriguez-Rodriguez, Eloy; Lovestone, Simon; Garcia, Melissa E.; Doody, Rachelle S.; Munoz-Fernadez, Carmen; Sussams, Rebecca; Lin, Honghuang; Fairchild, Thomas J.; Benit, Yolanda A.; Holmes, Clive; Karamujić-Čomić, Hata; Frosch, Matthew P.; Thonberg, Hakan; Maier, Wolfgang; Roshchupkin, Gennady; Ghetti, Bernardino; Giedraitis, Vilmantas; Kawalia, Amit; Li, Shuo; Huebinger, Ryan M.; Kilander, Lena; Moebus, Susanne; Hernández, Isabel; Kamboh, M. Ilyas; Brundin, RoseMarie; Turton, James; Yang, Qiong; Katz, Mindy J.; Concari, Letizia; Lord, Jenny; Beiser, Alexa S.; Keene, C. Dirk; Helisalmi, Seppo; Kloszewska, Iwona; Kukull, Walter A.; Koivisto, Anne Maria; Lynch, Aoibhinn; Tarraga, Lluís; Larson, Eric B.; Haapasalo, Annakaisa; Lawlor, Brian; Mosley, Thomas H.; Lipton, Richard B.; Solfrizzi, Vincenzo; Gill, Michael; Longstreth, W. T., Jr.; Montine, Thomas J.; Frisardi, Vincenza; Diez-Fairen, Monica; Rivadeneira, Fernando; Petersen, Ronald C.; Deramecourt, Vincent; Alvarez, Ignacio; Salani, Francesca; Ciaramella, Antonio; Boerwinkle, Eric; Reiman, Eric M.; Fievet, Nathalie; Rotter, Jerome I.; Reisch, Joan S.; Hanon, Olivier; Cupidi, Chiara; Uitterlinden, A. G. Andre; Royall, Donald R.; Dufouil, Carole; Maletta, Raffaele Giovanni; de Rojas, Itziar; Sano, Mary; Brice, Alexis; Cecchetti, Roberta; St. George-Hyslop, Peter; Ritchie, Karen; Tsolaki, Magda; Tsuang, Debby W.; Dubois, Bruno; Craig, David; Wu, Chuang-Kuo; Soininen, Hilkka; Avramidou, Despoina; Albin, Roger L.; Fratiglioni, Laura; Germanou, Antonia; Apostolova, Liana G.; Keller, Lina; Koutroumani, Maria; Arnold, Steven E.; Panza, Francesco; Gkatzima, Olymbia; Asthana, Sanjay; Hannequin, Didier; Whitehead, Patrice; Atwood, Craig S.; Caffarra, Paolo; Hampel, Harald; Quintela, Inés; Carracedo, Ángel; Lannfelt, Lars; Rubinsztein, David C.; Barnes, Lisa L.; Pasquier, Florence; Frölich, Lutz; Barral, Sandra; McGuinness, Bernadette; Beach, Thomas G .; Johnston, Janet A.; Becker, James T.; Passmore, Peter; Bigio, Eileen H.; Schott, Jonathan M.; Bird, Thomas D.; Warren, Jason D.; Boeve, Bradley F.; Lupton, Michelle K.; Bowen, James D.; Proitsi, Petra; Boxer, Adam; Powell, John F.; Burke, James R.; Kauwe, John S.K.; Burns, Jeffrey M.; Mancuso, Michelangelo; Buxbaum, Joseph D.; Bonuccelli, Ubaldo; Cairns, Nigel J.; McQuillin, Andrew; Cao, Chuanhai; Livingston, Gill; Carlson, Chris S.; Bass, Nicholas J.; Carlsson, Cynthia M.; Hardy, John; Carney, Regina M.; Bras, Jose; Carrasquillo, Minerva M.; Guerreiro, Rita; Allen, Mariet; Chui, Helena C.; Fisher, Elizabeth; Masullo, Carlo; Crocco, Elizabeth A.; DeCarli, Charles; Bisceglio, Gina; Dick, Malcolm; Ma, Li; Duara, Ranjan; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Evans, Denis A.; Hodges, Angela; Faber, Kelley M.; Scherer, Martin; Fallon, Kenneth B.; Riemenschneider, Matthias; Fardo, David W.; Heun, Reinhard; Farlow, Martin R.; Kölsch, Heike; Ferris, Steven; Leber, Markus; Foroud, Tatiana M.; Heuser, Isabella; Galasko, Douglas R.; Giegling, Ina; Gearing, Marla; Hüll, Michael; Geschwind, Daniel H.; Gilbert, John R.; Morris, John; Green, Robert C.; Mayo, Kevin; Growdon, John H.; Feulner, Thomas; Hamilton, Ronald L.; Harrell, Lindy E.; Drichel, Dmitriy; Honig, Lawrence S.; Cushion, Thomas D.; Huentelman, Matthew J.; Hollingworth, Paul; Hulette, Christine M.; Hyman, Bradley T.; Marshall, Rachel; Jarvik, Gail