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Brain expression genome-wide association study (eGWAS) identifies human disease-associated variants.

Fanggeng Zou | High Seng Chai | Curtis S Younkin | Mariet Allen | Julia Crook | V Shane Pankratz | Minerva M Carrasquillo | Christopher N Rowley | Asha A Nair | Sumit Middha | Sooraj Maharjan | Thuy Nguyen | Li Ma | Kimberly G Malphrus | Ryan Palusak | Sarah Lincoln | Gina Bisceglio | Constantin Georgescu | Naomi Kouri | Christopher P Kolbert | Jin Jen | Jonathan L Haines | Richard Mayeux | Margaret A Pericak-Vance | Lindsay A Farrer | Gerard D Schellenberg | Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Consortium | Ronald C Petersen | Neill R Graff-Radford | Dennis W Dickson | Steven G Younkin | Nilüfer Ertekin-Taner
PLoS genetics | 2012

Genetic variants that modify brain gene expression may also influence risk for human diseases. We measured expression levels of 24,526 transcripts in brain samples from the cerebellum and temporal cortex of autopsied subjects with Alzheimer's disease (AD, cerebellar n=197, temporal cortex n=202) and with other brain pathologies (non-AD, cerebellar n=177, temporal cortex n=197). We conducted an expression genome-wide association study (eGWAS) using 213,528 cisSNPs within ± 100 kb of the tested transcripts. We identified 2,980 cerebellar cisSNP/transcript level associations (2,596 unique cisSNPs) significant in both ADs and non-ADs (q<0.05, p=7.70 × 10(-5)-1.67 × 10(-82)). Of these, 2,089 were also significant in the temporal cortex (p=1.85 × 10(-5)-1.70 × 10(-141)). The top cerebellar cisSNPs had 2.4-fold enrichment for human disease-associated variants (p<10(-6)). We identified novel cisSNP/transcript associations for human disease-associated variants, including progressive supranuclear palsy SLCO1A2/rs11568563, Parkinson's disease (PD) MMRN1/rs6532197, Paget's disease OPTN/rs1561570; and we confirmed others, including PD MAPT/rs242557, systemic lupus erythematosus and ulcerative colitis IRF5/rs4728142, and type 1 diabetes mellitus RPS26/rs1701704. In our eGWAS, there was 2.9-3.3 fold enrichment (p<10(-6)) of significant cisSNPs with suggestive AD-risk association (p<10(-3)) in the Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Consortium GWAS. These results demonstrate the significant contributions of genetic factors to human brain gene expression, which are reliably detected across different brain regions and pathologies. The significant enrichment of brain cisSNPs among disease-associated variants advocates gene expression changes as a mechanism for many central nervous system (CNS) and non-CNS diseases. Combined assessment of expression and disease GWAS may provide complementary information in discovery of human disease variants with functional implications. Our findings have implications for the design and interpretation of eGWAS in general and the use of brain expression quantitative trait loci in the study of human disease genetics.

