Browsing by Subject "Rare variants"
Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Association analysis of rare variants near the APOE region with CSF and neuroimaging biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease(Springer Nature, 2017-05-24) Nho, Kwangsik; Kim, Sungeun; Horgusluoglu, Emrin; Risacher, Shannon L.; Shen, Li; Kim, Dokyoon; Lee, Seunggeun; Foroud, Tatiana; Shaw, Leslie M.; Trojanowski, John Q.; Aisen, Paul S.; Petersen, Ronald C.; Jack, Clifford R., Jr.; Weiner, Michael W.; Green, Robert C.; Toga, Arthur W.; Saykin, Andrew J.; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of MedicineBACKGROUND: The APOE ε4 allele is the most significant common genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD). The region surrounding APOE on chromosome 19 has also shown consistent association with LOAD. However, no common variants in the region remain significant after adjusting for APOE genotype. We report a rare variant association analysis of genes in the vicinity of APOE with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and neuroimaging biomarkers of LOAD. METHODS: Whole genome sequencing (WGS) was performed on 817 blood DNA samples from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Sequence data from 757 non-Hispanic Caucasian participants was used in the present analysis. We extracted all rare variants (MAF (minor allele frequency) < 0.05) within a 312 kb window in APOE's vicinity encompassing 12 genes. We assessed CSF and neuroimaging (MRI and PET) biomarkers as LOAD-related quantitative endophenotypes. Gene-based analyses of rare variants were performed using the optimal Sequence Kernel Association Test (SKAT-O). RESULTS: A total of 3,334 rare variants (MAF < 0.05) were found within the APOE region. Among them, 72 rare non-synonymous variants were observed. Eight genes spanning the APOE region were significantly associated with CSF Aβ1-42 (p < 1.0 × 10-3). After controlling for APOE genotype and adjusting for multiple comparisons, 4 genes (CBLC, BCAM, APOE, and RELB) remained significant. Whole-brain surface-based analysis identified highly significant clusters associated with rare variants of CBLC in the temporal lobe region including the entorhinal cortex, as well as frontal lobe regions. Whole-brain voxel-wise analysis of amyloid PET identified significant clusters in the bilateral frontal and parietal lobes showing associations of rare variants of RELB with cortical amyloid burden. CONCLUSIONS: Rare variants within genes spanning the APOE region are significantly associated with LOAD-related CSF Aβ1-42 and neuroimaging biomarkers after adjusting for APOE genotype. These findings warrant further investigation and illustrate the role of next generation sequencing and quantitative endophenotypes in assessing rare variants which may help explain missing heritability in AD and other complex diseases.Item Common biological networks underlie genetic risk for alcoholism in African- and European-American populations(Wiley, 2013) Kos, Mark Z.; Yan, Jia; Dick, Danielle M.; Agrawal, Arpana; Bucholz, Kathleen K.; Rice, John P.; Johnson, Eric O.; Schuckit, Marc; Kuperman, Sam; Kramer, John; Goate, Alison M.; Tischfield, Jay A.; Foroud, Tatiana; Nurnberger, John, Jr.; Hesselbrock, Victor; Porjesz, Bernice; Bierut, Laura J.; Edenberg, Howard J.; Almasy, Laura; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of MedicineAlcohol dependence (AD) is a heritable substance addiction with adverse physical and psychological consequences, representing a major health and economic burden on societies worldwide. Genes thus far implicated via linkage, candidate gene and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) account for only a small fraction of its overall risk, with effects varying across ethnic groups. Here we investigate the genetic architecture of alcoholism and report on the extent to which common, genome-wide SNPs collectively account for risk of AD in two US