P.; Meggy, Alun; Abner, Erin; Menzies, Georgina E.; Jin, Lee-Way; Leonenko, Ganna; Real, Luis M.; Jun, Gyungah R.; Baldwin, Clinton T.; Grozeva, Detelina; Karydas, Anna; Russo, Giancarlo; Kaye, Jeffrey A.; Kim, Ronald; Jessen, Frank; Kowall, Neil W.; Vellas, Bruno; Kramer, Joel H.; Vardy, Emma; LaFerla, Frank M.; Jöckel, Karl-Heinz; Lah, James J.; Dichgans, Martin; Leverenz, James B.; Mann, David; Levey, Allan I.; Pickering-Brown, Stuart; Lieberman, Andrew P.; Klopp, Norman; Lunetta, Kathryn L.; Wichmann, H-Erich; Lyketsos, Constantine G.; Morgan, Kevin; Marson, Daniel C.; Brown, Kristelle; Martiniuk, Frank; Medway, Christopher; Mash, Deborah C.; Nöthen, Markus M.; Masliah, Eliezer; Hooper, Nigel M.; McCormick, Wayne C.; Daniele, Antonio; McCurry, Susan M.; Bayer, Anthony; McDavid, Andrew N.; Gallacher, John; McKee, Ann C.; van den Bussche, Hendrik; Mesulam, Marsel; Brayne, Carol; Miller, Bruce L.; Riedel-Heller, Steffi; Miller, Carol A.; Miller, Joshua W.; Al-Chalabi, Ammar; Morris, John C.; Shaw, Christopher E.; Myers, Amanda J.; Wiltfang, Jens; O'Bryant, Sid; Olichney, John M.; Alvarez, Victoria; Parisi, Joseph E.; Singleton, Andrew B.; Paulson, Henry L.; Collinge, John; Perry, William R.; Mead, Simon; Peskind, Elaine; Cribbs, David H.; Rossor, Martin; Pierce, Aimee; Ryan, Natalie S.; Poon, Wayne W.; Nacmias, Benedetta; Potter, Huntington; Sorbi, Sandro; Quinn, Joseph F.; Sacchinelli, Eleonora; Raj, Ashok; Spalletta, Gianfranco; Raskind, Murray; Caltagirone, Carlo; Bossù, Paola; Orfei, Maria Donata; Reisberg, Barry; Clarke, Robert; Reitz, Christiane; Smith, A. David; Ringman, John M.; Warden, Donald; Roberson, Erik D.; Wilcock, Gordon; Rogaeva, Ekaterina; Bruni, Amalia Cecilia; Rosen, Howard J.; Gallo, Maura; Rosenberg, R.N.; Ben-Shlomo, Yoav; Sager, Mark A.; Mecocci, Patrizia; Saykin, Andrew J.; Pastor, Pau; Cuccaro, Michael L.; Vance, Jeffery M.; Schneider, Julie A.; Schneider, Lori S.; Slifer, Susan; Seeley, William W.; Smith, Amanda G.; Sonnen, Joshua A.; Spina, Salvatore; Stern, Robert A.; Swerdlow, Russell H.; Tang, Mitchell; Tanzi, Rudolph E.; Trojanowski, John Q.; Troncoso, Juan C.; Van Deerlin, Vivianna M.; Van Eldik, Linda J.; Vinters, Harry V.; Vonsattel, Jean Paul; Weintraub, Sandra; Welsh-Bohmer, Kathleen A.; Wilhelmsen, Kirk C.; Williamson, Jennifer; Wingo, Thomas S.; Woltjer, Randall L.; Wright, Clinton B.; Yu, Chang-En; Yu, Lei; Saba, Yasaman; Pilotto, Alberto; Bullido, Maria J.; Peters, Oliver; Crane, Paul K.; Bennett, David; Bosco, Paola; Coto, Eliecer; Boccardi, Virginia; De Jager, Phil L.; Lleo, Alberto; Warner, Nick; Lopez, Oscar L.; Ingelsson, Martin; Deloukas, Panagiotis; Cruchaga, Carlos; Graff, Caroline; Gwilliam, Rhian; Fornage, Myriam; Goate, Alison M.; Sanchez-Juan, Pascual; Kehoe, Patrick G.; Amin, Najaf; Ertekin-Taner, Nilifur; Berr, Claudine; Debette, Stéphanie; Love, Seth; Launer, Lenore J.; Younkin, Steven G.; Dartigues, Jean-Francois; Corcoran, Chris; Ikram, M. Arfan; Dickson, Dennis W.; Nicolas, Gael; Campion, Dominique; Tschanz, JoAnn; Schmidt, Helena; Hakonarson, Hakon; Clarimon, Jordi; Munger, Ron; Schmidt, Reinhold; Farrer, Lindsay A.; Van Broeckhoven, Christine; O'Donovan, Michael C.; DeStefano, Anita L.; Jones, Lesley; Haines, Jonathan L.; Deleuze, Jean-Francois; Owen, Michael J.; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Mayeux, Richard; Escott-Price, Valentina; Psaty, Bruce