Browsing by Author "Paternoster, Lavinia"

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    Genome-wide analysis identifies 12 loci influencing human reproductive behavior
    (Nature, 2016-10) Barban, Nicola; Jansen, Rick; de Vlaming, Ronald; Vaez, Ahmad; Mandemakers, Jornt J.; Tropf, Felix C.; Shen, Xia; Wilson, James F.; Chasman, Daniel I.; Nolte, Ilja M.; Tragante, Vinicius; van der Laan, Sander W.; Perry, John R. B.; Kong, Augustine; Ahluwalia, Tarunveer; Albrecht, Eva; Yerges-Armstrong, Laura; Atzmon, Gil; Auro, Kirsi; Ayers, Kristin; Bakshi, Andrew; Ben-Avraham, Danny; Berger, Klaus; Bergman, Aviv; Bertram, Lars; Bielak, Lawrence F.; Bjornsdottir, Gyda; Bonder, Marc Jan; Broer, Linda; Bui, Minh; Barbieri, Caterina; Cavadino, Alana; Chavarro, Jorge E; Turman, Constance; Concas, Maria Pina; Cordell, Heather J.; Davies, Gail; Eibich, Peter; Eriksson, Nicholas; Esko, Tõnu; Eriksson, Joel; Falahi, Fahimeh; Felix, Janine F.; Fontana, Mark Alan; Franke, Lude; Gandin, Ilaria; Gaskins, Audrey J.; Gieger, Christian; Gunderson, Erica P.; Guo, Xiuqing; Hayward, Caroline; He, Chunyan; Hofer, Edith; Huang, Hongyan; Joshi, Peter K.; Kanoni, Stavroula; Karlsson, Robert; Kiechl, Stefan; Kifley, Annette; Kluttig, Alexander; Kraft, Peter; Lagou, Vasiliki; Lecoeur, Cecile; Lahti, Jari; Li-Gao, Ruifang; Lind, Penelope A.; Liu, Tian; Makalic, Enes; Mamasoula, Crysovalanto; Matteson, Lindsay; Mbarek, Hamdi; McArdle, Patrick F.; McMahon, George; Meddens, S. Fleur W.; Mihailov, Evelin; Miller, Mike; Missmer, Stacey A.; Monnereau, Claire; van der Most, Peter J.; Myhre, Ronny; Nalls, Mike A.; Nutile, Teresa; Panagiota, Kalafati Ioanna; Porcu, Eleonora; Prokopenko, Inga; Rajan, Kumar B.; Rich-Edwards, Janet; Rietveld, Cornelius A.; Robino, Antonietta; Rose, Lynda M.; Rueedi, Rico; Ryan, Kathy; Saba, Yasaman; Schmidt, Daniel; Smith, Jennifer A.; Stolk, Lisette; Streeten, Elizabeth; Tonjes, Anke; Thorleifsson, Gudmar; Ulivi, Sheila; Wedenoja, Juho; Wellman, Juergen; Willeit, Peter; Yao, Jie; Yengo, Loic; Zhao, Jing Hua; Zhao, Wei; Zhernakova, Daria V.; Amin, Najaf; Andrews, Howard; Balkau, Beverly; Barzilai, Nir; Bergmann, Sven; Biino, Ginevra; Bisgaard, Hans; Bønnelykke, Klaus; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Buring, Julie E.; Campbell, Harry; Cappellani, Stefania; Ciullo, Marina; Cox, Simon R.; Cucca, Francesco; Daniela, Toniolo; Davey-Smith, George; Deary, Ian J.; Dedoussis, George; Deloukas, Panos; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; de Geus, Eco J. C.; Eriksson, Johan G.; Evans, Denis A.; Faul, Jessica D.; Felicita, Sala Cinzia; Froguel, Philippe; Gasparini, Paolo; Girotto, Giorgia; Grabe, Hans-Jörgen; Greiser, Karin Halina; Groenen, Patrick J. F.; de Haan, Hugoline G.; Haerting, Johannes; Harris, Tamara B.; Heath, Andrew C.; Heikkilä, Kauko; Hofman, Albert; Homuth, Georg; Holliday, Elizabeth