@article {1179, title = {A meta-analysis of four genome-wide association studies of survival to age 90 years or older: the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology Consortium.}, journal = {J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci}, volume = {65}, year = {2010}, month = {2010 May}, pages = {478-87}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) may yield insights into longevity.

METHODS: We performed a meta-analysis of GWAS in Caucasians from four prospective cohort studies: the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study, the Cardiovascular Health Study, the Framingham Heart Study, and the Rotterdam Study participating in the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium. Longevity was defined as survival to age 90 years or older (n = 1,836); the comparison group comprised cohort members who died between the ages of 55 and 80 years (n = 1,955). In a second discovery stage, additional genotyping was conducted in the Leiden Longevity Study cohort and the Danish 1905 cohort.

RESULTS: There were 273 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) associations with p < .0001, but none reached the prespecified significance level of 5 x 10(-8). Of the most significant SNPs, 24 were independent signals, and 16 of these SNPs were successfully genotyped in the second discovery stage, with one association for rs9664222, reaching 6.77 x 10(-7) for the combined meta-analysis of CHARGE and the stage 2 cohorts. The SNP lies in a region near MINPP1 (chromosome 10), a well-conserved gene involved in regulation of cellular proliferation. The minor allele was associated with lower odds of survival past age 90 (odds ratio = 0.82). Associations of interest in a homologue of the longevity assurance gene (LASS3) and PAPPA2 were not strengthened in the second stage.

CONCLUSION: Survival studies of larger size or more extreme or specific phenotypes may support or refine these initial findings.

}, keywords = {Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alleles, Cohort Studies, Confidence Intervals, Female, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Humans, Longevity, Male, Middle Aged, Odds Ratio, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide}, issn = {1758-535X}, doi = {10.1093/gerona/glq028}, author = {Newman, Anne B and Walter, Stefan and Lunetta, Kathryn L and Garcia, Melissa E and Slagboom, P Eline and Christensen, Kaare and Arnold, Alice M and Aspelund, Thor and Aulchenko, Yurii S and Benjamin, Emelia J and Christiansen, Lene and D{\textquoteright}Agostino, Ralph B and Fitzpatrick, Annette L and Franceschini, Nora and Glazer, Nicole L and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Hofman, Albert and Kaplan, Robert and Karasik, David and Kelly-Hayes, Margaret and Kiel, Douglas P and Launer, Lenore J and Marciante, Kristin D and Massaro, Joseph M and Miljkovic, Iva and Nalls, Michael A and Hernandez, Dena and Psaty, Bruce M and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Rotter, Jerome and Seshadri, Sudha and Smith, Albert V and Taylor, Kent D and Tiemeier, Henning and Uh, Hae-Won and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Vaupel, James W and Walston, Jeremy and Westendorp, Rudi G J and Harris, Tamara B and Lumley, Thomas and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Murabito, Joanne M} } @article {6090, title = {Genome-wide meta-analysis points to CTC1 and ZNF676 as genes regulating telomere homeostasis in humans.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, volume = {21}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Dec 15}, pages = {5385-94}, abstract = {

Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) is associated with a number of common age-related diseases and is a heritable trait. Previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs) identified two loci on chromosomes 3q26.2 (TERC) and 10q24.33 (OBFC1) that are associated with the inter-individual LTL variation. We performed a meta-analysis of 9190 individuals from six independent GWAS and validated our findings in 2226 individuals from four additional studies. We confirmed previously reported associations with OBFC1 (rs9419958 P = 9.1 {\texttimes} 10(-11)) and with the telomerase RNA component TERC (rs1317082, P = 1.1 {\texttimes} 10(-8)). We also identified two novel genomic regions associated with LTL variation that map near a conserved telomere maintenance complex component 1 (CTC1; rs3027234, P = 3.6 {\texttimes} 10(-8)) on chromosome17p13.1 and zinc finger protein 676 (ZNF676; rs412658, P = 3.3 {\texttimes} 10(-8)) on 19p12. The minor allele of rs3027234 was associated with both shorter LTL and lower expression of CTC1. Our findings are consistent with the recent observations that point mutations in CTC1 cause short telomeres in both Arabidopsis and humans affected by a rare Mendelian syndrome. Overall, our results provide novel insights into the genetic architecture of inter-individual LTL variation in the general population.

}, keywords = {Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Kruppel-Like Transcription Factors, Telomere, Telomere Homeostasis, Telomere-Binding Proteins}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/dds382}, author = {Mangino, Massimo and Hwang, Shih-Jen and Spector, Timothy D and Hunt, Steven C and Kimura, Masayuki and Fitzpatrick, Annette L and Christiansen, Lene and Petersen, Inge and Elbers, Clara C and Harris, Tamara and Chen, Wei and Srinivasan, Sathanur R and Kark, Jeremy D and Benetos, Athanase and El Shamieh, Said and Visvikis-Siest, Sophie and Christensen, Kaare and Berenson, Gerald S and Valdes, Ana M and Vi{\~n}uela, Ana and Garcia, Melissa and Arnett, Donna K and Broeckel, Ulrich and Province, Michael A and Pankow, James S and Kammerer, Candace and Liu, Yongmei and Nalls, Michael and Tishkoff, Sarah and Thomas, Fridtjof and Ziv, Elad and Psaty, Bruce M and Bis, Joshua C and Rotter, Jerome I and Taylor, Kent D and Smith, Erin and Schork, Nicholas J and Levy, Daniel and Aviv, Abraham} } @article {6938, title = {FTO genetic variants, dietary intake and body mass index: insights from 177,330 individuals.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, volume = {23}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Dec 20}, pages = {6961-72}, abstract = {