M.; Ramirez, Alfredo; Wang, Li-San; Ruiz, Agustin; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; Holmans, Peter A.; Seshadri, Sudha; Williams, Julie; Amouyel, Phillippe; Schellenberg, Gerard D.; Lambert, Jean-Charles; Pericak-Vance, Margaret A.; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of MedicineRisk for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD), the most prevalent dementia, is partially driven by genetics. To identify LOAD risk loci, we performed a large genome-wide association meta-analysis of clinically diagnosed LOAD (94,437 individuals). We confirm 20 previous LOAD risk loci and identify five new genome-wide loci (IQCK, ACE, ADAM10, ADAMTS1, and WWOX), two of which (ADAM10, ACE) were identified in a recent genome-wide association (GWAS)-by-familial-proxy of Alzheimer's or dementia. Fine-mapping of the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region confirms the neurological and immune-mediated disease haplotype HLA-DR15 as a risk factor for LOAD. Pathway analysis implicates immunity, lipid metabolism, tau binding proteins, and amyloid precursor protein (APP) metabolism, showing that genetic variants affecting APP and Aβ processing are associated not only with early-onset autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease but also with LOAD. Analyses of risk genes and pathways show enrichment for rare variants (P = 1.32 × 10-7), indicating that additional rare variants remain to be identified. We also identify important genetic correlations between LOAD and traits such as family history of dementia and education.Item Genome-wide linkage analyses of non-Hispanic white families identify novel loci for familial late-onset Alzheimer's disease(Elsevier, 2016-01) Kunkle, Brian W.; Jaworski, James; Barral, Sandra; Vardarajan, Badri; Beecham, Gary W.; Martin, Eden R.; Cantwell, Laura S.; Partch, Amanda; Bird, Thomas D.; Raskind, Wendy H.; DeStefano, Anita L.; Carney, Regina M.; Cuccaro, Michael; Vance, Jeffrey M.; Farrer, Lindsay A.; Goate, Alison M.; Foroud, Tatiana; Mayeux, Richard P.; Schellenberg, Gerard D.; Haines, Jonathan L.; Pericak-Vance, Margaret A.; Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics, IU School of MedicineINTRODUCTION: Few high penetrance variants that explain risk in late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) families have been found. METHODS: We performed genome-wide linkage and identity-by-descent (IBD) analyses on 41 non-Hispanic white families exhibiting likely dominant inheritance of LOAD, and having no mutations at known familial Alzheimer's disease (AD) loci, and a low burden of APOE ε4 alleles. RESULTS: Two-point parametric linkage analysis identified 14 significantly linked regions, including three novel linkage regions for LOAD (5q32, 11q12.2-11q14.1, and 14q13.3), one of which replicates a genome-wide association LOAD locus, the MS4A6A-MS4A4E gene cluster at 11q12.2. Five of the 14 regions (3q25.31, 4q34.1, 8q22.3, 11q12.2-14.1, and 19q13.41) are supported by strong multipoint results (logarithm of odds [LOD*] ≥1.5). Nonparametric multipoint analyses produced an additional significant locus at 14q32.2 (LOD* = 4.18). The 1-LOD confidence interval for this region contains one gene, C14orf177, and the microRNA Mir_320, whereas IBD analyses implicates an additional gene BCL11B, a regulator of brain-derived neurotrophic