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- Johansson, Åsa, et al.
(author)
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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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In: Human Molecular Genetics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0964-6906 .- 1460-2083. ; 18:2, s. 373-380
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)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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2. |
- Johansson, Åsa, et al.
(author)
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Linkage and genome-wide association analysis of obesity-related phenotypes : association of weight with the MGAT1 gene
- 2010
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In: Obesity. - : Wiley. - 1930-7381 .- 1930-739X. ; 18:4, s. 803-808
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- As major risk-factors for diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, the genetic contribution to obesity-related traits has been of interest for decades. Recently, a limited number of common genetic variants, which have replicated in different populations, have been identified. One approach to increase the statistical power in genetic mapping studies is to focus on populations with increased levels of linkage disequilibrium (LD) and reduced genetic diversity. We have performed joint linkage and genome-wide association analyses for weight and BMI in 3,448 (linkage) and 3,925 (association) partly overlapping healthy individuals from five European populations. A total of four chromosomal regions (two for weight and two for BMI) showed suggestive linkage (lod >2.69) either in one of the populations or in the joint data. At the genome-wide level (nominal P < 1.6 × 10−7, Bonferroni-adjusted P < 0.05) one single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (rs12517906) (nominal P = 7.3 × 10−8) was associated with weight, whereas none with BMI. The SNP associated with weight is located close to MGAT1. The monoacylglycerol acyltransferase (MGAT) enzyme family is known to be involved in dietary fat absorption. There was no overlap between the linkage regions and the associated SNPs. Our results show that genetic effects influencing weight and BMI are shared across diverse European populations, even though some of these populations have experienced recent population bottlenecks and/or been affected by genetic drift. The analysis enabled us to identify a new candidate gene, MGAT1, associated with weight in women.
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