populations, African-Americans (AAs) and European-Americans (EAs). Analyzing GWAS data for two independent case-control sample sets, we compute polymarker scores that are significantly associated with alcoholism (P = 1.64 × 10(-3) and 2.08 × 10(-4) for EAs and AAs, respectively), reflecting the small individual effects of thousands of variants derived from patterns of allelic architecture that are population specific. Simulations show that disease models based on rare and uncommon causal variants (MAF < 0.05) best fit the observed distribution of polymarker signals. When scoring bins were annotated for gene location and examined for constituent biological networks, gene enrichment is observed for several cellular processes and functions in both EA and AA populations, transcending their underlying allelic differences. Our results reveal key insights into the complex etiology of AD, raising the possibility of an important role for rare and uncommon variants, and identify polygenic mechanisms that encompass a spectrum of disease liability, with some, such as chloride transporters and glycine metabolism genes, displaying subtle, modifying effects that are likely to escape detection in most GWAS designs.Item Identifying Susceptibility Loci for Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma Using a Fast Sequence Kernel Association Test(Frontiers Media, 2021-05-10) Huang, Manyan; Lyu, Chen; Qureshi, Abrar A.; Han, Jiali; Li, Ming; Epidemiology, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public HealthCutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) accounts for about 20% of all skin cancers, the most common type of malignancy in the United States. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have successfully identified multiple genetic variants associated with the risk of cSCC. Most of these studies were single-locus-based, testing genetic variants one-at-a-time. In this article, we performed gene-based association tests to evaluate the joint effect of multiple variants, especially rare variants, on the risk of cSCC by using a fast sequence kernel association test (fastSKAT). The study included 1,710 cSCC cases and 24,304 cancer-free controls from the Nurses’ Health Study, the Nurses’ Health Study II and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. We used UCSC Genome Browser to define gene units as candidate loci, and further evaluated the association between all variants within each gene unit and disease outcome. Four genes HP1BP3, DAG1, SEPT7P2, and SLFN12 were identified using Bonferroni adjusted significance level. Our study is complementary to the existing GWASs, and our findings may provide additional insights into the etiology of cSCC. Further studies are needed to validate these findings.Item 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 MedicineBackground: 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.Item Rare variants in long non-coding RNAs are associated with blood lipid levels in the TOPMed Whole Genome Sequencing Study(medRxiv, 2023-06-29) Wang, Yuxuan; Selvaraj, Margaret Sunitha; Li, Xihao; Li, Zilin; Holdcraft, Jacob A.; Arnett, Donna K.; Bis, Joshua C.; Blangero, John; Boerwinkle, Eric; Bowden, Donald W.; Cade, Brian E.; Carlson, Jenna C.; Carson, April P.; Chen, Yii-Der Ida; Curran, Joanne E.; de Vries, Paul S.; Dutcher, Susan K.; Ellinor, Patrick T.; Floyd, James S.; Fornage, Myriam; Freedman, Barry I.; Gabriel, Stacey; Germer, Soren; Gibbs, Richard A.; Guo, Xiuqing; He, Jiang; Heard-Costa, Nancy; Hildalgo, Bertha; Hou, Lifang; Irvin, Marguerite R.; Joehanes, Roby; Kaplan, Robert C.; Kardia, Sharon Lr.; Kelly, Tanika N.; Kim, Ryan; Kooperberg, Charles; Kral, Brian G.; Levy, Daniel; Li, Changwei; Liu, Chunyu; Lloyd-Jone, Don; Loos, Ruth Jf.; Mahaney, Michael C.; Martin, Lisa W.; Mathias, Rasika A.; Minster, Ryan L.; Mitchell, Braxton D.; Montasser, May E.; Morrison, Alanna C.; Murabito, Joanne M.; Naseri, Take; O'Connell, Jeffrey R.; Palmer, Nicholette D.; Preuss, Michael