@article {8290, title = {Burden of rare exome sequence variants in PROC gene is associated with venous thromboembolism: a population-based study.}, journal = {J Thromb Haemost}, volume = {18}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 Feb}, pages = {445-453}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Rare coding mutations underlying deficiencies of antithrombin and proteins C and S contribute to familial venous thromboembolism (VTE). It is uncertain whether rare variants play a role in the etiology of VTE in the general population.

OBJECTIVES: We conducted a deep whole-exome sequencing (WES) study to investigate the associations between rare coding variants and the risk of VTE in two population-based prospective cohorts.

PATIENTS/METHODS: Whole-exome sequencing was performed in the Longitudinal Investigation of Thromboembolism Etiology (LITE), which combines the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study (316 incident VTE events among 3159 African Americans [AAs] and 458 incident VTEs among 7772 European Americans [EAs]) and the Cardiovascular Healthy Study (CHS; 60 incident VTEs among 1751 EAs). We performed gene-based tests of rare variants (allele frequency~<~1\%, exome-wide significance P~<~1.47~{\texttimes}~10 ) separately in each study and ancestry group, and meta-analyzed the results for the EAs in ARIC and CHS.

RESULTS: In the meta-analysis of EAs, we identified one gene, PROC, in which the burden of rare, coding variants was significantly associated with increased risk of VTE (HR~=~5.42 [3.11, 9.42] for carriers versus non-carriers, P~=~2.27~{\texttimes}~10 ). In ARIC EAs, carriers of the PROC rare variants had on average 0.75 standard deviation (SD) lower concentrations of plasma protein C and 0.28 SD higher D-dimer (P~<~.05) than non-carriers. Adjustment for low protein C status did not eliminate the association of PROC burden with VTE. In AAs, rare coding PROC variants were not associated with VTE.

CONCLUSIONS: Rare coding variants in PROC contribute to increased VTE risk in EAs in this general population sample.

}, issn = {1538-7836}, doi = {10.1111/jth.14676}, author = {Tang, Weihong and Stimson, Mary Rachel and Basu, Saonli and Heckbert, Susan R and Cushman, Mary and Pankow, James S and Folsom, Aaron R and Pankratz, Nathan} } @article {9107, title = {Whole exome sequencing of 14 389 individuals from the ESP and CHARGE consortia identifies novel rare variation associated with hemostatic factors.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, year = {2022}, month = {2022 May 12}, abstract = {

Plasma levels of fibrinogen, coagulation factors VII and VIII, and von Willebrand factor (vWF) are four intermediate phenotypes that are heritable and have been associated with the risk of clinical thrombotic events. To identify rare and low-frequency variants associated with these hemostatic factors, we conducted whole exome sequencing in 10 860 individuals of European ancestry (EA) and 3529 African Americans (AAs) from the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute{\textquoteright}s Exome Sequencing Project (ESP). Gene-based tests demonstrated significant associations with rare variation (minor allele frequency < 5\%) in FGG (with fibrinogen, p = 9.1x10-13), F7 (with factor VII, p = 1.3x10-72; seven novel variants), and VWF (with factor VIII and vWF; p = 3.2x10-14; one novel variant). These eight novel rare variant associations were independent of the known common variants at these loci and tended to have much larger effect sizes. In addition, one of the rare novel variants in F7 was significantly associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolism in AAs (Ile200Ser; rs141219108; p = 4.2x10-5). After restricting gene-based analyses to only loss-of-function variants, a novel significant association was detected and replicated between factor VIII levels and a stop-gain mutation exclusive to African Americans (rs3211938) in CD36. This variant has previously been linked to dyslipidemia but not with levels of a hemostatic factor. These efforts represent the largest integration of whole exome sequence data from two national projects to identify genetic variation associated with plasma hemostatic factors.

}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/ddac100}, author = {Pankratz, Nathan and Wei, Peng and Brody, Jennifer A and Chen, Ming-Huei and Vries, Paul S and Huffman, Jennifer E and Stimson, Mary Rachel and Auer, Paul L and Boerwinkle, Eric and Cushman, Mary and Maat, Moniek P M and Folsom, Aaron R and Franco, Oscar H and Gibbs, Richard A and Haagenson, Kelly K and Hofman, Albert and Johnsen, Jill M and Kovar, Christie L and Kraaij, Robert and McKnight, Barbara and Metcalf, Ginger A and Muzny, Donna and Psaty, Bruce M and Tang, Weihong and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Rooij, Jeroen G J and Dehghan, Abbas and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Reiner, Alex P and Morrison, Alanna C and Smith, Nicholas L} }