| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
- Speliotes, Elizabeth K., et al.
(author)
-
Association analyses of 249,796 individuals reveal 18 new loci associated with body mass index
- 2010
-
In: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 42:11, s. 937-948
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Obesity is globally prevalent and highly heritable, but its underlying genetic factors remain largely elusive. To identify genetic loci for obesity susceptibility, we examined associations between body mass index and ~2.8 million SNPs in up to 123,865 individuals with targeted follow up of 42 SNPs in up to 125,931 additional individuals. We confirmed 14 known obesity susceptibility loci and identified 18 new loci associated with body mass index (P < 5 × 10−8), one of which includes a copy number variant near GPRC5B. Some loci (at MC4R, POMC, SH2B1 and BDNF) map near key hypothalamic regulators of energy balance, and one of these loci is near GIPR, an incretin receptor. Furthermore, genes in other newly associated loci may provide new insights into human body weight regulation.
|
|
| 3. |
- Walters, R G, et al.
(author)
-
A new highly penetrant form of obesity due to deletions on chromosome 16p11.2.
- 2010
-
In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-4687 .- 0028-0836. ; 463:7281, s. 671-5
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Obesity has become a major worldwide challenge to public health, owing to an interaction between the Western 'obesogenic' environment and a strong genetic contribution. Recent extensive genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified numerous single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with obesity, but these loci together account for only a small fraction of the known heritable component. Thus, the 'common disease, common variant' hypothesis is increasingly coming under challenge. Here we report a highly penetrant form of obesity, initially observed in 31 subjects who were heterozygous for deletions of at least 593 kilobases at 16p11.2 and whose ascertainment included cognitive deficits. Nineteen similar deletions were identified from GWAS data in 16,053 individuals from eight European cohorts. These deletions were absent from healthy non-obese controls and accounted for 0.7% of our morbid obesity cases (body mass index (BMI) >or= 40 kg m(-2) or BMI standard deviation score >or= 4; P = 6.4 x 10(-8), odds ratio 43.0), demonstrating the potential importance in common disease of rare variants with strong effects. This highlights a promising strategy for identifying missing heritability in obesity and other complex traits: cohorts with extreme phenotypes are likely to be enriched for rare variants, thereby improving power for their discovery. Subsequent analysis of the loci so identified may well reveal additional rare variants that further contribute to the missing heritability, as recently reported for SIM1 (ref. 3). The most productive approach may therefore be to combine the 'power of the extreme' in small, well-phenotyped cohorts, with targeted follow-up in case-control and population cohorts.
|
|
| 4. |
|
|
| 5. |
- Horikoshi, Momoko, et al.
(author)
-
New loci associated with birth weight identify genetic links between intrauterine growth and adult height and metabolism.
- 2013
-
In: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 45:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Birth weight within the normal range is associated with a variety of adult-onset diseases, but the mechanisms behind these associations are poorly understood. Previous genome-wide association studies of birth weight identified a variant in the ADCY5 gene associated both with birth weight and type 2 diabetes and a second variant, near CCNL1, with no obvious link to adult traits. In an expanded genome-wide association meta-analysis and follow-up study of birth weight (of up to 69,308 individuals of European descent from 43 studies), we have now extended the number of loci associated at genome-wide significance to 7, accounting for a similar proportion of variance as maternal smoking. Five of the loci are known to be associated with other phenotypes: ADCY5 and CDKAL1 with type 2 diabetes, ADRB1 with adult blood pressure and HMGA2 and LCORL with adult height. Our findings highlight genetic links between fetal growth and postnatal growth and metabolism.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Moustafa, J. S. E., et al.
(author)
-
Novel association approach for variable number tandem repeats (VNTRs) identifies DOCK5 as a susceptibility gene for severe obesity
- 2012
-
In: Human Molecular Genetics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0964-6906 .- 1460-2083. ; 21:16, s. 3727-3738
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Variable number tandem repeats (VNTRs) constitute a relatively under-examined class of genomic variants in the context of complex disease because of their sequence complexity and the challenges in assaying them. Recent large-scale genome-wide copy number variant mapping and association efforts have highlighted the need for improved methodology for association studies using these complex polymorphisms. Here we describe the in-depth investigation of a complex region on chromosome 8p21.2 encompassing the dedicator of cytokinesis 5 (DOCK5) gene. The region includes two VNTRs of complex sequence composition which flank a common 3975 bp deletion, all three of which were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction and fragment analysis in a total of 2744 subjects. We have developed a novel VNTR association method named VNTRtest, suitable for association analysis of multi-allelic loci with binary and quantitative outcomes, and have used this approach to show significant association of the DOCK5 VNTRs with childhood and adult severe obesity (P-empirical 8.9 10(8) and P 3.1 10(3), respectively) which we estimate explains approximate to 0.8 of the phenotypic variance. We also identified an independent association between the 3975 base pair (bp) deletion and obesity, explaining a further 0.46 of the variance (P-combined 1.6 10(3)). Evidence for association between DOCK5 transcript levels and the 3975 bp deletion (P 0.027) and both VNTRs (P-empirical 0.015) was also identified in adipose tissue from a Swedish family sample, providing support for a functional effect of the DOCK5 deletion and VNTRs. These findings highlight the potential role of DOCK5 in human obesity and illustrate a novel approach for analysis of the contribution of VNTRs to disease susceptibility through association studies.
|
|
| 8. |
- Taal, H. Rob, et al.
(author)
-
Common variants at 12q15 and 12q24 are associated with infant head circumference
- 2012
-
In: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 44:5, s. 532-538
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To identify genetic variants associated with head circumference in infancy, we performed a meta-analysis of seven genome-wide association studies (GWAS) (N = 10,768 individuals of European ancestry enrolled in pregnancy and/or birth cohorts) and followed up three lead signals in six replication studies (combined N = 19,089). rs7980687 on chromosome 12q24 (P = 8.1 x 10(-9)) and rs1042725 on chromosome 12q15 (P = 2.8 x 10(-10)) were robustly associated with head circumference in infancy. Although these loci have previously been associated with adult height(1), their effects on infant head circumference were largely independent of height (P = 3.8 x 10(-7) for rs7980687 and P = 1.3 x 10(-7) for rs1042725 after adjustment for infant height). A third signal, rs11655470 on chromosome 17q21, showed suggestive evidence of association with head circumference (P = 3.9 x 10(-6)). SNPs correlated to the 17q21 signal have shown genome-wide association with adult intracranial volume(2), Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases(3-5), indicating that a common genetic variant in this region might link early brain growth with neurological disease in later life.
|
|
| 9. |
- Eleftherohorinou, Hariklia, et al.
(author)
-
famCNV: copy number variant association for quantitative traits in families.
- 2011
-
In: Bioinformatics (Oxford, England). - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1367-4811 .- 1367-4803. ; 27:13, s. 1873-5
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A program package to enable genome-wide association of copy number variants (CNVs) with quantitative phenotypes in families of arbitrary size and complexity. Intensity signals that act as proxies for the number of copies are modeled in a variance component framework and association with traits is assessed through formal likelihood testing. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The Java package is made available at www.imperial.ac.uk/medicine/people/m.falchi/. CONTACT: m.falchi@imperial.ac.uk.
|
|
| 10. |
|
|