signaling, a pathway associated with pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases. DISCUSSION: Examination of these regions after whole-genome sequencing may identify highly penetrant variants for familial LOAD.Item Longitudinal change in memory performance as a strong endophenotype for Alzheimer's disease(Wiley, 2024) Archer, Derek B.; Eissman, Jaclyn M.; Mukherjee, Shubhabrata; Lee, Michael L.; Choi, Seo-Eun; Scollard, Phoebe; Trittschuh, Emily H.; Mez, Jesse B.; Bush, William S.; Kunkle, Brian W.; Naj, Adam C.; Gifford, Katherine A.; Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI); Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC); Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP); Cuccaro, Michael L.; Pericak-Vance, Margaret A.; Farrer, Lindsay A.; Wang, Li-San; Schellenberg, Gerard D.; Mayeux, Richard P.; Haines, Jonathan L.; Jefferson, Angela L.; Kukull, Walter A.; Keene, C. Dirk; Saykin, Andrew J.; Thompson, Paul M.; Martin, Eden R.; Bennett, David A.; Barnes, Lisa L.; Schneider, Julie A.; Crane, Paul K.; Dumitrescu, Logan; Hohman, Timothy J.; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of MedicineIntroduction: Although large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been conducted on AD, few have been conducted on continuous measures of memory performance and memory decline. Methods: We conducted a cross-ancestry GWAS on memory performance (in 27,633 participants) and memory decline (in 22,365 participants; 129,201 observations) by leveraging harmonized cognitive data from four aging cohorts. Results: We found high heritability for two ancestry backgrounds. Further, we found a novel ancestry locus for memory decline on chromosome 4 (rs6848524) and three loci in the non-Hispanic Black ancestry group for memory performance on chromosomes 2 (rs111471504), 7 (rs4142249), and 15 (rs74381744). In our gene-level analysis, we found novel genes for memory decline on chromosomes 1 (SLC25A44), 11 (BSX), and 15 (DPP8). Memory performance and memory decline shared genetic architecture with AD-related traits, neuropsychiatric traits, and autoimmune traits. Discussion: We discovered several novel loci, genes, and genetic correlations associated with late-life memory performance and decline. Highlights: Late-life memory has high heritability that is similar across ancestries. We discovered four novel variants associated with late-life memory. We identified four novel genes associated with late-life memory. Late-life memory shares genetic architecture with psychiatric/autoimmune traits.Item New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias(Springer Nature, 2022) Bellenguez, Céline; Küçükali, Fahri; Jansen, Iris E.; Kleineidam, Luca; Moreno-Grau, Sonia; Amin, Najaf; Naj, Adam C.; Campos-Martin, Rafael; Grenier-Boley, Benjamin; Andrade, Victor; Holmans, Peter A.; Boland, Anne; Damotte, Vincent; van der Lee, Sven J.; Costa, Marcos R.; Kuulasmaa, Teemu; Yang, Qiong; de Rojas, Itziar; Bis, Joshua C.; Yaqub, Amber; Prokic, Ivana; Chapuis, Julien; Ahmad, Shahzad; Giedraitis, Vilmantas; Aarsland, Dag; Garcia-Gonzalez, Pablo; Abdelnour, Carla; Alarcón-Martín, Emilio; Alcolea, Daniel; Alegret, Montserrat; Alvarez, Ignacio; Álvarez, Victoria; Armstrong, Nicola J.; Tsolaki, Anthoula; Antúnez, Carmen; Appollonio, Ildebrando; Arcaro, Marina; Archetti, Silvana; Arias