| 1. |
- Chasman, Daniel I., et al.
(författare)
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Integration of genome-wide association studies with biological knowledge identifies six novel genes related to kidney function
- 2012
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Ingår i: Human Molecular Genetics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0964-6906 .- 1460-2083. ; 21:24, s. 5329-5343
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In conducting genome-wide association studies (GWAS), analytical approaches leveraging biological information may further understanding of the pathophysiology of clinical traits. To discover novel associations with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), a measure of kidney function, we developed a strategy for integrating prior biological knowledge into the existing GWAS data for eGFR from the CKDGen Consortium. Our strategy focuses on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) in genes that are connected by functional evidence, determined by literature mining and gene ontology (GO) hierarchies, to genes near previously validated eGFR associations. It then requires association thresholds consistent with multiple testing, and finally evaluates novel candidates by independent replication. Among the samples of European ancestry, we identified a genome-wide significant SNP in FBXL20 (P 5.6 10(9)) in meta-analysis of all available data, and additional SNPs at the INHBC, LRP2, PLEKHA1, SLC3A2 and SLC7A6 genes meeting multiple-testing corrected significance for replication and overall P-values of 4.5 10(4)2.2 10(7). Neither the novel PLEKHA1 nor FBXL20 associations, both further supported by association with eGFR among African Americans and with transcript abundance, would have been implicated by eGFR candidate gene approaches. LRP2, encoding the megalin receptor, was identified through connection with the previously known eGFR gene DAB2 and extends understanding of the megalin system in kidney function. These findings highlight integration of existing genome-wide association data with independent biological knowledge to uncover novel candidate eGFR associations, including candidates lacking known connections to kidney-specific pathways. The strategy may also be applicable to other clinical phenotypes, although more testing will be needed to assess its potential for discovery in general.
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| 2. |
- Chen, Dan, et al.
(författare)
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A systematic investigation of the contribution of genetic variation within the MHC region to HPV seropositivity
- 2015
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Ingår i: Human Molecular Genetics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0964-6906 .- 1460-2083. ; 24:9, s. 2681-2688
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- High-risk mucosal types of human papillomavirus (HPV) cause anogenital and oropharyngeal cancers, whereas cutaneous types (e.g. HPV8 and 77) are suspected to be involved in non-melanoma skin cancer. The antibody response to HPVs is a key determinant of protective immunity, but not all infected individuals seroconvert. Genetic variability of the host may have large impact on seroconversion. A previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) has identified a susceptibility locus (rs41270488) for HPV8 seropositivity within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region. To further study this locus, we imputed alleles at classical leukocyte antigen (HLA) loci using HLA*IMP:02 with a reference panel from the HapMap Project and the 1958 Birth Cohort, and conducted an integrated analysis among 4811 central European subjects to assess the contribution of classical HLA alleles and gene copy number variation (CNV) at the hypervariable DRB locus within the MHC region to HPV seropositivity at both the individual HPV type level and the phylogenetic species level. Our study provides evidence that the association noted between rs41270488 and HPV8 seropositivity is driven by two independent variants, namely DQB1*0301 [odds ratio (OR) = 1.51, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.36-1.68, P = 1.0 x 10(-14)] and DRB1*1101 (OR = 1.89, 95% CI = 1.57-2.28, P = 1.5 x 10(-11)) within the HLA class II region. Additionally, we identified two correlated alleles DRB1*0701 (OR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.41-1.98, P = 2.6 x 10(-9)) and DQA1*0201 (OR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.38-1.93, P = 1.7 x 10(-8)), to be associated with HPV77 seropositivity. Comparable results were observed through imputation using SNP2HLA with another reference panel from the Type 1 diabetes Genetics Consortium. This study provides support for an important role of HLA class II alleles in antibody response to HPV infection.
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| 3. |
- Chen, Dan, et al.
(författare)
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Pathway analysis of cervical cancer genome-wide association study highlights the MHC region and pathways involved in response to infection
- 2014
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Ingår i: Human Molecular Genetics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0964-6906 .- 1460-2083. ; 23:22, s. 6047-6060
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cervical cancer is caused by infection with human papillomavirus (HPV). A genome-wide association study (GWAS) has identified several susceptibility loci for cervical cancer, but they explain only a small fraction of cervical cancer heritability. Other variants with weaker effect may be missed due to the stringent significance threshold. To identify important pathways in cervical carcinogenesis, we performed a two-stage pathway analysis in two independent GWASs in the Swedish population, using the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) ratio test. The 565 predefined pathways from Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and BioCarta databases were systematically evaluated in the discovery stage (1034 cases and 3948 controls with 632 668 SNPs) and the suggestive pathways were further validated in the replication stage (616 cases and 506 controls with 341 358 SNPs). We found 12 pathways that were significant in both stages, and these were further validated using set-based analysis. For 10 of these pathways, the effect was mainly due to genetic variation within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region. In addition, we identified a set of novel candidate genes outside the MHC region in the pathways denoted ‘Staphylococcus aureus infection’ and ‘herpes simplex infection’ that influenced susceptibility to cervical cancer (empirical P = 4.99 × 10−5 and 4.99 × 10−5 in the discovery study; empirical P = 8.98 × 10−5 and 0.009 in the replication study, respectively). Staphylococcus aureus infection may evoke an inflammatory response that inadvertently enhances malignant progression caused by HPV infection, and Herpes simplex virus-2 infection may act in conjunction with HPV infection to increase the risk of cervical carcinoma development. These findings provide new insights into the etiology of cervical cancer.
