@article {1311, title = {Genetic loci associated with plasma phospholipid n-3 fatty acids: a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies from the CHARGE Consortium.}, journal = {PLoS Genet}, volume = {7}, year = {2011}, month = {2011 Jul}, pages = {e1002193}, abstract = {

Long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) can derive from diet or from α-linolenic acid (ALA) by elongation and desaturation. We investigated the association of common genetic variation with plasma phospholipid levels of the four major n-3 PUFAs by performing genome-wide association studies in five population-based cohorts comprising 8,866 subjects of European ancestry. Minor alleles of SNPs in FADS1 and FADS2 (desaturases) were associated with higher levels of ALA (p = 3 x 10$^{-}$$^{6}$$^{4}$) and lower levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, p = 5 x 10$^{-}$$^{5}$$^{8}$) and docosapentaenoic acid (DPA, p = 4 x 10$^{-}${\textonesuperior}$^{5}$$^{4}$). Minor alleles of SNPs in ELOVL2 (elongase) were associated with higher EPA (p = 2 x 10$^{-}${\textonesuperior}{\texttwosuperior}) and DPA (p = 1 x 10$^{-}$$^{4}${\textthreesuperior}) and lower docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, p = 1 x 10$^{-}${\textonesuperior}$^{5}$). In addition to genes in the n-3 pathway, we identified a novel association of DPA with several SNPs in GCKR (glucokinase regulator, p = 1 x 10$^{-}$$^{8}$). We observed a weaker association between ALA and EPA among carriers of the minor allele of a representative SNP in FADS2 (rs1535), suggesting a lower rate of ALA-to-EPA conversion in these subjects. In samples of African, Chinese, and Hispanic ancestry, associations of n-3 PUFAs were similar with a representative SNP in FADS1 but less consistent with a representative SNP in ELOVL2. Our findings show that common variation in n-3 metabolic pathway genes and in GCKR influences plasma phospholipid levels of n-3 PUFAs in populations of European ancestry and, for FADS1, in other ancestries.

}, keywords = {Alleles, Continental Population Groups, Fatty Acids, Omega-3, Female, Genetic Loci, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Male, Metabolic Networks and Pathways, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide}, issn = {1553-7404}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pgen.1002193}, author = {Lemaitre, Rozenn N and Tanaka, Toshiko and Tang, Weihong and Manichaikul, Ani and Foy, Millennia and Kabagambe, Edmond K and Nettleton, Jennifer A and King, Irena B and Weng, Lu-Chen and Bhattacharya, Sayanti and Bandinelli, Stefania and Bis, Joshua C and Rich, Stephen S and Jacobs, David R and Cherubini, Antonio and McKnight, Barbara and Liang, Shuang and Gu, Xiangjun and Rice, Kenneth and Laurie, Cathy C and Lumley, Thomas and Browning, Brian L and Psaty, Bruce M and Chen, Yii-der I and Friedlander, Yechiel and Djouss{\'e}, Luc and Wu, Jason H Y and Siscovick, David S and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Arnett, Donna K and Ferrucci, Luigi and Fornage, Myriam and Tsai, Michael Y and Mozaffarian, Dariush and Steffen, Lyn M} } @article {1359, title = {Association between chromosome 9p21 variants and the ankle-brachial index identified by a meta-analysis of 21 genome-wide association studies.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {5}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Feb 01}, pages = {100-12}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Genetic determinants of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) remain largely unknown. To identify genetic variants associated with the ankle-brachial index (ABI), a noninvasive measure of PAD, we conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association study data from 21 population-based cohorts.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Continuous ABI and PAD (ABI <=0.9) phenotypes adjusted for age and sex were examined. Each study conducted genotyping and imputed data to the ≈2.5 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in HapMap. Linear and logistic regression models were used to test each SNP for association with ABI and PAD using additive genetic models. Study-specific data were combined using fixed effects inverse variance weighted meta-analyses. There were a total of 41 692 participants of European ancestry (≈60\% women, mean ABI 1.02 to 1.19), including 3409 participants with PAD and with genome-wide association study data available. In the discovery meta-analysis, rs10757269 on chromosome 9 near CDKN2B had the strongest association with ABI (β=-0.006, P=2.46{\texttimes}10(-8)). We sought replication of the 6 strongest SNP associations in 5 population-based studies and 3 clinical samples (n=16 717). The association for rs10757269 strengthened in the combined discovery and replication analysis (P=2.65{\texttimes}10(-9)). No other SNP associations for ABI or PAD achieved genome-wide significance. However, 2 previously reported candidate genes for PAD and 1 SNP associated with coronary artery disease were associated with ABI: DAB21P (rs13290547, P=3.6{\texttimes}10(-5)), CYBA (rs3794624, P=6.3{\texttimes}10(-5)), and rs1122608 (LDLR, P=0.0026).

CONCLUSIONS: Genome-wide association studies in more than 40 000 individuals identified 1 genome wide significant association on chromosome 9p21 with ABI. Two candidate genes for PAD and 1 SNP for coronary artery disease are associated with ABI.