Pastor, Alfonso; Arosio, Beatrice; Athanasiu, Lavinia; Bailly, Henri; Banaj, Nerisa; Baquero, Miquel; Barral, Sandra; Beiser, Alexa; Belén Pastor, Ana; Below, Jennifer E.; Benchek, Penelope; Benussi, Luisa; Berr, Claudine; Besse, Céline; Bessi, Valentina; Binetti, Giuliano; Bizarro, Alessandra; Blesa, Rafael; Boada, Mercè; Boerwinkle, Eric; Borroni, Barbara; Boschi, Silvia; Bossù, Paola; Bråthen, Geir; Bressler, Jan; Bresner, Catherine; Brodaty, Henry; Brookes, Keeley J.; Brusco, Luis Ignacio; Buiza-Rueda, Dolores; Bûrger, Katharina; Burholt, Vanessa; Bush, William S.; Calero, Miguel; Cantwell, Laura B.; Chene, Geneviève; Chung, Jaeyoon; Cuccaro, Michael L.; Carracedo, Ángel; Cecchetti, Roberta; Cervera-Carles, Laura; Charbonnier, Camille; Chen, Hung-Hsin; Chillotti, Caterina; Ciccone, Simona; Claassen, Jurgen A. H. R.; Clark, Christopher; Conti, Elisa; Corma-Gómez, Anaïs; Costantini, Emanuele; Custodero, Carlo; Daian, Delphine; Dalmasso, Maria Carolina; Daniele, Antonio; Dardiotis, Efthimios; Dartigues, Jean-François; de Deyn, Peter Paul; de Paiva Lopes, Katia; de Witte, Lot D.; Debette, Stéphanie; Deckert, Jürgen; Del Ser, Teodoro; Denning, Nicola; DeStefano, Anita; Dichgans, Martin; Diehl-Schmid, Janine; Diez-Fairen, Mónica; Dionigi Rossi, Paolo; Djurovic, Srdjan; Duron, Emmanuelle; Düzel, Emrah; Dufouil, Carole; Eiriksdottir, Gudny; Engelborghs, Sebastiaan; Escott-Price, Valentina; Espinosa, Ana; Ewers, Michael; Faber, Kelley M.; Fabrizio, Tagliavini; Fallgaard Nielsen, Sune; Fardo, David W.; Farotti, Lucia; Fenoglio, Chiara; Fernández-Fuertes, Marta; Ferrari, Raffaele; Ferreira, Catarina B.; Ferri, Evelyn; Fin, Bertrand; Fischer, Peter; Fladby, Tormod; Fließbach, Klaus; Fongang, Bernard; Fornage, Myriam; Fortea, Juan; Foroud, Tatiana M.; Fostinelli, Silvia; Fox, Nick C.; Franco-Macías, Emlio; Bullido, María J.; Frank-García, Ana; Froelich, Lutz; Fulton-Howard, Brian; Galimberti, Daniela; García-Alberca, Jose Maria; García-González, Pablo; Garcia-Madrona, Sebastian; Garcia-Ribas, Guillermo; Ghidoni, Roberta; Giegling, Ina; Giorgio, Giaccone; Goate, Alison M.; Goldhardt, Oliver; Gomez-Fonseca, Duber; González-Pérez, Antonio; Graff, Caroline; Grande, Giulia; Green, Emma; Grimmer, Timo; Grünblatt, Edna; Grunin, Michelle; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Guetta-Baranes, Tamar; Haapasalo, Annakaisa; Hadjigeorgiou, Georgios; Haines, Jonathan L.; Hamilton-Nelson, Kara L.; Hampel, Harald; Hanon, Olivier; Hardy, John; Hartmann, Annette M.; Hausner, Lucrezia; Harwood, Janet; Heilmann-Heimbach, Stefanie; Helisalmi, Seppo; Heneka, Michael T.; Hernández, Isabel; Herrmann, Martin J.; Hoffmann, Per; Holmes, Clive; Holstege, Henne; Huerto Vilas, Raquel; Hulsman, Marc; Humphrey, Jack; Jan Biessels, Geert; Jian, Xueqiu; Johansson, Charlotte; Jun, Gyungah R.; Kastumata, Yuriko; Kauwe, John; Kehoe, Patrick G.; Kilander, Lena; Kinhult Ståhlbom, Anne; Kivipelto, Miia; Koivisto, Anne; Kornhuber, Johannes; Kosmidis, Mary H.; Kukull, Walter A.; Kuksa, Pavel P.; Kunkle, Brian W.; Kuzma, Amanda B.; Lage, Carmen; Laukka, Erika J.; Launer, Lenore; Lauria, Alessandra; Lee, Chien-Yueh; Lehtisalo, Jenni; Lerch, Ondrej; Lleó, Alberto; Longstreth, William, Jr.; Lopez, Oscar; Lopez de Munain, Adolfo; Love, Seth; Löwemark, Malin; Luckcuck, Lauren; Lunetta, Kathryn L.; Ma, Yiyi; Macías, Juan; MacLeod, Catherine