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| 4. |
- Ek, Weronica E, et al.
(författare)
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Genetic variants influencing phenotypic variance heterogeneity
- 2018
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Ingår i: Human Molecular Genetics. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS. - 0964-6906 .- 1460-2083. ; 27:5, s. 799-810
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Most genetic studies identify genetic variants associated with disease risk or with the mean value of a quantitative trait. More rarely, genetic variants associated with variance heterogeneity are considered. In this study, we have identified such variance single-nucleotide polymorphisms (vSNPs) and examined if these represent biological gene x gene or gene x environment interactions or statistical artifacts caused by multiple linked genetic variants influencing the same phenotype. We have performed a genome-wide study, to identify vSNPs associated with variance heterogeneity in DNA methylation levels. Genotype data from over 10 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and DNA methylation levels at over 430 000 CpG sites, were analyzed in 729 individuals. We identified vSNPs for 7195 CpG sites (P < 9.4 x 10(-11)). This is a relatively low number compared to 52 335 CpG sites for which SNPs were associated with mean DNA methylation levels. We further showed that variance heterogeneity between genotypes mainly represents additional, often rare, SNPs in linkage disequilibrium (LD) with the respective vSNP and for some vSNPs, multiple low frequency variants co-segregating with one of the vSNP alleles. Therefore, our results suggest that variance heterogeneity of DNA methylation mainly represents phenotypic effects by multiple SNPs, rather than biological interactions. Such effects may also be important for interpreting variance heterogeneity of more complex clinical phenotypes.
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| 5. |
- Ek, Weronica E, et al.
(författare)
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Genome-wide DNA methylation study identifies genes associated with the cardiovascular biomarker GDF-15
- 2016
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Ingår i: Human Molecular Genetics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0964-6906 .- 1460-2083. ; 25:4, s. 817-827
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Growth-differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15) is expressed in low to moderate levels in most healthy tissues and increases in response to inflammation. GDF-15 is associated with cardiovascular dysfunction and over-expressed in the myocardium of patients with myocardial infarction (MI). However, little is known about the function of GDF-15 in cardiovascular disease, and the underlying regulatory network of GDF-15 is not known. To investigate a possible association between GDF-15 levels and DNA methylation, we performed a genome-wide DNA methylation study of white blood cells in a population-based study (N = 717). Significant loci where replicated in an independent cohort (N = 963). We also performed a gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis. We identified and replicated 16 CpG-sites (false discovery rate [FDR] < 0.05), at 11 independent loci including MIR21. MIR21 encodes a microRNA (miR-21) that has previously been shown to be associated with the development of heart disease. Interestingly, GDF15 mRNA contains a binding site for miR-21. Four sites were also differentially methylated in blood from participants previously diagnosed with MI and 14 enriched GO terms (FDR < 0.05, enrichment > 2) were identified, including 'cardiac muscle cell differentiation'. This study shows that GDF-15 levels are associated with differences in DNA methylation in blood cells, and a subset of the loci are also differentially methylated in participants with MI. However, there might be interactions between GDF-15 levels and methylation in other tissues not addressed in this study. These results provide novel links between GDF-15 and cardiovascular disease.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Engelmark, Malin T., et al.
(författare)
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Identification of susceptibility loci for cervical carcinoma by genome scan of affected sib-pairs
- 2006
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Ingår i: Human Molecular Genetics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0964-6906 .- 1460-2083. ; 15:22, s. 3351-3360
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cervical cancer is caused by a combination of environmental and genetic risk factors. Infection by oncogenic types of human papillomavirus is recognized as the major environmental risk factor and epidemiological studies indicate that host genetic factors predispose to disease development. A number of genetic susceptibility factors have been proposed, but with exception of the human leukocyte antigen CHLA, class II, have not shown consistent results among studies. We have performed the first genomewide linkage scan using 278 affected sib-pairs to identify loci involved in susceptibility to cervical cancer. A two-step qualitative non-parametric linkage analysis using 387 microsatellites with an average spacing of 10.5 cM revealed excess allelic sharing at nine regions on eight chromosomes. These regions were further analysed with 125 markers to increase the map density to 1.28 cM. Nominal significant linkage was found for three of the nine loci [9q32 (maximum lod-score, MLS) =1.95, P < 0.002), 12q24 (MLS=1.25, P < 0.015) and 16q24 (MLS=1.35, P < 0.012)]. These three regions have previously been connected to human cancers that share characteristics with cervical carcinoma, such as esophageal cancer and Hodgkin's lymphoma. A number of candidate genes involved in defence against viral infections, immune response and tumour suppression are found in these regions. One such gene is the thymic stromal co-transporter (TSCOT). Analyses of TSCOT single nucleotide polymorphisms further strengthen the linkage to this region (MLS=2.40, P < 0.001). We propose that the 9q32 region contains susceptibility locus for cervical cancer and that TSCOT is a candidate gene potentially involved in the genetic predisposition to this disease.