H.; Psaty, Bruce M.; Raffield, Laura M.; Rao, Dabeeru C.; Redline, Susan; Reiner, Alexander P.; Rich, Stephen S.; Ruepena, Muagututi'a Sefuiva; Sheu, Wayne H-H; Smith, Jennifer A.; Smith, Albert; Tiwari, Hemant K.; Tsai, Michael Y.; Viaud-Martinez, Karine A.; Wang, Zhe; Yanek, Lisa R.; Zhao, Wei; NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Consortium; Rotter, Jerome I.; Lin, Xihong; Natarajan, Pradeep; Peloso, Gina M.; Biostatistics and Health Data Science, School of MedicineLong non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are known to perform important regulatory functions. Large-scale whole genome sequencing (WGS) studies and new statistical methods for variant set tests now provide an opportunity to assess the associations between rare variants in lncRNA genes and complex traits across the genome. In this study, we used high-coverage WGS from 66,329 participants of diverse ancestries with blood lipid levels (LDL-C, HDL-C, TC, and TG) in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program to investigate the role of lncRNAs in lipid variability. We aggregated rare variants for 165,375 lncRNA genes based on their genomic locations and conducted rare variant aggregate association tests using the STAAR (variant-Set Test for Association using Annotation infoRmation) framework. We performed STAAR conditional analysis adjusting for common variants in known lipid GWAS loci and rare coding variants in nearby protein coding genes. Our analyses revealed 83 rare lncRNA variant sets significantly associated with blood lipid levels, all of which were located in known lipid GWAS loci (in a ±500 kb window of a Global Lipids Genetics Consortium index variant). Notably, 61 out of 83 signals (73%) were conditionally independent of common regulatory variations and rare protein coding variations at the same loci. We replicated 34 out of 61 (56%) conditionally independent associations using the independent UK Biobank WGS data. Our results expand the genetic architecture of blood lipids to rare variants in lncRNA, implicating new therapeutic opportunities.Item Rare variants in the splicing regulatory elements of EXOC3L4 are associated with brain glucose metabolism in Alzheimer's disease(Biomed Central, 2018-09-14) Miller, Jason E.; Shivakumar, Manu K.; Lee, Younghee; Han, Seonggyun; Horgousluoglu, Emrin; Risacher, Shannon L.; Saykin, Andrew J.; Nho, Kwangsik; Kim, Dokyoon; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of MedicineBACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases that causes problems related to brain function. To some extent it is understood on a molecular level how AD arises, however there are a lack of biomarkers that can be used for early diagnosis. Two popular methods to identify AD-related biomarkers use genetics and neuroimaging. Genes and neuroimaging phenotypes have provided some insights as to the potential for AD biomarkers. While the field of imaging-genomics has identified genetic features associated with structural and functional neuroimaging phenotypes, it remains unclear how variants that affect splicing could be important for understanding the genetic etiology of AD. METHODS: In this study, rare variants (minor allele frequency < 0.01) in splicing regulatory element (SRE) loci from whole genome sequencing (WGS) in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort, were used to identify genes that are associated with global brain cortical glucose metabolism in AD measured by FDG PET-scans. Gene-based associated analyses of rare variants were performed using the program BioBin and the optimal Sequence Kernel Association Test (SKAT-O). RESULTS: The gene, EXOC3L4, was identified as significantly associated with global cortical glucose metabolism (FDR (false discovery rate) corrected p < 0.05) using SRE coding variants only. Three loci that may affect splicing within EXOC3L4 contribute to the association. CONCLUSION: Based on sequence homology, EXOC3L4 is likely