A.; Maier, Wolfgang; Mangialasche, Francesca; Spallazzi, Marco; Marquié, Marta; Marshall, Rachel; Martin, Eden R.; Martín Montes, Angel; Martínez Rodríguez, Carmen; Masullo, Carlo; Mayeux, Richard; Mead, Simon; Mecocci, Patrizia; Medina, Miguel; Meggy, Alun; Mehrabian, Shima; Mendoza, Silvia; Menéndez-González, Manuel; Mir, Pablo; Moebus, Susanne; Mol, Merel; Molina-Porcel, Laura; Montrreal, Laura; Morelli, Laura; Moreno, Fermin; Morgan, Kevin; Mosley, Thomas; Nöthen, Markus M.; Muchnik, Carolina; Mukherjee, Shubhabrata; Nacmias, Benedetta; Ngandu, Tiia; Nicolas, Gael; Nordestgaard, Børge G.; Olaso, Robert; Orellana, Adelina; Orsini, Michela; Ortega, Gemma; Padovani, Alessandro; Paolo, Caffarra; Papenberg, Goran; Parnetti, Lucilla; Pasquier, Florence; Pastor, Pau; Peloso, Gina; Pérez-Cordón, Alba; Pérez-Tur, Jordi; Pericard, Pierre; Peters, Oliver; Pijnenburg, Yolande A. L.; Pineda, Juan A.; Piñol-Ripoll, Gerard; Pisanu, Claudia; Polak, Thomas; Popp, Julius; Posthuma, Danielle; Priller, Josef; Puerta, Raquel; Quenez, Olivier; Quintela, Inés; Qvist Thomassen, Jesper; Rábano, Alberto; Rainero, Innocenzo; Rajabli, Farid; Ramakers, Inez; Real, Luis M.; Reinders, Marcel J. T.; Reitz, Christiane; Reyes-Dumeyer, Dolly; Ridge, Perry; Riedel-Heller, Steffi; Riederer, Peter; Roberto, Natalia; Rodriguez-Rodriguez, Eloy; Rongve, Arvid; Rosas Allende, Irene; Rosende-Roca, Maitée; Royo, Jose Luis; Rubino, Elisa; Rujescu, Dan; Sáez, María Eugenia; Sakka, Paraskevi; Saltvedt, Ingvild; Sanabria, Ángela; Sánchez-Arjona, María Bernal; Sanchez-Garcia, Florentino; Sánchez Juan, Pascual; Sánchez-Valle, Raquel; Sando, Sigrid B.; Sarnowski, Chloé; Satizabal, Claudia L.; Scamosci, Michela; Scarmeas, Nikolaos; Scarpini, Elio; Scheltens, Philip; Scherbaum, Norbert; Scherer, Martin; Schmid, Matthias; Schneider, Anja; Schott, Jonathan M.; Selbæk, Geir; Seripa, Davide; Serrano, Manuel; Sha, Jin; Shadrin, Alexey A.; Skrobot, Olivia; Slifer, Susan; Snijders, Gijsje J. L.; Soininen, Hilkka; Solfrizzi, Vincenzo; Solomon, Alina; Song, Yeunjoo; Sorbi, Sandro; Sotolongo-Grau, Oscar; Spalletta, Gianfranco; Spottke, Annika; Squassina, Alessio; Stordal, Eystein; Tartan, Juan Pablo; Tárraga, Lluís; Tesí, Niccolo; Thalamuthu, Anbupalam; Thomas, Tegos; Tosto, Giuseppe; Traykov, Latchezar; Tremolizzo, Lucio; Tybjærg-Hansen, Anne; Uitterlinden, Andre; Ullgren, Abbe; Ulstein, Ingun; Valero, Sergi; Valladares, Otto; Van Broeckhoven, Christine; Vance, Jeffery; Vardarajan, Badri N.; van der Lugt, Aad; Van Dongen, Jasper; van Rooij, Jeroen; van Swieten, John; Vandenberghe, Rik; Verhey, Frans; Vidal, Jean-Sébastien; Vogelgsang, Jonathan; Vyhnalek, Martin; Wagner, Michael; Wallon, David; Wang, Li-San; Wang, Ruiqi; Weinhold, Leonie; Wiltfang, Jens; Windle, Gill; Woods, Bob; Yannakoulia, Mary; Zare, Habil; Zhao, Yi; Zhang, Xiaoling; Zhu, Congcong; Zulaica, Miren; EADB; GR@ACE; DEGESCO; EADI; GERAD; Demgene; FinnGen; ADGC; CHARGE; Farrer, Lindsay A.; Psaty, Bruce M.; Ghanbari, Mohsen; Raj, Towfique; Sachdev, Perminder; Mather, Karen; Jessen, Frank; Ikram, M. Arfan; de Mendonça, Alexandre; Hort, Jakub; Tsolaki, Magda; Pericak-Vance, Margaret A.; Amouyel, Philippe; Williams, Julie; Frikke-Schmidt, Ruth; Clarimon, Jordi; Deleuze, Jean-François; Rossi, Giacomina; Seshadri, Sudha; Andreassen, Ole A.; Ingelsson, Martin; Hiltunen, Mikko; Sleegers, Kristel; Schellenberg, Gerard D.; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; Sims, Rebecca; van