| 1. |
- Sliz, E., et al.
(författare)
-
Evidence of a causal effect of genetic tendency to gain muscle mass on uterine leiomyomata
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 14:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Uterine leiomyomata (UL) are the most common tumours of the female genital tract and the primary cause of surgical removal of the uterus. Genetic factors contribute to UL susceptibility. To add understanding to the heritable genetic risk factors, we conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of UL in up to 426,558 European women from FinnGen and a previous UL meta-GWAS. In addition to the 50 known UL loci, we identify 22 loci that have not been associated with UL in prior studies. UL-associated loci harbour genes enriched for development, growth, and cellular senescence. Of particular interest are the smooth muscle cell differentiation and proliferation-regulating genes functioning on the myocardin-cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor 1A pathway. Our results further suggest that genetic predisposition to increased fat-free mass may be causally related to higher UL risk, underscoring the involvement of altered muscle tissue biology in UL pathophysiology. Overall, our findings add to the understanding of the genetic pathways underlying UL, which may aid in developing novel therapeutics.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
- Kurki, MI, et al.
(författare)
-
FinnGen provides genetic insights from a well-phenotyped isolated population
- 2023
-
Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 613:7944, s. 508-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Population isolates such as those in Finland benefit genetic research because deleterious alleles are often concentrated on a small number of low-frequency variants (0.1% ≤ minor allele frequency < 5%). These variants survived the founding bottleneck rather than being distributed over a large number of ultrarare variants. Although this effect is well established in Mendelian genetics, its value in common disease genetics is less explored1,2. FinnGen aims to study the genome and national health register data of 500,000 Finnish individuals. Given the relatively high median age of participants (63 years) and the substantial fraction of hospital-based recruitment, FinnGen is enriched for disease end points. Here we analyse data from 224,737 participants from FinnGen and study 15 diseases that have previously been investigated in large genome-wide association studies (GWASs). We also include meta-analyses of biobank data from Estonia and the United Kingdom. We identified 30 new associations, primarily low-frequency variants, enriched in the Finnish population. A GWAS of 1,932 diseases also identified 2,733 genome-wide significant associations (893 phenome-wide significant (PWS), P < 2.6 × 10–11) at 2,496 (771 PWS) independent loci with 807 (247 PWS) end points. Among these, fine-mapping implicated 148 (73 PWS) coding variants associated with 83 (42 PWS) end points. Moreover, 91 (47 PWS) had an allele frequency of <5% in non-Finnish European individuals, of which 62 (32 PWS) were enriched by more than twofold in Finland. These findings demonstrate the power of bottlenecked populations to find entry points into the biology of common diseases through low-frequency, high impact variants.
|
|
| 4. |
- Kelloniemi, A., et al.
(författare)
-
The Early-Onset Myocardial Infarction Associated PHACTR1 Gene Regulates Skeletal and Cardiac Alpha-Actin Gene Expression
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Plos One. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 10:6
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The phosphatase and actin regulator 1 (PHACTR1) locus is a very commonly identified hit in genome-wide association studies investigating coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction (MI). However, the function of PHACTR1 in the heart is still unknown. We characterized the mechanisms regulating Phactr1 expression in the heart, used adenoviral gene delivery to investigate the effects of Phactr1 on cardiac function, and analyzed the relationship between MI associated PHACTR1 allele and cardiac function in human subjects. Phactr1 mRNA and protein levels were markedly reduced (60%, P<0.01 and 90%, P<0.001, respectively) at 1 day after MI in rats. When the direct myocardial effects of Phactr1 were studied, the skeletal a-actin to cardiac a-actin isoform ratio was significantly higher (1.5-fold, P<0.05) at 3 days but 40% lower (P<0.05) at 2 weeks after adenovirus-mediated Phactr1 gene delivery into the anterior wall of the left ventricle. Similarly, the skeletal a-actin to cardiac a-actin ratio was lower at 2 weeks in infarcted hearts overexpressing Phactr1. In cultured neonatal cardiac myocytes, adenovirus-mediated Phactr1 overexpression for 48 hours markedly increased the skeletal a-actin to cardiac a-actin ratio, this being associated with an enhanced DNA binding activity of serum response factor. Phactr1 overexpression exerted no major effects on the expression of other cardiac genes or LV structure and function in normal and infarcted hearts during 2 weeks' follow-up period. In human subjects, MI associated PHACTR1 allele was not associated significantly with cardiac function (n = 1550). Phactr1 seems to regulate the skeletal to cardiac a-actin isoform ratio.
|
|
| 5. |
- Moilanen, A. M., et al.
(författare)
-
WDR12, a Member of Nucleolar PeBoW-Complex, Is Up-Regulated in Failing Hearts and Causes Deterioration of Cardiac Function
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Plos One. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 10:4
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims In a recent genome-wide association study, WD-repeat domain 12 (WDR12) was associated with early-onset myocardial infarction (MI). However, the function of WDR12 in the heart is unknown. We characterized cardiac expression of WDR12, used adenovirus-mediated WDR12 gene delivery to examine effects of WDR12 on left ventricular (LV) remodeling, and analyzed relationship between MI associated WDR12 allele and cardiac function in human subjects. LV WDR12 protein levels were increased in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and rats post-infarction. In normal adult rat hearts, WDR12 gene delivery into the anterior wall of the LV decreased interventricular septum diastolic and systolic thickness and increased the diastolic and systolic diameters of the LV. Moreover, LV ejection fraction (9.1%, P<0.05) and fractional shortening (12.2%, P<0.05) were declined. The adverse effects of WDR12 gene delivery on cardiac function were associated with decreased cellular proliferation, activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/heat shock protein (HSP) 27 pathway, and increased protein levels of Block of proliferation 1 (BOP1), essential for ribosome biogenesis. Post-infarction WDR12 gene delivery decreased E/A ratio (32%, P<0.05) suggesting worsening of diastolic function. In human subjects, MI associated WDR12 allele was associated significantly with diastolic dysfunction and left atrial size. WDR12 triggers distinct deterioration of cardiac function in adult rat heart and the MI associated WDR12 variant is associated with diastolic dysfunction in human subjects.
|
|
| 6. |
- Nielsen, Simon D., et al.
(författare)
-
A highly selective agonist for the metabotropic glutamate receptor mGluR2
- 2011
-
Ingår i: MedChemComm. ; 2:1, s. 1120-1124
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The three conformationally restricted cyclopropyl glutamate analogues (3, 4, 5) were synthesised and their affinity for ionotropic and activity at metabotropic glutamate receptors were probed. Compound 4 turned out to be a highly selective agonist at the metabotropic glutamate receptor mGluR2 with at least two orders of magnitude selectivity in potency compared to the very homologous mGluR3 as well as mGluR1, 4, 5, 7. We also tried to synthesise the two epimers of 6, but the two compounds underwent fast epimerisation in H2O. Furthermore, two cyclopropyl arginine analogues (7, 8) were synthesised and characterised pharmacologically at GPRC6A.
|
|