}, keywords = {Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Alleles, Ankle Brachial Index, Chromosomes, Human, Pair 9, Cohort Studies, Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p15, Female, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, HapMap Project, Humans, Logistic Models, Male, Middle Aged, Peripheral Vascular Diseases, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk Factors, Sex Factors}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.111.961292}, author = {Murabito, Joanne M and White, Charles C and Kavousi, Maryam and Sun, Yan V and Feitosa, Mary F and Nambi, Vijay and Lamina, Claudia and Schillert, Arne and Coassin, Stefan and Bis, Joshua C and Broer, Linda and Crawford, Dana C and Franceschini, Nora and Frikke-Schmidt, Ruth and Haun, Margot and Holewijn, Suzanne and Huffman, Jennifer E and Hwang, Shih-Jen and Kiechl, Stefan and Kollerits, Barbara and Montasser, May E and Nolte, Ilja M and Rudock, Megan E and Senft, Andrea and Teumer, Alexander and van der Harst, Pim and Vitart, Veronique and Waite, Lindsay L and Wood, Andrew R and Wassel, Christina L and Absher, Devin M and Allison, Matthew A and Amin, Najaf and Arnold, Alice and Asselbergs, Folkert W and Aulchenko, Yurii and Bandinelli, Stefania and Barbalic, Maja and Boban, Mladen and Brown-Gentry, Kristin and Couper, David J and Criqui, Michael H and Dehghan, Abbas and den Heijer, Martin and Dieplinger, Benjamin and Ding, Jingzhong and D{\"o}rr, Marcus and Espinola-Klein, Christine and Felix, Stephan B and Ferrucci, Luigi and Folsom, Aaron R and Fraedrich, Gustav and Gibson, Quince and Goodloe, Robert and Gunjaca, Grgo and Haltmayer, Meinhard and Heiss, Gerardo and Hofman, Albert and Kieback, Arne and Kiemeney, Lambertus A and Kolcic, Ivana and Kullo, Iftikhar J and Kritchevsky, Stephen B and Lackner, Karl J and Li, Xiaohui and Lieb, Wolfgang and Lohman, Kurt and Meisinger, Christa and Melzer, David and Mohler, Emile R and Mudnic, Ivana and Mueller, Thomas and Navis, Gerjan and Oberhollenzer, Friedrich and Olin, Jeffrey W and O{\textquoteright}Connell, Jeff and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Palmas, Walter and Penninx, Brenda W and Petersmann, Astrid and Polasek, Ozren and Psaty, Bruce M and Rantner, Barbara and Rice, Ken and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Rotter, Jerome I and Seldenrijk, Adrie and Stadler, Marietta and Summerer, Monika and Tanaka, Toshiko and Tybjaerg-Hansen, Anne and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and van Gilst, Wiek H and Vermeulen, Sita H and Wild, Sarah H and Wild, Philipp S and Willeit, Johann and Zeller, Tanja and Zemunik, Tatijana and Zgaga, Lina and Assimes, Themistocles L and Blankenberg, Stefan and Boerwinkle, Eric and Campbell, Harry and Cooke, John P and de Graaf, Jacqueline and Herrington, David and Kardia, Sharon L R and Mitchell, Braxton D and Murray, Anna and M{\"u}nzel, Thomas and Newman, Anne B and Oostra, Ben A and Rudan, Igor and Shuldiner, Alan R and Snieder, Harold and van Duijn, Cornelia M and V{\"o}lker, Uwe and Wright, Alan F and Wichmann, H-Erich and Wilson, James F and Witteman, Jacqueline C M and Liu, Yongmei and Hayward, Caroline and Borecki, Ingrid B and Ziegler, Andreas and North, Kari E and Cupples, L Adrienne and Kronenberg, Florian} } @article {1405, title = {Effect of Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s disease risk genes on trajectories of cognitive function in the Cardiovascular Health Study.}, journal = {Am J Psychiatry}, volume = {169}, year = {2012}, month = {2012 Sep}, pages = {954-62}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: The trajectory of cognitive decline in patients with late-onset Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s disease varies widely. Genetic variations in CLU, PICALM, and CR1 are associated with Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s disease, but it is unknown whether they exert their effects by altering cognitive trajectory in elderly individuals at risk for the disease.

METHOD: The authors developed a Bayesian model to fit cognitive trajectories in a cohort of elderly subjects and test for genetic effects. They first validated the model{\textquoteright}s ability to detect the previously established effects of APOE ε4 alleles on age at cognitive decline and of psychosis on the rate of cognitive decline in 802 subjects from the Cardiovascular Health Cognition Study who did not have dementia at study entry and developed incident dementia during follow-up. The authors then evaluated the effects of CLU, PICALM, and CR1 on age and rate of decline in 1,831 subjects who did not have dementia at study entry and then did or did not develop incident dementia by study{\textquoteright}s end.