G.; Hopper, John; Hypponen, Elina; Jacobsson, Bo; Jaddoe, Vincent W.; Johannesson, Magnus; Jugessur, Astanand; Kähönen, Mika; Kajantie, Eero; Kardia, Sharon L. R.; Keavney, Bernard; Kolcic, Ivana; Koponen, Päivikki; Kovacs, Peter; Kronenberg, Florian; Kutalik, Zoltan; La Bianca, Martina; Lachance, Genevieve; Iacono, William; Lai, Sandra; Lehtimäki, Terho; Liewald, David C.; Lindgren, Cecilia; Liu, Yongmei; Luben, Robert; Lucht, Michael; Luoto, Riitta; Magnus, Per; Magnusson, Patrik K. E.; Martin, Nicholas G.; McGue, Matt; McQuillan, Ruth; Medland, Sarah E.; Meisinger, Christa; Mellström, Dan; Metspalu, Andres; Michela, Traglia; Milani, Lili; Mitchell, Paul; Montgomery, Grant W.; Mook-Kanamori, Dennis; de Mutsert, Renée; Nohr, Ellen A.; Ohlsson, Claes; Olsen, Jørn; Ong, Ken K.; Paternoster, Lavinia; Pattie, Alison; Penninx, Brenda W. J. H.; Perola, Markus; Peyser, Patricia A.; Pirastu, Mario; Polasek, Ozren; Power, Chris; Kaprio, Jaakko; Raffel, Leslie J.; Räikkönen, Katri; Raitakari, Olli; Ridker, Paul M.; Ring, Susan M.; Roll, Kathryn; Rudan, Igor; Ruggiero, Daniela; Rujescu, Dan; Salomaa, Veikko; Schlessinger, David; Schmidt, Helena; Schmidt, Reinhold; Schupf, Nicole; Smit, Johannes; Sorice, Rossella; Spector, Tim D.; Starr, John M.; Stöckl, Doris; Strauch, Konstantin; Stumvoll, Michael; Swertz, Morris A.; Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur; Thurik, A. Roy; Timpson, Nicholas J.; Tönjes, Anke; Tung, Joyce Y.; Uitterlinden, André G.; Vaccargiu, Simona; Viikari, Jorma; Vitart, Veronique; Völzke, Henry; Vollenweider, Peter; Vuckovic, Dragana; Waage, Johannes; Wagner, Gert G.; Wang, Jie Jin; Wareham, Nicholas J.; Weir, David R.; Willemsen, Gonneke; Willeit, Johann; Wright, Alan F.; Zondervan, Krina T.; Stefannson, Kari; Krueger, Robert F.; Lee, James J.; Benjamin, Daniel J.; Cesarini, David; Koellinger, Philipp D.; den Hoed, Marcel; Snieder, Harold; Mills, Melinda C.; Department of Epidemiology, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
    The genetic architecture of human reproductive behavior—age at first birth (AFB) and number of children ever born (NEB)—has a strong relationship with fitness, human development, infertility and risk of neuropsychiatric disorders. However, very few genetic loci have been identified, and the underlying mechanisms of AFB and NEB are poorly understood. We report a large genome-wide association study of both sexes including 251,151 individuals for AFB and 343,072 individuals for NEB. We identified 12 independent loci that are significantly associated with AFB and/or NEB in a SNP-based genome-wide association study and 4 additional loci associated in a gene-based effort. These loci harbor genes that are likely to have a role, either directly or by affecting non-local gene expression, in human reproduction and infertility, thereby increasing understanding of these complex traits.