a part of the exocyst complex. Our results suggest the possibility that variants which affect proper splicing of EXOC3L4 via SREs may impact vesicle transport, giving rise to AD related phenotypes. Overall, by utilizing WGS and functional neuroimaging we have identified a gene significantly associated with an AD related endophenotype, potentially through a mechanism that involves splicing.Item Sequencing of 53,831 diverse genomes from the NHLBI TOPMed Program(Springer Nature, 2021) Taliun, Daniel; Harris, Daniel N.; Kessler, Michael D.; Carlson, Jedidiah; Szpiech, Zachary A.; Torres, Raul; Gagliano Taliun, Sarah A.; Corvelo, André; Gogarten, Stephanie M.; Kang, Hyun Min; Pitsillides, Achilleas N.; LeFaive, Jonathon; Lee, Seung-Been; Tian, Xiaowen; Browning, Brian L.; Das, Sayantan; Emde, Anne-Katrin; Clarke, Wayne E.; Loesch, Douglas P.; Shetty, Amol C.; Blackwell, Thomas W.; Smith, Albert V.; Wong, Quenna; Liu, Xiaoming; Conomos, Matthew P.; Bobo, Dean M.; Aguet, François; Albert, Christine; Alonso, Alvaro; Ardlie, Kristin G.; Arking, Dan E.; Aslibekyan, Stella; Auer, Paul L.; Barnard, John; Barr, R. Graham; Barwick, Lucas; Becker, Lewis C.; Beer, Rebecca L.; Benjamin, Emelia J.; Bielak, Lawrence F.; Blangero, John; Boehnke, Michael; Bowden, Donald W.; Brody, Jennifer A.; Burchard, Esteban G.; Cade, Brian E.; Casella, James F.; Chalazan, Brandon; Chasman, Daniel I.; Chen, Yii-Der Ida; Cho, Michael H.; Choi, Seung Hoan; Chung, Mina K.; Clish, Clary B.; Correa, Adolfo; Curran, Joanne E.; Custer, Brian; Darbar, Dawood; Daya, Michelle; de Andrade, Mariza; DeMeo, Dawn L.; Dutcher, Susan K.; Ellinor, Patrick T.; Emery, Leslie S.; Eng, Celeste; Fatkin, Diane; Fingerlin, Tasha; Forer, Lukas; Fornage, Myriam; Franceschini, Nora; Fuchsberger, Christian; Fullerton, Stephanie M.; Germer, Soren; Gladwin, Mark T.; Gottlieb, Daniel J.; Guo, Xiuqing; Hall, Michael E.; He, Jiang; Heard-Costa, Nancy L.; Heckbert, Susan R.; Irvin, Marguerite R.; Johnsen, Jill M.; Johnson, Andrew D.; Kaplan, Robert; Kardia, Sharon L. R.; Kelly, Tanika; Kelly, Shannon; Kenny, Eimear E.; Kiel, Douglas P.; Klemmer, Robert; Konkle, Barbara A.; Kooperberg, Charles; Köttgen, Anna; Lange, Leslie A.; Lasky-Su, Jessica; Levy, Daniel; Lin, Xihong; Lin, Keng-Han; Liu, Chunyu; Loos, Ruth J. F.; Garman, Lori; Gerszten, Robert; Lubitz, Steven A.; Lunetta, Kathryn L.; Mak, Angel C. Y.; Manichaikul, Ani; Manning, Alisa K.; Mathias, Rasika A.; McManus, David D.; McGarvey, Stephen T.; Meigs, James B.; Meyers, Deborah A.; Mikulla, Julie L.; Minear, Mollie A.; Mitchell, Braxton D.; Mohanty, Sanghamitra; Montasser, May E.; Montgomery, Courtney; Morrison, Alanna C.; Murabito, Joanne M.; Natale, Andrea; Natarajan, Pradeep; Nelson, Sarah C.; North, Kari E.; O'Connell, Jeffrey R.; Palmer, Nicholette D.; Pankratz, Nathan; Peloso, Gina M.; Peyser, Patricia A.; Pleiness, Jacob; Post, Wendy S.; Psaty, Bruce M.; Rao, D. C.; Redline, Susan; Reiner, Alexander P.; Roden, Dan; Rotter, Jerome I.; Ruczinski, Ingo; Sarnowski, Chloé; Schoenherr, Sebastian; Schwartz, David A.; Seo, Jeong-Sun; Seshadri, Sudha; Sheehan, Vivien A.; Sheu, Wayne H.; Shoemaker, M. Benjamin; Smith, Nicholas L.; Smith, Jennifer A.; Sotoodehnia, Nona; Stilp, Adrienne M.; Tang, Weihong; Taylor, Kent D.; Telen, Marilyn; Thornton, Timothy A.; Tracy, Russell P.; Van Den Berg, David J.; Vasan, Ramachandran S.; Viaud-Martinez, Karine A.; Vrieze, Scott; Weeks, Daniel E.; Weir, Bruce S.; Weiss, Scott T.; Weng, Lu-Chen; Willer, Cristen J.; Zhang, Yingze; Zhao, Xutong; Arnett, Donna K.; Ashley-Koch, Allison E.; Barnes, Kathleen C.; Boerwinkle, Eric; Gabriel, Stacey; Gibbs, Richard; Rice, Kenneth M.; Rich, Stephen S.; Silverman, Edwin K.; Qasba, Pankaj; Gan, Weiniu; NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Consortium; Papanicolaou, George J.; Nickerson, Deborah A.; Browning, Sharon R.; Zody, Michael C.; Zöllner, Sebastian; Wilson, James G.; Cupples, L. Adrienne; Laurie, Cathy C.; Jaquish, Cashell E.; Hernandez, Ryan