der Flier, Wiesje M.; Ruiz, Agustín; Ramirez, Alfredo; Lambert, Jean-Charles; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of MedicineCharacterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/‘proxy’ AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele.Item 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 MedicineImportance: 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.Item Sex-specific genetic architecture of late-life memory performance(Wiley, 2024) Eissman, Jaclyn M.; Archer, Derek B.; Mukherjee, Shubhabrata; Lee, Michael L.; Choi, Seo-Eun; Scollard, Phoebe; Trittschuh, Emily H.; Mez, Jesse B.; Bush, William S.; Kunkle, Brian W.; Naj, Adam C.; Gifford, Katherine A.; Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI); Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC); The Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP); Cuccaro, Michael L.; Cruchaga, Carlos; Pericak-Vance, Margaret A.; Farrer, Lindsay A.; Wang, Li-San; Schellenberg, Gerard D.; Mayeux, Richard P.; Haines, Jonathan L.; Jefferson, Angela L.; Kukull, Walter A.; Keene, C. Dirk; Saykin, Andrew J.; Thompson, Paul M.; Martin, Eden R.; Bennett, David A.; Barnes, Lisa L.; Schneider, Julie A.; Crane, Paul K.; Hohman, Timothy J.; Dumitrescu, Logan; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of MedicineBackground: Women demonstrate a memory advantage when cognitively healthy yet lose this advantage to men in Alzheimer's disease. However, the genetic underpinnings of this sex difference in memory performance remain unclear. Methods: We conducted the largest sex-aware genetic study on late-life memory to date (Nmales = 11,942; Nfemales = 15,641). Leveraging harmonized memory composite scores from four cohorts of cognitive aging and AD, we performed sex-stratified and sex-interaction genome-wide association studies in 24,216 non-Hispanic White and 3367 non-Hispanic Black participants. Results: We identified three sex-specific loci (rs67099044-CBLN2, rs719070-SCHIP1/IQCJ-SCHIP), including an X-chromosome locus (rs5935633-EGL6/TCEANC/OFD1), that associated with memory. Additionally, we identified heparan sulfate signaling as a sex-specific pathway and found sex-specific genetic correlations between memory and cardiovascular, immune, and education traits. Discussion: This study showed memory is highly and comparably heritable across sexes, as well as highlighted novel sex-specific genes, pathways, and genetic correlations that related to late-life memory. Highlights: Demonstrated the heritable component of late-life memory is similar across sexes. Identified two genetic loci with a sex-interaction with baseline memory. Identified an X-chromosome locus associated with memory decline in females. Highlighted sex-specific candidate genes and pathways associated with memory. Revealed sex-specific shared genetic architecture between memory and complex traits.Item Sex-specific genetic predictors of memory, executive function, and language performance(Wiley, 2022) Eissman, Jaclyn M.; Smith, Alexandra N.; Mukherjee, Shubhabrata; Lee, Michael L.; Choi, Seo-Eun; Scollard, Phoebe; Trittschuh, Emily H.; Mez, Jesse B.; Bush, William S.; Engelman, Corinne D.; Lu, Qiongshi; Fardo, David W.; Widaman, Keith F.; Buckley, Rachel F.; Mormino, Elizabeth C.; Kunkle, Brian W.; Naj, Adam C.; Clark, Lindsay