Pubmed ID: 22685416

Associated grants

  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P50 AG008671
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P50 AG016573
  • Agency: Medical Research Council, United Kingdom
    Id: MC_G1000734
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: AG017216
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P30 AG013854
  • Agency: NCATS NIH HHS, United States
    Id: UL1 TR000117
  • Agency: NIMH NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P50 MH060451
  • Agency: NCI NIH HHS, United States
    Id: U54 CA137788
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: K01 AG030514
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: U01 AG006576
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 AG040770
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P30 AG010124
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P50 AG023501
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 AG17917
  • Agency: NHGRI NIH HHS, United States
    Id: U01 HG006375
  • Agency: Medical Research Council, United Kingdom
    Id: MR/K01417X/1
  • Agency: NCRR NIH HHS, United States
    Id: M01 RR000096
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: RC2 AG036528
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P30 AG028377
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P50 AG005142
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: U01 AG10483
  • Agency: NIGMS NIH HHS, United States
    Id: T32 GM007754
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    Id: P30 AG10133
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    Id: R01 AG009029
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    Id: P50 AG005131
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    Id: P50 AG005128
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    Id: P30 AG010133
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    Id: U24 AG021886
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    Id: K23 AG034550
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    Id: R01 AG031581
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    Id: AG003949
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    Id: P50 AG016574
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    Id: P50 AG005146
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    Id: P01 AG017586
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    Id: P50 AG016577
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    Id: R01 AG019085
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    Id: U01 AG032984
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    Id: R01 AG030146
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    Id: U01 AG024904
  • Agency: NHGRI NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 HG02213
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: U19 AG010483
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    Id: P50 AG008702
  • Agency: NCRR NIH HHS, United States
    Id: UL1 RR029893
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P50 AG016575
  • Agency: CIHR, Canada
  • Agency: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, United States
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: U01 AG016976
  • Agency: NINDS NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P50 NS039764
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P01 AG003991
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    Id: P30 AG008051
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    Id: P50 AG005681
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    Id: P30 AG013846
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: U24 AG056270
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: AG025711
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 AG017917
  • Agency: NHGRI NIH HHS, United States
    Id: UO1 HG004610
  • Agency: NIMH NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 MH080295
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P01 AG03991
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 AG026390
  • Agency: NCRR NIH HHS, United States
    Id: KL2 RR024151
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: RC2 AG036535
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    Id: P50 AG005136
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    Id: AG010491
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    Id: P30 AG08051
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P30 AG012300
  • Agency: Wellcome Trust, United Kingdom
    Id: 089703
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P01 AG019724
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    Id: P50 AG016570
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    Id: P50 AG005134
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    Id: P30 AG008017
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    Id: P30 AG010161
  • Agency: NCI NIH HHS, United States
    Id: U54 CA132378
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    Id: K24 AG027841
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    Id: R01 AG15819
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    Id: U24 AG026390
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    Id: UO1 AG06781
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    Id: AG030653
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    Id: AG025688
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 AG032990
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    Id: AG17586
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    Id: R37 AG015473
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: U24 AG026395
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: AG027944
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P50 AG025688
  • Agency: NCI NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 CA129769
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P50 AG005133
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    Id: U01 AG010483
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    Id: P01 AG002219
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    Id: U01 AG006781
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    Id: R01 AG041797
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    Id: P50 AG005144
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P30 AG1961
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P01 AG010491
  • Agency: NHGRI NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 HG002213
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 AG021547
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P50 AG005138
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    Id: R01 AG019757
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    Id: R01 AG020688
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 AG030653
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 AG027944
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 AG30146
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    Id: R01 AG017173
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 AG025259
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P01 AG003949
  • Agency: NINDS NIH HHS, United States
    Id: U24 NS072026
  • Agency: NHGRI NIH HHS, United States
    Id: U01 HG004610
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P30 AG010129
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P30 AG019610
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P50 AG016582
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P50 AG025711
  • Agency: NCATS NIH HHS, United States
    Id: UL1 TR001998
  • Agency: Medical Research Council, United Kingdom
    Id: G0701075
  • Agency: PHS HHS, United States
    Id: R01 032990
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P50 AG016576
  • Agency: Medical Research Council, United Kingdom
    Id: G0901254
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P30 AG028383
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: P01 AG017216
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: AG019757
  • Agency: NCRR NIH HHS, United States
    Id: MO1RR00096
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 AG026916
  • Agency: Wellcome Trust, United Kingdom
    Id: 081864
  • Agency: NINDS NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 NS059873
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: AG021547
  • Agency: NIA NIH HHS, United States
    Id: R01 AG018023
  • Agency: NCRR NIH HHS, United States
    Id: UL1RR02777
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    Id: R01 AG015819

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UCSC Genome Browser (tool)

RRID:SCR_005780

Portal to interactively visualize genomic data. Provides reference sequences and working draft assemblies for collection of genomes and access to ENCODE and Neanderthal projects. Includes collection of vertebrate and model organism assemblies and annotations, along with suite of tools for viewing, analyzing and downloading data.

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National Institute on Aging Genetics of Alzheimer’s Disease Data Storage Site (NIAGADS) (tool)

RRID:SCR_007314

National genetics data repository facilitating access to genotypic and phenotypic data for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Data include GWAS, whole genome (WGS) and whole exome (WES), expression, RNA Seq, and CHIP Seq analyses. Data for the Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project (ADSP) are available through a partnership with dbGaP (ADSP at dbGaP). Repository for many types of data generated from NIA supported grants and/or NIA funded biological samples. Data are deposited at NIAGADS or NIA-approved sites. Genetic Data and associated Phenotypic Data are available to qualified investigators in scientific community for secondary analysis.

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ADNI - Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (tool)

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Database of the results of the ADNI study. ADNI is an initiative to develop biomarker-based methods to detect and track the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) that provides access to qualified scientists to their database of imaging, clinical, genomic, and biomarker data.

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National Cell Repository for Alzheimer's Disease (tool)

RRID:SCR_007313

Cell repository for Alzheimer's disease that collects and maintains biological specimens and associated data. Its data is derived from large numbers of genetically informative, phenotypically well-characterized families with multiple individuals affected with Alzheimer's disease, as well as individuals for case-control studies.

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METAL (tool)

RRID:SCR_002013

Software application designed to facilitate meta-analysis of large datasets (such as several whole genome scans) in a convenient, rapid and memory efficient manner. (entry from Genetic Analysis Software)

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