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    Genome-wide association study identifies 48 common genetic variants associated with handedness
    (Springer Nature, 2021) Cuellar-Partida, Gabriel; Tung, Joyce Y.; Eriksson, Nicholas; Albrecht, Eva; Aliev, Fazil; Andreassen, Ole A.; Barroso, Inês; Beckmann, Jacques S.; Boks, Marco P.; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Boyd, Heather A.; Breteler, Monique M. B.; Campbell, Harry; Chasman, Daniel I.; Cherkas, Lynn F.; Davies, Gail; de Geus, Eco J. C.; Deary, Ian J.; Deloukas, Panos; Dick, Danielle M.; Duffy, David L.; Eriksson, Johan G.; Esko, Tõnu; Feenstra, Bjarke; Geller, Frank; Gieger, Christian; Giegling, Ina; Gordon, Scott D.; Han, Jiali; Hansen, Thomas F.; Hartmann, Annette M.; Hayward, Caroline; Heikkilä, Kauko; Hicks, Andrew A.; Hirschhorn, Joel N.; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; Huffman, Jennifer E.; Hwang, Liang-Dar; Ikram, M. Arfan; Kaprio, Jaakko; Kemp, John P.; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Klopp, Norman; Konte, Bettina; Kutalik, Zoltan; Lahti, Jari; Li, Xin; Loos, Ruth J. F.; Luciano, Michelle; Magnusson, Sigurdur H.; Mangino, Massimo; Marques-Vidal, Pedro; Martin, Nicholas G.; McArdle, Wendy L.; McCarthy, Mark I.; Medina-Gomez, Carolina; Melbye, Mads; Melville, Scott A.; Metspalu, Andres; Milani, Lili; Mooser, Vincent; Nelis, Mari; Nyholt, Dale R.; O'Connell, Kevin S.; Ophoff, Roel A.; Palmer, Cameron; Palotie, Aarno; Palviainen, Teemu; Pare, Guillaume; Paternoster, Lavinia; Peltonen, Leena; Penninx, Brenda W. J. H.; Polasek, Ozren; Pramstaller, Peter P.; Prokopenko, Inga; Raikkonen, Katri; Ripatti, Samuli; Rivadeneira, Fernando; Rudan, Igor; Rujescu, Dan; Smit, Johannes H.; Smith, George Davey; Smoller, Jordan W.; Soranzo, Nicole; Spector, Tim D.; St. Pourcain, Beate; Starr, John M.; Stefánsson, Hreinn; Steinberg, Stacy; Teder-Laving, Maris; Thorleifsson, Gudmar; Stefánsson, Kári; Timpson, Nicholas J.; Uitterlinden, André G.; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; van Rooij, Frank J. A.; Vink, Jaqueline M.; Vollenweider, Peter; Vuoksimaa, Eero; Waeber, Gérard; Wareham, Nicholas J.; Warrington, Nicole; Waterworth, Dawn; Werge, Thomas; Wichmann, H-Erich; Widen, Elisabeth; Willemsen, Gonneke; Wright, Alan F.; Wright, Margaret J.; Xu, Mousheng; Zhao, Jing Hua; Kraft, Peter; Hinds, David A.; Lindgren, Cecilia M.; Mägi, Reedik; Neale, Benjamin M.; Evans, David M.; Medland, Sarah E.; Epidemiology, School of Public Health
    Handedness has been extensively studied because of its relationship with language and the over-representation of left-handers in some neurodevelopmental disorders. Using data from the UK Biobank, 23andMe and the International Handedness Consortium, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of handedness (N = 1,766,671). We found 41 loci associated (P < 5 × 10-8) with left-handedness and 7 associated with ambidexterity. Tissue-enrichment analysis implicated the CNS in the aetiology of handedness. Pathways including regulation of microtubules and brain morphology were also highlighted. We found suggestive positive genetic correlations between left-handedness and neuropsychiatric traits, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Furthermore, the genetic correlation between left-handedness and ambidexterity is low (rG = 0.26), which implies that these traits are largely influenced by different genetic mechanisms. Our findings suggest that handedness is highly polygenic and that the genetic variants that predispose to left-handedness may underlie part of the association with some psychiatric disorders.