FTO is the strongest known genetic susceptibility locus for obesity. Experimental studies in animals suggest the potential roles of FTO in regulating food intake. The interactive relation among FTO variants, dietary intake and body mass index (BMI) is complex and results from previous often small-scale studies in humans are highly inconsistent. We performed large-scale analyses based on data from 177,330 adults (154 439 Whites, 5776 African Americans and 17 115 Asians) from 40 studies to examine: (i) the association between the FTO-rs9939609 variant (or a proxy single-nucleotide polymorphism) and total energy and macronutrient intake and (ii) the interaction between the FTO variant and dietary intake on BMI. The minor allele (A-allele) of the FTO-rs9939609 variant was associated with higher BMI in Whites (effect per allele = 0.34 [0.31, 0.37] kg/m(2), P = 1.9 {\texttimes} 10(-105)), and all participants (0.30 [0.30, 0.35] kg/m(2), P = 3.6 {\texttimes} 10(-107)). The BMI-increasing allele of the FTO variant showed a significant association with higher dietary protein intake (effect per allele = 0.08 [0.06, 0.10] \%, P = 2.4 {\texttimes} 10(-16)), and relative weak associations with lower total energy intake (-6.4 [-10.1, -2.6] kcal/day, P = 0.001) and lower dietary carbohydrate intake (-0.07 [-0.11, -0.02] \%, P = 0.004). The associations with protein (P = 7.5 {\texttimes} 10(-9)) and total energy (P = 0.002) were attenuated but remained significant after adjustment for BMI. We did not find significant interactions between the FTO variant and dietary intake of total energy, protein, carbohydrate or fat on BMI. Our findings suggest a positive association between the BMI-increasing allele of FTO variant and higher dietary protein intake and offer insight into potential link between FTO, dietary protein intake and adiposity.

}, keywords = {Adult, African Americans, Aged, Alleles, Asian Continental Ancestry Group, Body Mass Index, Dietary Carbohydrates, Dietary Fats, Dietary Proteins, Energy Intake, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Gene Frequency, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Obesity, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Proteins}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/ddu411}, author = {Qi, Qibin and Kilpel{\"a}inen, Tuomas O and Downer, Mary K and Tanaka, Toshiko and Smith, Caren E and Sluijs, Ivonne and Sonestedt, Emily and Chu, Audrey Y and Renstrom, Frida and Lin, Xiaochen and {\"A}ngquist, Lars H and Huang, Jinyan and Liu, Zhonghua and Li, Yanping and Asif Ali, Muhammad and Xu, Min and Ahluwalia, Tarunveer Singh and Boer, Jolanda M A and Chen, Peng and Daimon, Makoto and Eriksson, Johan and Perola, Markus and Friedlander, Yechiel and Gao, Yu-Tang and Heppe, Denise H M and Holloway, John W and Houston, Denise K and Kanoni, Stavroula and Kim, Yu-Mi and Laaksonen, Maarit A and J{\"a}{\"a}skel{\"a}inen, Tiina and Lee, Nanette R and Lehtim{\"a}ki, Terho and Lemaitre, Rozenn N and Lu, Wei and Luben, Robert N and Manichaikul, Ani and M{\"a}nnist{\"o}, Satu and Marques-Vidal, Pedro and Monda, Keri L and Ngwa, Julius S and Perusse, Louis and van Rooij, Frank J A and Xiang, Yong-Bing and Wen, Wanqing and Wojczynski, Mary K and Zhu, Jingwen and Borecki, Ingrid B and Bouchard, Claude and Cai, Qiuyin and Cooper, Cyrus and Dedoussis, George V and Deloukas, Panos and Ferrucci, Luigi and Forouhi, Nita G and Hansen, Torben and Christiansen, Lene and Hofman, Albert and Johansson, Ingegerd and J{\o}rgensen, Torben and Karasawa, Shigeru and Khaw, Kay-Tee and Kim, Mi-Kyung and Kristiansson, Kati and Li, Huaixing and Lin, Xu and Liu, Yongmei and Lohman, Kurt K and Long, Jirong and Mikkil{\"a}, Vera and Mozaffarian, Dariush and North, Kari and Pedersen, Oluf and Raitakari, Olli and Rissanen, Harri and Tuomilehto, Jaakko and van der Schouw, Yvonne T and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Zillikens, M Carola and Franco, Oscar H and Shyong Tai, E and Ou Shu, Xiao and Siscovick, David S and Toft, Ulla and Verschuren, W M Monique and Vollenweider, Peter and Wareham, Nicholas J and Witteman, Jacqueline C M and Zheng, Wei and Ridker, Paul M and Kang, Jae H and Liang, Liming and Jensen, Majken K and Curhan, Gary C and Pasquale, Louis R and Hunter, David J and Mohlke, Karen L and Uusitupa, Matti and Cupples, L Adrienne and Rankinen, Tuomo and Orho-Melander, Marju and Wang, Tao and Chasman, Daniel I and Franks, Paul W and S{\o}rensen, Thorkild I A and Hu, Frank B and Loos, Ruth J F and Nettleton, Jennifer A and Qi, Lu} } @article {6817, title = {DCAF4, a novel gene associated with leucocyte telomere length.}, journal = {J Med Genet}, volume = {52}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Mar}, pages = {157-62}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Leucocyte telomere length (LTL), which is fashioned by multiple genes, has been linked to a host of human diseases, including sporadic melanoma. A number of genes associated with LTL have already been identified through genome-wide association studies. The main aim of this study was to establish whether DCAF4 (DDB1 and CUL4-associated factor 4) is associated with LTL. In addition, using ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA), we examined whether LTL-associated genes in the general population might partially explain the inherently longer LTL in patients with sporadic melanoma, the risk for which is increased with ultraviolet radiation (UVR).

