@article {1273, title = {Association of genetic variation with systolic and diastolic blood pressure among African Americans: the Candidate Gene Association Resource study.}, journal = {Hum Mol Genet}, volume = {20}, year = {2011}, month = {2011 Jun 01}, pages = {2273-84}, abstract = {

The prevalence of hypertension in African Americans (AAs) is higher than in other US groups; yet, few have performed genome-wide association studies (GWASs) in AA. Among people of European descent, GWASs have identified genetic variants at 13 loci that are associated with blood pressure. It is unknown if these variants confer susceptibility in people of African ancestry. Here, we examined genome-wide and candidate gene associations with systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) using the Candidate Gene Association Resource (CARe) consortium consisting of 8591 AAs. Genotypes included genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data utilizing the Affymetrix 6.0 array with imputation to 2.5 million HapMap SNPs and candidate gene SNP data utilizing a 50K cardiovascular gene-centric array (ITMAT-Broad-CARe [IBC] array). For Affymetrix data, the strongest signal for DBP was rs10474346 (P= 3.6 {\texttimes} 10(-8)) located near GPR98 and ARRDC3. For SBP, the strongest signal was rs2258119 in C21orf91 (P= 4.7 {\texttimes} 10(-8)). The top IBC association for SBP was rs2012318 (P= 6.4 {\texttimes} 10(-6)) near SLC25A42 and for DBP was rs2523586 (P= 1.3 {\texttimes} 10(-6)) near HLA-B. None of the top variants replicated in additional AA (n = 11 882) or European-American (n = 69 899) cohorts. We replicated previously reported European-American blood pressure SNPs in our AA samples (SH2B3, P= 0.009; TBX3-TBX5, P= 0.03; and CSK-ULK3, P= 0.0004). These genetic loci represent the best evidence of genetic influences on SBP and DBP in AAs to date. More broadly, this work supports that notion that blood pressure among AAs is a trait with genetic underpinnings but also with significant complexity.

}, keywords = {Adult, African Americans, Aged, Blood Pressure, Cohort Studies, Diastole, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genetic Loci, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Humans, Hypertension, Male, Middle Aged, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Systole}, issn = {1460-2083}, doi = {10.1093/hmg/ddr092}, author = {Fox, Ervin R and Young, J Hunter and Li, Yali and Dreisbach, Albert W and Keating, Brendan J and Musani, Solomon K and Liu, Kiang and Morrison, Alanna C and Ganesh, Santhi and Kutlar, Abdullah and Ramachandran, Vasan S and Polak, Josef F and Fabsitz, Richard R and Dries, Daniel L and Farlow, Deborah N and Redline, Susan and Adeyemo, Adebowale and Hirschorn, Joel N and Sun, Yan V and Wyatt, Sharon B and Penman, Alan D and Palmas, Walter and Rotter, Jerome I and Townsend, Raymond R and Doumatey, Ayo P and Tayo, Bamidele O and Mosley, Thomas H and Lyon, Helen N and Kang, Sun J and Rotimi, Charles N and Cooper, Richard S and Franceschini, Nora and Curb, J David and Martin, Lisa W and Eaton, Charles B and Kardia, Sharon L R and Taylor, Herman A and Caulfield, Mark J and Ehret, Georg B and Johnson, Toby and Chakravarti, Aravinda and Zhu, Xiaofeng and Levy, Daniel} } @article {1371, title = {Associations between incident ischemic stroke events and stroke and cardiovascular disease-related genome-wide association studies single nucleotide polymorphisms in the Population Architecture Using Genomics and Epidemiology study.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {5}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Apr 01}, pages = {210-6}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified loci associated with ischemic stroke (IS) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in European-descent individuals, but their replication in different populations has been largely unexplored.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) selected from GWAS and meta-analyses of stroke, and 86 SNPs previously associated with myocardial infarction and CVD risk factors, including blood lipids (high density lipoprotein [HDL], low density lipoprotein [LDL], and triglycerides), type 2 diabetes, and body mass index (BMI), were investigated for associations with incident IS in European Americans (EA) N=26 276, African-Americans (AA) N=8970, and American Indians (AI) N=3570 from the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology Study. Ancestry-specific fixed effects meta-analysis with inverse variance weighting was used to combine study-specific log hazard ratios from Cox proportional hazards models. Two of 9 stroke SNPs (rs783396 and rs1804689) were significantly associated with [corrected] IS hazard in AA; none were significant in this large EA cohort. Of 73 CVD risk factor SNPs tested in EA, 2 (HDL and triglycerides SNPs) were associated with IS. In AA, SNPs associated with LDL, HDL, and BMI were significantly associated with IS (3 of 86 SNPs tested). Out of 58 SNPs tested in AI, 1 LDL SNP was significantly associated with IS.