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    Genomic analyses identify hundreds of variants associated with age at menarche and support a role for puberty timing in cancer risk
    (Nature, 2017) Day, Felix R.; Thompson, Deborah J.; Helgason, Hannes; Chasman, Daniel I.; Finucane, Hilary; Sulem, Patrick; Ruth, Katherine S.; Whalen, Sean; Sarkar, Abhishek K.; Albrecht, Eva; Altmaier, Elisabeth; Amini, Marzyeh; Barbieri, Caterina M.; Boutin, Thibaud; Campbell, Archie; Demerath, Ellen; Giri, Ayush; He, Chunyan; Hottenga, Jouke J.; Karlsson, Robert; Kolchic, Ivana; Loh, Po-Ru; Lunetta, Kathryn L.; Mangino, Massimo; Marco, Brumat; McMahon, George; Medland, Sarah E.; Nolte, Ilja M.; Noordam, Raymond; Nutile, Teresa; Paternoster, Lavinia; Perjakova, Natalia; Porcu, Eleonora; Rose, Lynda M.; Schraut, Katharina E.; Segrè, Ayellet V.; Smith, Albert V.; Stolk, Lisette; Teumer, Alexander; Andrulis, Irene L.; Bandinelli, Stefania; Beckmann, Matthias W.; Benitez, Javier; Bergmann, Sven; Bochud, Murielle; Boerwinkle, Eric; Bojesen, Stig E.; Bolla, Manjeet K.; Brand, Judith S.; Brauch, Hiltrud; Brenner, Hermann; Broer, Linda; Brüning, Thomas; Buring, Julie E.; Campbell, Harry; Catamo, Eulalia; Chanock, Stephen; Chenevix-Trench, Georgia; Corre, Tanguy; Couch, Fergus J.; Cousminer, Diana L.; Cox, Angela; Crisponi, Laura; Czene, Kamila; Davey-Smith, George; de Geus, Eco J. C. N.; de Mutsert, Renée; De Vivo, Immaculata; Dennis, Joe; Devilee, Peter; dos-Santos-Silva, Isabel; Dunning, Alison M.; Eriksson, Johan G.; Fasching, Peter A.; Fernández-Rhodes, Lindsay; Ferrucci, Luigi; Flesch-Janys, Dieter; Franke, Lude; Gabrielson, Marike; Gandin, Ilaria; Giles, Graham G.; Grallert, Harald; Gudbjartsson, Daniel F.; Guéne, Pascal; Hall, Perr; Hallberg, Emily; Hamann, Ute; Harris, Tamara B.; Hartman, Catharina A.; Heiss, Gerardo; Hooning, Maartje J.; Hopper, John L.; Hu, Frank; Hunter, David; Ikram, M. Arfan; Im, Hae Kyung; Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta; Joshi, Peter K.; Karasik, David; Kutalik, Zoltan; LaChance, Genevieve; Lambrechts, Diether; Langenberg, Claudia; Launer, Lenore J.; Laven, Joop S. E.; Lenarduzzi, Stefania; Li, Jingmei; Lind, Penelope A.; Lindstrom, Sara; Liu, YongMei; Luan, Jian'an; Mannermaa, Arto; Mbarek, Hamdi; McCarthy, Mark I.; Meisinger, Christa; Meitinger, Thomas; Menni, Cristina; Metspalu, Andres; Michailidou, Kyriaki; Milani, Lili; Milne, Roger L.; Montgomery, Grant W.; Mulligan, Anna M.; Nalls, Mike A.; Navarro, Pau; Nevanlinna, Heli; Nyholt, Dale R.; Oldehinkel, Albertine J.; O'Mara, Tracy A.; Padmanabhan, Sandosh; Palotie, Aarno; Pedersen, Nancy; Peters, Annette; Peto, Julian; Pharoah, Paul D. P.; Pouta, Anneli; Radice, Paolo; Rahman, Iffat; Ring, Susan M.; Robino, Antonietta; Rosendaal, Frits R.; Rudan, Igor; Rueedi, Rico; Ruggiero, Daniela; Sala, Cinzia F.; Schmidt, Marjanka K.; Scott, Robert A.; Shah, Mitul; Sorice, Rossella; Southey, Melissa C.; Sovio, Ulla; Stampfer, Meir; Steri, Maristella; Strauch, Konstantin; Tanaka, Toshiko; Tikkanen, Emmi; Timpson, Nicholas J.; Traglia, Michela; Truong, Thérèse; Tyrer, Jonathan P.; Uitterlinden, André G.; Edwards, Digna R. Velez; Vitart, Veronique; Völker, Uwe; Vollenweider, Peter; Wang, Qin; Widen, Elisabeth; van Dijk, Ko Willems; Willemsen, Gonneke; Winqvist, Robert; Wolffenbuttel, Bruce H. R.; Zhao, Jing Hua; Zoledziewska, Magdalena; Zygmunt, Marek; Alizadeh, Behrooz Z.; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Ciullo, Marina; Cucca, Francesco; Esko, Tõnu; Franceschini, Nora; Gieger, Christian; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Hayward, Caroline; Kraft, Peter; Lawlor, Debbie A.; Magnusson, Patrik