RESULTS: Genome-wide association (GWA) meta-analysis and de novo genotyping of 20 022 individuals revealed a novel association (p=6.4{\texttimes}10(-10)) between LTL and rs2535913, which lies within DCAF4. Notably, eQTL analysis showed that rs2535913 is associated with decline in DCAF4 expressions in both lymphoblastoid cells and sun-exposed skin (p=4.1{\texttimes}10(-3) and 2{\texttimes}10(-3), respectively). Moreover, IPA revealed that LTL-associated genes, derived from GWA meta-analysis (N=9190), are over-represented among genes engaged in melanoma pathways. Meeting increasingly stringent p value thresholds (p<0.05, <0.01, <0.005, <0.001) in the LTL-GWA meta-analysis, these genes were jointly over-represented for melanoma at p values ranging from 1.97{\texttimes}10(-169) to 3.42{\texttimes}10(-24).

CONCLUSIONS: We uncovered a new locus associated with LTL in the general population. We also provided preliminary findings that suggest a link of LTL through genetic mechanisms with UVR and melanoma in the general population.

}, keywords = {Alleles, Carrier Proteins, Gene Expression Regulation, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Leukocytes, Melanoma, Risk Factors, Telomere, Telomere Homeostasis}, issn = {1468-6244}, doi = {10.1136/jmedgenet-2014-102681}, author = {Mangino, Massimo and Christiansen, Lene and Stone, Rivka and Hunt, Steven C and Horvath, Kent and Eisenberg, Dan T A and Kimura, Masayuki and Petersen, Inge and Kark, Jeremy D and Herbig, Utz and Reiner, Alex P and Benetos, Athanase and Codd, Veryan and Nyholt, Dale R and Sinnreich, Ronit and Christensen, Kaare and Nassar, Hisham and Hwang, Shih-Jen and Levy, Daniel and Bataille, Veronique and Fitzpatrick, Annette L and Chen, Wei and Berenson, Gerald S and Samani, Nilesh J and Martin, Nicholas G and Tishkoff, Sarah and Schork, Nicholas J and Kyvik, Kirsten Ohm and Dalg{\r a}rd, Christine and Spector, Timothy D and Aviv, Abraham} } @article {7591, title = {Telomeres and the natural lifespan limit in humans.}, journal = {Aging (Albany NY)}, volume = {9}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Apr}, pages = {1130-1142}, abstract = {

An ongoing debate in demography has focused on whether the human lifespan has a maximal natural limit. Taking a mechanistic perspective, and knowing that short telomeres are associated with diminished longevity, we examined whether telomere length dynamics during adult life could set a maximal natural lifespan limit. We define leukocyte telomere length of 5 kb as the {\textquoteright}telomeric brink{\textquoteright}, which denotes a high risk of imminent death. We show that a subset of adults may reach the telomeric brink within the current life expectancy and more so for a 100-year life expectancy. Thus, secular trends in life expectancy should confront a biological limit due to crossing the telomeric brink.

}, issn = {1945-4589}, doi = {10.18632/aging.101216}, author = {Steenstrup, Troels and Kark, Jeremy D and Verhulst, Simon and Thinggaard, Mikael and Hjelmborg, Jacob V B and Dalg{\r a}rd, Christine and Kyvik, Kirsten Ohm and Christiansen, Lene and Mangino, Massimo and Spector, Timothy D and Petersen, Inge and Kimura, Masayuki and Benetos, Athanase and Labat, Carlos and Sinnreich, Ronit and Hwang, Shih-Jen and Levy, Daniel and Hunt, Steven C and Fitzpatrick, Annette L and Chen, Wei and Berenson, Gerald S and Barbieri, Michelangela and Paolisso, Giuseppe and Gadalla, Shahinaz M and Savage, Sharon A and Christensen, Kaare and Yashin, Anatoliy I and Arbeev, Konstantin G and Aviv, Abraham} }