CONCLUSIONS: Our analyses showing lack of replication in spite of reasonable power for many stroke SNPs and differing results by ancestry highlight the need to follow up on GWAS findings and conduct genetic association studies in diverse populations. We found modest IS associations with BMI and lipids SNPs, though these findings require confirmation.

}, keywords = {Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cholesterol, HDL, Cholesterol, LDL, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Genetics, Population, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genomics, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk Factors, Stroke, Triglycerides}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.111.962191}, author = {Carty, Cara L and B{\r u}zkov{\'a}, Petra and Fornage, Myriam and Franceschini, Nora and Cole, Shelley and Heiss, Gerardo and Hindorff, Lucia A and Howard, Barbara V and Mann, Sue and Martin, Lisa W and Zhang, Ying and Matise, Tara C and Prentice, Ross and Reiner, Alexander P and Kooperberg, Charles} } @article {6598, title = {Evidence of heterogeneity by race/ethnicity in genetic determinants of QT interval.}, journal = {Epidemiology}, volume = {25}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Nov}, pages = {790-8}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: QT interval (QT) prolongation is an established risk factor for ventricular tachyarrhythmia and sudden cardiac death. Previous genome-wide association studies in populations of the European descent have identified multiple genetic loci that influence QT, but few have examined these loci in ethnically diverse populations.

METHODS: Here, we examine the direction, magnitude, and precision of effect sizes for 21 previously reported SNPs from 12 QT loci, in populations of European (n = 16,398), African (n = 5,437), American Indian (n = 5,032), Hispanic (n = 1,143), and Asian (n = 932) descent as part of the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) study. Estimates obtained from linear regression models stratified by race/ethnicity were combined using inverse-variance weighted meta-analysis. Heterogeneity was evaluated using Cochran{\textquoteright}s Q test.

RESULTS: Of 21 SNPs, 7 showed consistent direction of effect across all 5 populations, and an additional 9 had estimated effects that were consistent across 4 populations. Despite consistent direction of effect, 9 of 16 SNPs had evidence (P < 0.05) of heterogeneity by race/ethnicity. For these 9 SNPs, linkage disequilibrium plots often indicated substantial variation in linkage disequilibrium patterns among the various racial/ethnic groups, as well as possible allelic heterogeneity.

CONCLUSIONS: These results emphasize the importance of analyzing racial/ethnic groups separately in genetic studies. Furthermore, they underscore the possible utility of trans-ethnic studies to pinpoint underlying casual variants influencing heritable traits such as QT.

}, keywords = {Aged, Continental Population Groups, Electrocardiography, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Haplotypes, Humans, Long QT Syndrome, Male, Middle Aged, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Quantitative Trait Loci, Quantitative Trait, Heritable, Risk Factors}, issn = {1531-5487}, doi = {10.1097/EDE.0000000000000168}, author = {Seyerle, Amanda A and Young, Alicia M and Jeff, Janina M and Melton, Phillip E and Jorgensen, Neal W and Lin, Yi and Carty, Cara L and Deelman, Ewa and Heckbert, Susan R and Hindorff, Lucia A and Jackson, Rebecca D and Martin, Lisa W and Okin, Peter M and Perez, Marco V and Psaty, Bruce M and Soliman, Elsayed Z and Whitsel, Eric A and North, Kari E and Laston, Sandra and Kooperberg, Charles and Avery, Christy L} } @article {6558, title = {Large multiethnic Candidate Gene Study for C-reactive protein levels: identification of a novel association at CD36 in African Americans.}, journal = {Hum Genet}, volume = {133}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Aug}, pages = {985-95}, abstract = {

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a heritable biomarker of systemic inflammation and a predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Large-scale genetic association studies for CRP have largely focused on individuals of European descent. We sought to uncover novel genetic variants for CRP in a multiethnic sample using the ITMAT Broad-CARe (IBC) array, a custom 50,000 SNP gene-centric array having dense coverage of over 2,000 candidate CVD genes. We performed analyses on 7,570 African Americans (AA) from the Candidate gene Association Resource (CARe) study and race-combined meta-analyses that included 29,939 additional individuals of European descent from CARe, the Women{\textquoteright}s Health Initiative (WHI) and KORA studies. We observed array-wide significance (p < 2.2 {\texttimes} 10(-6)) for four loci in AA, three of which have been reported previously in individuals of European descent (IL6R, p = 2.0 {\texttimes} 10(-6); CRP, p = 4.2 {\texttimes} 10(-71); APOE, p = 1.6 {\texttimes} 10(-6)). The fourth significant locus, CD36 (p = 1.6 {\texttimes} 10(-6)), was observed at a functional variant (rs3211938) that is extremely rare in individuals of European descent. We replicated the CD36 finding (p = 1.8 {\texttimes} 10(-5)) in an independent sample of 8,041 AA women from WHI; a meta-analysis combining the CARe and WHI AA results at rs3211938 reached genome-wide significance (p = 1.5 {\texttimes} 10(-10)). In the race-combined meta-analyses, 13 loci reached significance, including ten (CRP, TOMM40/APOE/APOC1, HNF1A, LEPR, GCKR, IL6R, IL1RN, NLRP3, HNF4A and BAZ1B/BCL7B) previously associated with CRP, and one (ARNTL) previously reported to be nominally associated with CRP. Two novel loci were also detected (RPS6KB1, p = 2.0 {\texttimes} 10(-6); CD36, p = 1.4 {\texttimes} 10(-6)). These results highlight both shared and unique genetic risk factors for CRP in AA compared to populations of European descent.