K. E.; Martin, Nicholas G.; Mook-Kanamori, Dennis O.; Nohr, Ellen A.; Polasek, Ozren; Porteous, David; Price, Alkes L.; Ridker, Paul M.; Snieder, Harold; Spector, Tim D.; Stöckl, Doris; Toniolo, Daniela; Ulivi, Sheila; Visser, Jenny A.; Völzke, Henry; Wareham, Nicholas J.; Wilson, James F.; Spurdle, Amanda B.; Thorsteindottir, Unnur; Pollard, Katherine S.; Easton, Douglas F.; Tung, Joyce Y.; Chang-Claude, Jenny; Hinds, David; Murray, Anna; Murabito, Joanne M.; Stefansson, Kari; Ong, Ken K.; Perry, John R. B.; The Lifelines Cohort Study; The InterAct Consortium; kConFab/AOCS Investigators; Endometrial Cancer Association Consortium; Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium; PRACTICAL consortium; Epidemiology, School of Public Health
    The timing of puberty is a highly polygenic childhood trait that is epidemiologically associated with various adult diseases. Using 1000 Genomes Project–imputed genotype data in up to ∼370,000 women, we identify 389 independent signals (P < 5 × 10−8) for age at menarche, a milestone in female pubertal development. In Icelandic data, these signals explain ∼7.4% of the population variance in age at menarche, corresponding to ∼25% of the estimated heritability. We implicate ∼250 genes via coding variation or associated expression, demonstrating significant enrichment in neural tissues. Rare variants near the imprinted genes MKRN3 and DLK1 were identified, exhibiting large effects when paternally inherited. Mendelian randomization analyses suggest causal inverse associations, independent of body mass index (BMI), between puberty timing and risks for breast and endometrial cancers in women and prostate cancer in men. In aggregate, our findings highlight the complexity of the genetic regulation of puberty timing and support causal links with cancer susceptibility.
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    Parent-of-origin specific allelic associations among 106 genomic loci for age at menarche
    (Nature Publishing Group, 2014-10-02) Perry, John RB; Day, Felix; Elks, Cathy E.; Sulem, Patrick; Thompson, Deborah J.; Ferreira, Teresa; He, Chunyan; Chasman, Daniel I.; Esko, Tõnu; Thorleifsson, Gudmar; Albrecht, Eva; Ang, Wei Q.; Corre, Tanguy; Cousminer, Diana L.; Feenstra, Bjarke; Franceschini, Nora; Ganna, Andrea; Johnson, Andrew D.; Kjellqvist, Sanela; Lunetta, Kathryn L.; McMahon, George; Nolte, Ilja M.; Paternoster, Lavinia; Porcu, Eleonora; Smith, Albert V.; Stolk, Lisette; Teumer, Alexander; Tšernikova, Natalia; Tikkanen, Emmi; Ulivi, Sheila; Wagner, Erin K.; Amin, Najaf; Bierut, Laura J.; Byrne, Enda M.; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; Koller, Daniel L.; Mangino, Massimo; Pers, Tune H.; Yerges-Armstrong, Laura M.; Zhao, Jing Hua; Andrulis, Irene L.; Anton-Culver, Hoda; Atsma, Femke; Bandinelli, Stefania; Beckmann, Matthias W.; Benitez, Javier; Blomqvist, Carl; Bojesen, Stig E.; Bolla, Manjeet K.; Bonanni, Bernardo; Brauch, Hiltrud; Brenner, Hermann; Buring, Julie E.; Chang-Claude, Jenny; Chanock, Stephen; Chen, Jinhui; Chenevix-Trench, Georgia; Collée, J. Margriet; Couch, Fergus J.; Couper, David; Coveillo, Andrea D.; Cox, Angela; Czene, Kamila; D’adamo, Adamo Pio; Smith, George Davey; De Vivo, Immaculata; Demerath, Ellen W.; Dennis, Joe; Devilee, Peter; Dieffenbach, Aida K.; Dunning, Alison M.; Eiriksdottir, Gudny; Eriksson, Johan G.; Fasching, Peter A.; Ferrucci, Luigi; Flesch-Janys, Dieter; Flyger, Henrik; Foroud, Tatiana; Franke, Lude; Garcia, Melissa E.; García-Closas, Montserrat; Geller, Frank; de Geus, Eco EJ; Giles, Graham G.; Gudbjartsson, Daniel