R.; Gifford, Katherine A.; Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI); Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC); A4 Study Team; The Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP); Cuccaro, Michael L.; Cruchaga, Carlos; Pericak-Vance, Margaret A.; Farrer, Lindsay A.; Wang, Li-San; Schellenberg, Gerard D.; Haines, Jonathan L.; Jefferson, Angela L.; Johnson, Sterling C.; Kukull, Walter A.; Albert, Marilyn S.; Keene, C. Dirk; Saykin, Andrew J.; Larson, Eric B.; Sperling, Reisa A.; Mayeux, Richard; Thompson, Paul M.; Martin, Eden R.; Bennett, David A.; Barnes, Lisa L.; Schneider, Julie A.; Crane, Paul K.; Hohman, Timothy J.; Dumitrescu, Logan; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of MedicineBackground: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is more prevalent in women than men, and robust evidence shows sex differences in the biological response to the AD neuropathological cascade. However, there is a lack of large-scale genetic studies on sex-specific genetic predictors of AD-related cognitive outcomes. Thus, we sought to elucidate the sex-specific genetic etiology of memory, executive function, and language performance. Method: This study included six cohorts of cognitive aging (Nmales=7,267, Nfemales=9,518). We applied psychometric approaches to build harmonized memory, executive function, and language composite scores. Next, for all domains, we calculated slopes from the cognitive scores (two or more timepoints) with linear mixed effects models. Then we performed sex-stratified and sex-interaction GWAS on these phenotypes, covarying for baseline age and the first three genetic principal components. We meta-analyzed across cohorts with a fixed-effects model. Sensitivity analyses for all models restricted the sample to cognitively unimpaired individuals. Result: In addition to well-established associations with cognition at the APOE locus, we identified three genetic loci that showed sex-specific effects with cognition. A chromosome 16 locus (rs114106271), a splicing-quantitative trait locus for RP11-152O14.4 and LINC02180 in the testis (GTEx), associated with baseline memory performance in men (β=0.13, P=2.40×10-8; PInteraction=8.96×10-6; Figures 1-2) but not in women (β=-0.01, P=0.76). A chromosome 14 locus (rs34074573), an expression-quantitative trait locus (GTEx) for HOMEZ (a homeobox gene), and for BCL2L2 (a previously reported AD risk gene), associated with longitudinal memory performance in men (β=-0.01, P=4.15×10-8; PInteraction=5.83×10-7; Figures 3-4) but not in women (β=0.001, P=0.09). Finally, a chromosome 6 locus (rs9382966) associated with longitudinal language performance in men with near genome-wide significance (β=-0.004, P=6.29×10-8; PInteraction=2.01×10-4) but not in women (β=-0.0003, P=0.61). Conclusion: Our results highlight some key sex differences in the genetic architecture of cognitive outcomes. Findings further suggest that some sex-specific genetic predictors have domain-specific associations, providing an exciting opportunity to better understand the molecular basis of memory, executive function, and language through genomic analysis. Although our findings need to be replicated, our GWAS analyses highlight the contribution of sex-specific genetic predictors beyond the APOE locus in conferring risk for late-life cognitive decline.