}, keywords = {Adult, African Americans, Aged, Biomarkers, C-Reactive Protein, Cardiovascular Diseases, CD36 Antigens, Female, Genetic Loci, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genetics, Population, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk Factors}, issn = {1432-1203}, doi = {10.1007/s00439-014-1439-z}, author = {Ellis, Jaclyn and Lange, Ethan M and Li, Jin and Dupuis, Jos{\'e}e and Baumert, Jens and Walston, Jeremy D and Keating, Brendan J and Durda, Peter and Fox, Ervin R and Palmer, Cameron D and Meng, Yan A and Young, Taylor and Farlow, Deborah N and Schnabel, Renate B and Marzi, Carola S and Larkin, Emma and Martin, Lisa W and Bis, Joshua C and Auer, Paul and Ramachandran, Vasan S and Gabriel, Stacey B and Willis, Monte S and Pankow, James S and Papanicolaou, George J and Rotter, Jerome I and Ballantyne, Christie M and Gross, Myron D and Lettre, Guillaume and Wilson, James G and Peters, Ulrike and Koenig, Wolfgang and Tracy, Russell P and Redline, Susan and Reiner, Alex P and Benjamin, Emelia J and Lange, Leslie A} } @article {6605, title = {Loss-of-function mutations in APOC3, triglycerides, and coronary disease.}, journal = {N Engl J Med}, volume = {371}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Jul 3}, pages = {22-31}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Plasma triglyceride levels are heritable and are correlated with the risk of coronary heart disease. Sequencing of the protein-coding regions of the human genome (the exome) has the potential to identify rare mutations that have a large effect on phenotype.

METHODS: We sequenced the protein-coding regions of 18,666 genes in each of 3734 participants of European or African ancestry in the Exome Sequencing Project. We conducted tests to determine whether rare mutations in coding sequence, individually or in aggregate within a gene, were associated with plasma triglyceride levels. For mutations associated with triglyceride levels, we subsequently evaluated their association with the risk of coronary heart disease in 110,970 persons.

RESULTS: An aggregate of rare mutations in the gene encoding apolipoprotein C3 (APOC3) was associated with lower plasma triglyceride levels. Among the four mutations that drove this result, three were loss-of-function mutations: a nonsense mutation (R19X) and two splice-site mutations (IVS2+1G{\textrightarrow}A and IVS3+1G{\textrightarrow}T). The fourth was a missense mutation (A43T). Approximately 1 in 150 persons in the study was a heterozygous carrier of at least one of these four mutations. Triglyceride levels in the carriers were 39\% lower than levels in noncarriers (P<1{\texttimes}10(-20)), and circulating levels of APOC3 in carriers were 46\% lower than levels in noncarriers (P=8{\texttimes}10(-10)). The risk of coronary heart disease among 498 carriers of any rare APOC3 mutation was 40\% lower than the risk among 110,472 noncarriers (odds ratio, 0.60; 95\% confidence interval, 0.47 to 0.75; P=4{\texttimes}10(-6)).

CONCLUSIONS: Rare mutations that disrupt APOC3 function were associated with lower levels of plasma triglycerides and APOC3. Carriers of these mutations were found to have a reduced risk of coronary heart disease. (Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and others.).