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| 8. |
- Huffman, Jennifer E., et al.
(författare)
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Polymorphisms in B3GAT1, SLC9A9 and MGAT5 are associated with variation within the human plasma N-glycome of 3533 European adults
- 2011
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Ingår i: Human Molecular Genetics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0964-6906 .- 1460-2083. ; 20:24, s. 5000-5011
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The majority of human proteins are post-translationally modified by covalent addition of one or more complex oligosaccharides (glycans). Alterations in glycosylation processing are associated with numerous diseases and glycans are attracting increasing attention both as disease biomarkers and as targets for novel therapeutic approaches. Using a recently developed high-throughput high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis method, we have reported, in a pilot genome-wide association study of 13 glycan features in 2705 individuals from three European populations, that polymorphisms at three loci (FUT8, FUT6/FUT3 and HNF1A) affect plasma levels of N-glycans. Here, we extended the analysis to 33 directly measured and 13 derived glycosylation traits in 3533 individuals and identified three novel gene association (MGAT5, B3GAT1 and SLC9A9) as well as replicated the previous findings using an additional European cohort. MGAT5 (meta-analysis association P-value = 1.80 x 10(-10) for rs1257220) encodes a glycosyltransferase which is known to synthesize the associated glycans. In contrast, neither B3GAT1 (rs7928758, P = 1.66 x 10(-08)) nor SLC9A9 (rs4839604, P = 3.50 x 10(-13)) had previously been associated functionally with glycosylation of plasma proteins. Given the glucuronyl transferase activity of B3GAT1, we were able to show that glucuronic acid is present on antennae of plasma glycoproteins underlying the corresponding HPLC peak. SLC9A9 encodes a proton pump which affects pH in the endosomal compartment and it was recently reported that changes in Golgi pH can impair protein sialylation, giving a possible mechanism for the observed association.
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| 9. |
- Ingman, Max, et al.
(författare)
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Rate variation between mitochondrial domains and adaptive evolution in humans
- 2007
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Ingår i: Human Molecular Genetics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0964-6906 .- 1460-2083. ; 16:19, s. 2281-2287
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It has been proposed that as a result of human adaptation to different climates, mitochondrial genes have been affected by natural selection. To further study the selective pressure on human mitochondrial DNA, we have analysed polymorphism at the gene, domain and nucleotide site level in four geographic regions. The ratio of non-synonymous relative to synonymous substitutions is elevated for ATP6 in North Asia, ND3 in Africa and cytb in Europe relative to other mitochondrial genes. In addition, non-synonymous substitutions appear nearly five times more frequently outside core functional domains as compared with within functional domains. Therefore, a large part of the rate variation between mitochondrial genes is explained by differences in the length of the functional domain relative to the length of the gene. The accumulation of non-synonymous substitutions in the ATP6 gene among sequences from North Asia has been a gradual process over many thousands of years, consistent with relaxed purifying selection rather than recent strong selective sweeps. It is not necessary to invoke adaptive selection to explain the pattern of polymorphism in mitochondrial genes, when the most parsimonious explanation is relaxed purifying selection and the action of genetic drift.
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| 10. |
- Johansson, Åsa, et al.
(författare)
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Common variants in the JAZF1 gene associated with height identified by linkage and genome-wide association analysis
- 2009
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Ingår i: Human Molecular Genetics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0964-6906 .- 1460-2083. ; 18:2, s. 373-380
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Genes for height has gained interest for decades, but only recently have candidate genes started to be identified. We have performed linkage analysis and genome-wide association for height in approximately 4,000 individuals from five European populations. A total of 5 chromosomal regions showed suggestive linkage and in one of these regions, two SNPs (rs849140 and rs1635852) were associated with height (nominal p=7.0 x 10(-8) and p=9.6 x 10(-7) respectively). In total, five SNPs across the genome showed an association with height that reached the threshold of genome-wide significance (nominal p<1.6 x 10(-7)). The association with height was replicated for two SNPs (rs1635852 and rs849140) using three independent studies (N=31,077, N=1,268 and N=5,746) with overall meta p-values of 9.4x10(-10) and 5.3x10(-8). These SNPs are located in the JAZF1 gene, which has recently been associated with type II diabetes, prostate and endometrial cancer. JAZF1 is a transcriptional repressor of NR2C2, which results in low IGF1 serum concentrations, perinatal and early postnatal hypoglycaemia and growth retardation when knocked-out in mice. Both the linkage and association analyses independently identified the JAZF1 region affecting human height. We have demonstrated, through replication in additional independent populations, the consistency of the effect of the JAZF1 SNPs on height. Since this gene also has a key function in the metabolism of growth, JAZF1 represents one of the strongest candidates influencing human height so far identified.
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