D.; O'Connor, Timothy D.; Abecasis, Gonçalo R.; Epidemiology, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public HealthThe Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) programme seeks to elucidate the genetic architecture and biology of heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders, with the ultimate goal of improving diagnosis, treatment and prevention of these diseases. The initial phases of the programme focused on whole-genome sequencing of individuals with rich phenotypic data and diverse backgrounds. Here we describe the TOPMed goals and design as well as the available resources and early insights obtained from the sequence data. The resources include a variant browser, a genotype imputation server, and genomic and phenotypic data that are available through dbGaP (Database of Genotypes and Phenotypes)1. In the first 53,831 TOPMed samples, we detected more than 400 million single-nucleotide and insertion or deletion variants after alignment with the reference genome. Additional previously undescribed variants were detected through assembly of unmapped reads and customized analysis in highly variable loci. Among the more than 400 million detected variants, 97% have frequencies of less than 1% and 46% are singletons that are present in only one individual (53% among unrelated individuals). These rare variants provide insights into mutational processes and recent human evolutionary history. The extensive catalogue of genetic variation in TOPMed studies provides unique opportunities for exploring the contributions of rare and noncoding sequence variants to phenotypic variation. Furthermore, combining TOPMed haplotypes with modern imputation methods improves the power and reach of genome-wide association studies to include variants down to a frequency of approximately 0.01%.Item Whole Genome Sequencing of Pedigrees With High Density of Substance Use and Psychiatric Disorders: A Meeting Report(Wiley, 2025) Hill, Shirley Y.; Edenberg, Howard J.; Corvin, Aiden; Thorgeirsson, Thorgeir; Below, Jennifer E.; Goldman, David; Leal, Suzanne; Almasy, Laura; Cox, Nancy J.; Daly, Mark; Neale, Benjamin; Vrieze, Scott; Zoghbi, Huda; Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, School of MedicineThe National Institute of Drug Abuse convened a panel of scientists with expertise in substance use disorders (SUD) and genetic methodologies primarily to determine the feasibility of performing whole genome sequencing utilizing existing pedigree collections with a high density of SUD and psychiatric disorders. A major focus was on determining if there had been any successes in identifying genetic variants for complex traits in family-based designs. Such information could provide assurance that whole genome sequencing might provide significant pay-offs particularly in the pursuit of rare variants and copy number variants. An important goal was to discuss and evaluate optimal strategies for studying genetic variants in human samples. Specific topics were (a) to consider whether a smaller number of cases typically available in family studies versus the larger number available in biobanks can reveal unique information; (b) to identify potential gaps in information available in biobank data that might be supplemented with family data; (c) to consider the optimal SUD phenotypic definitions (e.g., quantity of use, problem-oriented) and data collection instruments (self-report or clinician administered) that are both practical and efficient to collect, and likely to provide important insights concerning prevention, intervention, and medication development. Conclusions reached by the panel included optimism about the successes that have occurred in the existing family studies ascertained to include densely affected pedigrees. Evaluation of methodologies led, overall, to a panel consensus that steps should be taken to utilize biobank collection in conjunction with family-based investigations for optimal variant discovery.