}, keywords = {African Continental Ancestry Group, Apolipoprotein C-III, Coronary Disease, European Continental Ancestry Group, Exome, Genotype, Heterozygote, Humans, Liver, Mutation, Risk Factors, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Triglycerides}, issn = {1533-4406}, doi = {10.1056/NEJMoa1307095}, author = {Crosby, Jacy and Peloso, Gina M and Auer, Paul L and Crosslin, David R and Stitziel, Nathan O and Lange, Leslie A and Lu, Yingchang and Tang, Zheng-Zheng and Zhang, He and Hindy, George and Masca, Nicholas and Stirrups, Kathleen and Kanoni, Stavroula and Do, Ron and Jun, Goo and Hu, Youna and Kang, Hyun Min and Xue, Chenyi and Goel, Anuj and Farrall, Martin and Duga, Stefano and Merlini, Pier Angelica and Asselta, Rosanna and Girelli, Domenico and Olivieri, Oliviero and Martinelli, Nicola and Yin, Wu and Reilly, Dermot and Speliotes, Elizabeth and Fox, Caroline S and Hveem, Kristian and Holmen, Oddgeir L and Nikpay, Majid and Farlow, Deborah N and Assimes, Themistocles L and Franceschini, Nora and Robinson, Jennifer and North, Kari E and Martin, Lisa W and DePristo, Mark and Gupta, Namrata and Escher, Stefan A and Jansson, Jan-H{\r a}kan and Van Zuydam, Natalie and Palmer, Colin N A and Wareham, Nicholas and Koch, Werner and Meitinger, Thomas and Peters, Annette and Lieb, Wolfgang and Erbel, Raimund and K{\"o}nig, Inke R and Kruppa, Jochen and Degenhardt, Franziska and Gottesman, Omri and Bottinger, Erwin P and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Psaty, Bruce M and Ballantyne, Christie M and Abecasis, Goncalo and Ordovas, Jose M and Melander, Olle and Watkins, Hugh and Orho-Melander, Marju and Ardissino, Diego and Loos, Ruth J F and McPherson, Ruth and Willer, Cristen J and Erdmann, Jeanette and Hall, Alistair S and Samani, Nilesh J and Deloukas, Panos and Schunkert, Heribert and Wilson, James G and Kooperberg, Charles and Rich, Stephen S and Tracy, Russell P and Lin, Dan-Yu and Altshuler, David and Gabriel, Stacey and Nickerson, Deborah A and Jarvik, Gail P and Cupples, L Adrienne and Reiner, Alex P and Boerwinkle, Eric and Kathiresan, Sekar} } @article {6577, title = {Whole-exome sequencing identifies rare and low-frequency coding variants associated with LDL cholesterol.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {94}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Feb 06}, pages = {233-45}, abstract = {

Elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is a treatable, heritable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified 157 variants associated with lipid levels but are not well suited to assess the impact of rare and low-frequency variants. To determine whether rare or low-frequency coding variants are associated with LDL-C, we exome sequenced 2,005 individuals, including 554 individuals selected for extreme LDL-C (>98(th) or <2(nd) percentile). Follow-up analyses included sequencing of 1,302 additional individuals and genotype-based analysis of 52,221 individuals. We observed significant evidence of association between LDL-C and the burden of rare or low-frequency variants in PNPLA5, encoding a phospholipase-domain-containing protein, and both known and previously unidentified variants in PCSK9, LDLR and APOB, three known lipid-related genes. The effect sizes for the burden of rare variants for each associated gene were substantially higher than those observed for individual SNPs identified from GWASs. We replicated the PNPLA5 signal in an independent large-scale sequencing study of 2,084 individuals. In conclusion, this large whole-exome-sequencing study for LDL-C identified a gene not known to be implicated in LDL-C and provides unique insight into the design and analysis of similar experiments.