F.; Gudnason, Vilmundur; Guénel, Pascal; Guo, Suiqun; Hall, Per; Hamann, Ute; Haring, Robin; Hartman, Catharina A.; Heath, Andrew C.; Hofman, Albert; Hooning, Maartje J.; Hopper, John L.; Hu, Frank B.; Hunter, David J.; Karasik, David; Kiel, Douglas P.; Knight, Julia A.; Kosma, Veli-Matti; Kutalik, Zoltan; Lai, Sandra; Lambrechts, Diether; Lindblom, Annika; Mägi, Reedik; Magnusson, Patrik K.; Mannermaa, Arto; Martin, Nicholas G.; Masson, Gisli; McArdle, Patrick F.; McArdle, Wendy L.; Melbye, Mads; Michailidou, Kyriaki; Mihailov, Evelin; Milani, Lili; Milne, Roger L.; Nevanlinna, Heli; Neven, Patrick; Nohr, Ellen A.; Oldehinkel, Albertine J.; Oostra, Ben A.; Palotie, Aarno; Peacock, Munro; Pedersen, Nancy L.; Peterlongo, Paolo; Peto, Julian; Pharoah, Paul DP; Postma, Dirkje S.; Pouta, Anneli; Pylkäs, Katri; Radice, Paolo; Ring, Susan; Rivadeneira, Fernando; Robino, Antonietta; Rose, Lynda M.; Rudolph, Anja; Salomaa, Veikko; Sanna, Serena; Schlessinger, David; Schmidt, Marjanka K.; Southey, Mellissa C.; Sovio, Ulla; Stampfer, Meir J.; Stöckl, Doris; Storniolo, Anna M.; Timpson, Nicholas J.; Tyrer, Jonathan; Visser, Jenny A.; Vollenweider, Peter; Völzke, Henry; Waeber, Gerard; Waldenberger, Melanie; Wallaschofski, Henri; Wang, Qin; Willemsen, Gonneke; Winqvist, Robert; Wolffenbuttel, Bruce HR; Wright, Margaret J.; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Econs, Michael J.; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Loos, Ruth JF; McCarthy, Mark I.; Montgomery, Grant W.; Rice, John P.; Streeten, Elizabeth A.; Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur; van Duijn, Cornelia M.; Alizadeh, Behrooz Z.; Bergmann, Sven; Boerwinkle, Eric; Boyd, Heather A.; Crisponi, Laura; Gasparini, Paolo; Gieger, Christian; Harris, Tamara B.; Ingelsson, Erik; Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta; Kraft, Peter; Lawlor, Debbie; Metspalu, Andres; Pennell, Craig E.; Ridker, Paul M.; Snieder, Harold; Sørensen, Thorkild IA; Spector, Tim D.; Strachan, David P.; Uitterlinden, André G.; Wareham, Nicholas J.; Widen, Elisabeth; Zygmunt, Marek; Murray, Anna; Easton, Douglas F.; Stefansson, Kari; Murabito, Joanne M.; Ong, Ken K.; Department of Epidemiology, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
    Age at menarche is a marker of timing of puberty in females. It varies widely between individuals, is a heritable trait and is associated with risks for obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, breast cancer and all-cause mortality. Studies of rare human disorders of puberty and animal models point to a complex hypothalamic-pituitary-hormonal regulation,, but the mechanisms that determine pubertal timing and underlie its links to disease risk remain unclear. Here, using genome-wide and custom-genotyping arrays in up to 182,416 women of European descent from 57 studies, we found robust evidence (P<5×10−8) for 123 signals at 106 genomic loci associated with age at menarche. Many loci were associated with other pubertal traits in both sexes, and there was substantial overlap with genes implicated in body mass index and various diseases, including rare disorders of puberty. Menarche signals were enriched in imprinted regions, with three loci (DLK1/WDR25, MKRN3/MAGEL2 and KCNK9) demonstrating parent-of-origin specific associations concordant with known parental expression patterns. Pathway analyses implicated nuclear hormone receptors, particularly retinoic acid and gamma-aminobutyric acid-B2 receptor signaling, among novel mechanisms that regulate pubertal timing in humans. Our findings suggest a genetic architecture involving at least hundreds of common variants in the coordinated timing of the pubertal transition.