}, keywords = {Adult, Aged, Apolipoproteins E, Cholesterol, LDL, Cohort Studies, Dyslipidemias, Exome, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Gene Frequency, Genetic Code, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Humans, Lipase, Male, Middle Aged, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Proprotein Convertase 9, Proprotein Convertases, Receptors, LDL, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Serine Endopeptidases}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2014.01.010}, author = {Lange, Leslie A and Hu, Youna and Zhang, He and Xue, Chenyi and Schmidt, Ellen M and Tang, Zheng-Zheng and Bizon, Chris and Lange, Ethan M and Smith, Joshua D and Turner, Emily H and Jun, Goo and Kang, Hyun Min and Peloso, Gina and Auer, Paul and Li, Kuo-Ping and Flannick, Jason and Zhang, Ji and Fuchsberger, Christian and Gaulton, Kyle and Lindgren, Cecilia and Locke, Adam and Manning, Alisa and Sim, Xueling and Rivas, Manuel A and Holmen, Oddgeir L and Gottesman, Omri and Lu, Yingchang and Ruderfer, Douglas and Stahl, Eli A and Duan, Qing and Li, Yun and Durda, Peter and Jiao, Shuo and Isaacs, Aaron and Hofman, Albert and Bis, Joshua C and Correa, Adolfo and Griswold, Michael E and Jakobsdottir, Johanna and Smith, Albert V and Schreiner, Pamela J and Feitosa, Mary F and Zhang, Qunyuan and Huffman, Jennifer E and Crosby, Jacy and Wassel, Christina L and Do, Ron and Franceschini, Nora and Martin, Lisa W and Robinson, Jennifer G and Assimes, Themistocles L and Crosslin, David R and Rosenthal, Elisabeth A and Tsai, Michael and Rieder, Mark J and Farlow, Deborah N and Folsom, Aaron R and Lumley, Thomas and Fox, Ervin R and Carlson, Christopher S and Peters, Ulrike and Jackson, Rebecca D and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Levy, Daniel and Rotter, Jerome I and Taylor, Herman A and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Siscovick, David S and Fornage, Myriam and Borecki, Ingrid B and Hayward, Caroline and Rudan, Igor and Chen, Y Eugene and Bottinger, Erwin P and Loos, Ruth J F and S{\ae}trom, P{\r a}l and Hveem, Kristian and Boehnke, Michael and Groop, Leif and McCarthy, Mark and Meitinger, Thomas and Ballantyne, Christie M and Gabriel, Stacey B and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Post, Wendy S and North, Kari E and Reiner, Alexander P and Boerwinkle, Eric and Psaty, Bruce M and Altshuler, David and Kathiresan, Sekar and Lin, Dan-Yu and Jarvik, Gail P and Cupples, L Adrienne and Kooperberg, Charles and Wilson, James G and Nickerson, Deborah A and Abecasis, Goncalo R and Rich, Stephen S and Tracy, Russell P and Willer, Cristen J} } @article {7572, title = {Single-trait and multi-trait genome-wide association analyses identify novel loci for blood pressure in African-ancestry populations.}, journal = {PLoS Genet}, volume = {13}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 May}, pages = {e1006728}, abstract = {

Hypertension is a leading cause of global disease, mortality, and disability. While individuals of African descent suffer a disproportionate burden of hypertension and its complications, they have been underrepresented in genetic studies. To identify novel susceptibility loci for blood pressure and hypertension in people of African ancestry, we performed both single and multiple-trait genome-wide association analyses. We analyzed 21 genome-wide association studies comprised of 31,968 individuals of African ancestry, and validated our results with additional 54,395 individuals from multi-ethnic studies. These analyses identified nine loci with eleven independent variants which reached genome-wide significance (P < 1.25{\texttimes}10-8) for either systolic and diastolic blood pressure, hypertension, or for combined traits. Single-trait analyses identified two loci (TARID/TCF21 and LLPH/TMBIM4) and multiple-trait analyses identified one novel locus (FRMD3) for blood pressure. At these three loci, as well as at GRP20/CDH17, associated variants had alleles common only in African-ancestry populations. Functional annotation showed enrichment for genes expressed in immune and kidney cells, as well as in heart and vascular cells/tissues. Experiments driven by these findings and using angiotensin-II induced hypertension in mice showed altered kidney mRNA expression of six genes, suggesting their potential role in hypertension. Our study provides new evidence for genes related to hypertension susceptibility, and the need to study African-ancestry populations in order to identify biologic factors contributing to hypertension.

}, keywords = {African Americans, Animals, Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors, Blood Pressure, Cadherins, Case-Control Studies, Female, Genetic Loci, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Hypertension, Male, Membrane Proteins, Mice, Multifactorial Inheritance, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide}, issn = {1553-7404}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pgen.1006728}, author = {Liang, Jingjing and Le, Thu H and Edwards, Digna R Velez and Tayo, Bamidele O and Gaulton, Kyle J and Smith, Jennifer A and Lu, Yingchang and Jensen, Richard A and Chen, Guanjie and Yanek, Lisa R and Schwander, Karen and Tajuddin, Salman M and Sofer, Tamar and Kim, Wonji and Kayima, James and McKenzie, Colin A and Fox, Ervin and Nalls, Michael A and Young, J Hunter and Sun, Yan V and Lane, Jacqueline M and Cechova, Sylvia and Zhou, Jie and Tang, Hua and Fornage, Myriam and Musani, Solomon K and Wang, Heming and Lee, Juyoung and Adeyemo, Adebowale and Dreisbach, Albert W and Forrester, Terrence and Chu, Pei-Lun and Cappola, Anne and Evans, Michele K and Morrison, Alanna C and Martin, Lisa W and Wiggins, Kerri L and Hui, Qin and Zhao, Wei and Jackson, Rebecca D and Ware, Erin B and Faul, Jessica D and Reiner, Alex P and Bray, Michael and Denny, Joshua C and Mosley, Thomas H and Palmas, Walter and Guo, Xiuqing and Papanicolaou, George J and Penman, Alan D and Polak, Joseph F and Rice, Kenneth and Taylor, Ken D and Boerwinkle, Eric and Bottinger, Erwin P and Liu, Kiang and Risch, Neil and Hunt, Steven C and Kooperberg, Charles and Zonderman, Alan B and Laurie, Cathy C and Becker, Diane M and Cai, Jianwen and Loos, Ruth J F and Psaty, Bruce M and Weir, David R and Kardia, Sharon L R and Arnett, Donna K and Won, Sungho and Edwards, Todd L and Redline, Susan and Cooper, Richard S and Rao, D C and Rotter, Jerome I and Rotimi, Charles and Levy, Daniel and Chakravarti, Aravinda and Zhu, Xiaofeng and Franceschini, Nora} } @article {9253, title = {A framework for detecting noncoding rare-variant associations of large-scale whole-genome sequencing studies.}, journal = {Nat Methods}, volume = {19}, year = {2022}, month = {2022 Dec}, pages = {1599-1611}, abstract = {

Large-scale whole-genome sequencing studies have enabled analysis of noncoding rare-variant (RV) associations with complex human diseases and traits. Variant-set analysis is a powerful approach to study RV association. However, existing methods have limited ability in analyzing the noncoding genome. We propose a computationally efficient and robust noncoding RV association detection framework, STAARpipeline, to automatically annotate a whole-genome sequencing study and perform flexible noncoding RV association analysis, including gene-centric analysis and fixed window-based and dynamic window-based non-gene-centric analysis by incorporating variant functional annotations. In gene-centric analysis, STAARpipeline uses STAAR to group noncoding variants based on functional categories of genes and incorporate multiple functional annotations. In non-gene-centric analysis, STAARpipeline uses SCANG-STAAR to incorporate dynamic window sizes and multiple functional annotations. We apply STAARpipeline to identify noncoding RV sets associated with four lipid traits in 21,015 discovery samples from the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program and replicate several of them in an additional 9,123 TOPMed samples. We also analyze five non-lipid TOPMed traits.

}, keywords = {Genetic Variation, Genome, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Phenotype, Whole Genome Sequencing}, issn = {1548-7105}, doi = {10.1038/s41592-022-01640-x}, author = {Li, Zilin and Li, Xihao and Zhou, Hufeng and Gaynor, Sheila M and Selvaraj, Margaret Sunitha and Arapoglou, Theodore and Quick, Corbin and Liu, Yaowu and Chen, Han and Sun, Ryan and Dey, Rounak and Arnett, Donna K and Auer, Paul L and Bielak, Lawrence F and Bis, Joshua C and Blackwell, Thomas W and Blangero, John and Boerwinkle, Eric and Bowden, Donald W and Brody, Jennifer A and Cade, Brian E and Conomos, Matthew P and Correa, Adolfo and Cupples, L Adrienne and Curran, Joanne E and de Vries, Paul S and Duggirala, Ravindranath and Franceschini, Nora and Freedman, Barry I and G{\"o}ring, Harald H H and Guo, Xiuqing and Kalyani, Rita R and Kooperberg, Charles and Kral, Brian G and Lange, Leslie A and Lin, Bridget M and Manichaikul, Ani and Manning, Alisa K and Martin, Lisa W and Mathias, Rasika A and Meigs, James B and Mitchell, Braxton D and Montasser, May E and Morrison, Alanna C and Naseri, Take and O{\textquoteright}Connell, Jeffrey R and Palmer, Nicholette D and Peyser, Patricia A and Psaty, Bruce M and Raffield, Laura M and Redline, Susan and Reiner, Alexander P and Reupena, Muagututi{\textquoteright}a Sefuiva and Rice, Kenneth M and Rich, Stephen S and Smith, Jennifer A and Taylor, Kent D and Taub, Margaret A and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Weeks, Daniel E and Wilson, James G and Yanek, Lisa R and Zhao, Wei and Rotter, Jerome I and Willer, Cristen J and Natarajan, Pradeep and Peloso, Gina M and Lin, Xihong} } @article {9412, title = {Multi-ancestry transcriptome-wide association analyses yield insights into tobacco use biology and drug repurposing.}, journal = {Nat Genet}, volume = {55}, year = {2023}, month = {2023 Feb}, pages = {291-300}, abstract = {

Most transcriptome-wide association studies (TWASs) so far focus on European ancestry and lack diversity. To overcome this limitation, we aggregated genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics, whole-genome sequences and expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) data from diverse ancestries. We developed a new approach, TESLA (multi-ancestry integrative study using an optimal linear combination of association statistics), to integrate an eQTL dataset with a multi-ancestry GWAS. By exploiting shared phenotypic effects between ancestries and accommodating potential effect heterogeneities, TESLA improves power over other TWAS methods. When applied to tobacco use phenotypes, TESLA identified 273 new genes, up to 55\% more compared with alternative TWAS methods. These hits and subsequent fine mapping using TESLA point to target genes with biological relevance. In silico drug-repurposing analyses highlight several drugs with known efficacy, including dextromethorphan and galantamine, and new drugs such as muscle relaxants that may be repurposed for treating nicotine addiction.

}, keywords = {Biology, Drug Repositioning, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Tobacco Use, Transcriptome}, issn = {1546-1718}, doi = {10.1038/s41588-022-01282-x}, author = {Chen, Fang and Wang, Xingyan and Jang, Seon-Kyeong and Quach, Bryan C and Weissenkampen, J Dylan and Khunsriraksakul, Chachrit and Yang, Lina and Sauteraud, Renan and Albert, Christine M and Allred, Nicholette D D and Arnett, Donna K and Ashley-Koch, Allison E and Barnes, Kathleen C and Barr, R Graham and Becker, Diane M and Bielak, Lawrence F and Bis, Joshua C and Blangero, John and Boorgula, Meher Preethi and Chasman, Daniel I and Chavan, Sameer and Chen, Yii-der I and Chuang, Lee-Ming and Correa, Adolfo and Curran, Joanne E and David, Sean P and Fuentes, Lisa de Las and Deka, Ranjan and Duggirala, Ravindranath and Faul, Jessica D and Garrett, Melanie E and Gharib, Sina A and Guo, Xiuqing and Hall, Michael E and Hawley, Nicola L and He, Jiang and Hobbs, Brian D and Hokanson, John E and Hsiung, Chao A and Hwang, Shih-Jen and Hyde, Thomas M and Irvin, Marguerite R and Jaffe, Andrew E and Johnson, Eric O and Kaplan, Robert and Kardia, Sharon L R and Kaufman, Joel D and Kelly, Tanika N and Kleinman, Joel E and Kooperberg, Charles and Lee, I-Te and Levy, Daniel and Lutz, Sharon M and Manichaikul, Ani W and Martin, Lisa W and Marx, Olivia and McGarvey, Stephen T and Minster, Ryan L and Moll, Matthew and Moussa, Karine A and Naseri, Take and North, Kari E and Oelsner, Elizabeth C and Peralta, Juan M and Peyser, Patricia A and Psaty, Bruce M and Rafaels, Nicholas and Raffield, Laura M and Reupena, Muagututi{\textquoteright}a Sefuiva and Rich, Stephen S and Rotter, Jerome I and Schwartz, David A and Shadyab, Aladdin H and Sheu, Wayne H-H and Sims, Mario and Smith, Jennifer A and Sun, Xiao and Taylor, Kent D and Telen, Marilyn J and Watson, Harold and Weeks, Daniel E and Weir, David R and Yanek, Lisa R and Young, Kendra A and Young, Kristin L and Zhao, Wei and Hancock, Dana B and Jiang, Bibo and Vrieze, Scott and Liu, Dajiang J} } @article {9787, title = {Rare variant contribution to the heritability of coronary artery disease.}, journal = {Nat Commun}, volume = {15}, year = {2024}, month = {2024 Oct 09}, pages = {8741}, abstract = {

Whole genome sequences (WGS) enable discovery of rare variants which may contribute to missing heritability of coronary artery disease (CAD). To measure their contribution, we apply the GREML-LDMS-I approach to WGS of 4949 cases and 17,494 controls of European ancestry from the NHLBI TOPMed program. We estimate CAD heritability at 34.3\% assuming a prevalence of 8.2\%. Ultra-rare (minor allele frequency <= 0.1\%) variants with low linkage disequilibrium (LD) score contribute ~50\% of the heritability. We also investigate CAD heritability enrichment using a diverse set of functional annotations: i) constraint; ii) predicted protein-altering impact; iii) cis-regulatory elements from a cell-specific chromatin atlas of the human coronary; and iv) annotation principal components representing a wide range of functional processes. We observe marked enrichment of CAD heritability for most functional annotations. These results reveal the predominant role of ultra-rare variants in low LD on the heritability of CAD. Moreover, they highlight several functional processes including cell type-specific regulatory mechanisms as key drivers of CAD genetic risk.

}, keywords = {Case-Control Studies, Coronary Artery Disease, Female, Gene Frequency, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genetic Variation, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Linkage Disequilibrium, Male, Middle Aged, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, White People, Whole Genome Sequencing}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-024-52939-6}, author = {Rocheleau, Ghislain and Clarke, Shoa L and Auguste, Ga{\"e}lle and Hasbani, Natalie R and Morrison, Alanna C and Heath, Adam S and Bielak, Lawrence F and Iyer, Kruthika R and Young, Erica P and Stitziel, Nathan O and Jun, Goo and Laurie, Cecelia and Broome, Jai G and Khan, Alyna T and Arnett, Donna K and Becker, Lewis C and Bis, Joshua C and Boerwinkle, Eric and Bowden, Donald W and Carson, April P and Ellinor, Patrick T and Fornage, Myriam and Franceschini, Nora and Freedman, Barry I and Heard-Costa, Nancy L and Hou, Lifang and Chen, Yii-Der Ida and Kenny, Eimear E and Kooperberg, Charles and Kral, Brian G and Loos, Ruth J F and Lutz, Sharon M and Manson, JoAnn E and Martin, Lisa W and Mitchell, Braxton D and Nassir, Rami and Palmer, Nicholette D and Post, Wendy S and Preuss, Michael H and Psaty, Bruce M and Raffield, Laura M and Regan, Elizabeth A and Rich, Stephen S and Smith, Jennifer A and Taylor, Kent D and Yanek, Lisa R and Young, Kendra A and Hilliard, Austin T and Tcheandjieu, Catherine and Peyser, Patricia A and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Rotter, Jerome I and Miller, Clint L and Assimes, Themistocles L and de Vries, Paul S and Do, Ron} } @article {9899, title = {A statistical framework for multi-trait rare variant analysis in large-scale whole-genome sequencing studies.}, journal = {Nat Comput Sci}, volume = {5}, year = {2025}, month = {2025 Feb}, pages = {125-143}, abstract = {

Large-scale whole-genome sequencing (WGS) studies have improved our understanding of the contributions of coding and noncoding rare variants to complex human traits. Leveraging association effect sizes across multiple traits in WGS rare variant association analysis can improve statistical power over single-trait analysis, and also detect pleiotropic genes and regions. Existing multi-trait methods have limited ability to perform rare variant analysis of large-scale WGS data. We propose MultiSTAAR, a statistical framework and computationally scalable analytical pipeline for functionally informed multi-trait rare variant analysis in large-scale WGS studies. MultiSTAAR accounts for relatedness, population structure and correlation among phenotypes by jointly analyzing multiple traits, and further empowers rare variant association analysis by incorporating multiple functional annotations. We applied MultiSTAAR to jointly analyze three lipid traits in 61,838 multi-ethnic samples from the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Program. We discovered and replicated new associations with lipid traits missed by single-trait analysis.

}, keywords = {Genetic Variation, Genome, Human, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Lipids, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Quantitative Trait Loci, Whole Genome Sequencing}, issn = {2662-8457}, doi = {10.1038/s43588-024-00764-8}, author = {Li, Xihao and Chen, Han and Selvaraj, Margaret Sunitha and Van Buren, Eric and Zhou, Hufeng and Wang, Yuxuan and Sun, Ryan and McCaw, Zachary R and Yu, Zhi and Jiang, Min-Zhi and DiCorpo, Daniel and Gaynor, Sheila M and Dey, Rounak and Arnett, Donna K and Benjamin, Emelia J and Bis, Joshua C and Blangero, John and Boerwinkle, Eric and Bowden, Donald W and Brody, Jennifer A and Cade, Brian E and Carson, April P and Carlson, Jenna C and Chami, Nathalie and Chen, Yii-Der Ida and Curran, Joanne E and de Vries, Paul S and Fornage, Myriam and Franceschini, Nora and Freedman, Barry I and Gu, Charles and Heard-Costa, Nancy L and He, Jiang and Hou, Lifang and Hung, Yi-Jen and Irvin, Marguerite R and Kaplan, Robert C and Kardia, Sharon L R and Kelly, Tanika N and Konigsberg, Iain and Kooperberg, Charles and Kral, Brian G and Li, Changwei and Li, Yun and Lin, Honghuang and Liu, Ching-Ti and Loos, Ruth J F and Mahaney, Michael C and Martin, Lisa W and Mathias, Rasika A and Mitchell, Braxton D and Montasser, May E and Morrison, Alanna C and Naseri, Take and North, Kari E and Palmer, Nicholette D and Peyser, Patricia A and Psaty, Bruce M and Redline, Susan and Reiner, Alexander P and Rich, Stephen S and Sitlani, Colleen M and Smith, Jennifer A and Taylor, Kent D and Tiwari, Hemant K and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Viali, Satupa{\textquoteright}itea and Wang, Zhe and Wessel, Jennifer and Yanek, Lisa R and Yu, Bing and Dupuis, Jos{\'e}e and Meigs, James B and Auer, Paul L and Raffield, Laura M and Manning, Alisa K and Rice, Kenneth M and Rotter, Jerome I and Peloso, Gina M and Natarajan, Pradeep and Li, Zilin and Liu, Zhonghua and Lin, Xihong} }