RESULTS: The model generated robust fits to the observed cognitive trajectory data, and validation analysis supported the model{\textquoteright}s utility. CLU and CR1 were associated with more rapid cognitive decline. PICALM was associated with an earlier age at midpoint of cognitive decline. Associations remained after accounting for the effects of APOE and demographic factors.

CONCLUSIONS: Evaluation of cognitive trajectories provides a powerful approach to dissecting genetic effects on the processes leading to cognitive deterioration and Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s disease.

}, keywords = {Age of Onset, Aged, Alleles, Alzheimer Disease, Apolipoprotein E4, Bayes Theorem, Clusterin, Cohort Studies, Dementia, Disease Progression, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Humans, Male, Models, Psychological, Monomeric Clathrin Assembly Proteins, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Receptors, Complement 3b, Risk Factors}, issn = {1535-7228}, doi = {10.1176/appi.ajp.2012.11121815}, author = {Sweet, Robert A and Seltman, Howard and Emanuel, James E and Lopez, Oscar L and Becker, James T and Bis, Joshua C and Weamer, Elise A and Demichele-Sweet, Mary Ann A and Kuller, Lewis H} } @article {6067, title = {Best practices and joint calling of the HumanExome BeadChip: the CHARGE Consortium.}, journal = {PLoS One}, volume = {8}, year = {2013}, month = {2013}, pages = {e68095}, abstract = {

Genotyping arrays are a cost effective approach when typing previously-identified genetic polymorphisms in large numbers of samples. One limitation of genotyping arrays with rare variants (e.g., minor allele frequency [MAF] <0.01) is the difficulty that automated clustering algorithms have to accurately detect and assign genotype calls. Combining intensity data from large numbers of samples may increase the ability to accurately call the genotypes of rare variants. Approximately 62,000 ethnically diverse samples from eleven Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) Consortium cohorts were genotyped with the Illumina HumanExome BeadChip across seven genotyping centers. The raw data files for the samples were assembled into a single project for joint calling. To assess the quality of the joint calling, concordance of genotypes in a subset of individuals having both exome chip and exome sequence data was analyzed. After exclusion of low performing SNPs on the exome chip and non-overlap of SNPs derived from sequence data, genotypes of 185,119 variants (11,356 were monomorphic) were compared in 530 individuals that had whole exome sequence data. A total of 98,113,070 pairs of genotypes were tested and 99.77\% were concordant, 0.14\% had missing data, and 0.09\% were discordant. We report that joint calling allows the ability to accurately genotype rare variation using array technology when large sample sizes are available and best practices are followed. The cluster file from this experiment is available at www.chargeconsortium.com/main/exomechip.

}, keywords = {Aging, Alleles, Cluster Analysis, Cohort Studies, Continental Population Groups, Exome, Female, Gene Frequency, Genomics, Genotype, Heart, Humans, Male, Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Sample Size, Self Report, Sequence Analysis, DNA}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0068095}, author = {Grove, Megan L and Yu, Bing and Cochran, Barbara J and Haritunians, Talin and Bis, Joshua C and Taylor, Kent D and Hansen, Mark and Borecki, Ingrid B and Cupples, L Adrienne and Fornage, Myriam and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Harris, Tamara B and Kathiresan, Sekar and Kraaij, Robert and Launer, Lenore J and Levy, Daniel and Liu, Yongmei and Mosley, Thomas and Peloso, Gina M and Psaty, Bruce M and Rich, Stephen S and Rivadeneira, Fernando and Siscovick, David S and Smith, Albert V and Uitterlinden, Andre and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Wilson, James G and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Rotter, Jerome I and Boerwinkle, Eric} } @article {6590, title = {Association of low-frequency and rare coding-sequence variants with blood lipids and coronary heart disease in 56,000 whites and blacks.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {94}, year = {2014}, month = {2014 Feb 06}, pages = {223-32}, abstract = {

Low-frequency coding DNA sequence variants in the proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 gene (PCSK9) lower plasma low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), protect against risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), and have prompted the development of a new class of therapeutics. It is uncertain whether the PCSK9 example represents a paradigm or an isolated exception. We used the "Exome Array" to genotype >200,000 low-frequency and rare coding sequence variants across the genome in 56,538 individuals (42,208 European ancestry [EA] and 14,330 African ancestry [AA]) and tested these variants for association with LDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and triglycerides. Although we did not identify new genes associated with LDL-C, we did identify four low-frequency (frequencies between 0.1\% and 2\%) variants (ANGPTL8 rs145464906 [c.361C>T; p.Gln121*], PAFAH1B2 rs186808413 [c.482C>T; p.Ser161Leu], COL18A1 rs114139997 [c.331G>A; p.Gly111Arg], and PCSK7 rs142953140 [c.1511G>A; p.Arg504His]) with large effects on HDL-C and/or triglycerides. None of these four variants was associated with risk for CHD, suggesting that examples of low-frequency coding variants with robust effects on both lipids and CHD will be limited.

}, keywords = {1-Alkyl-2-acetylglycerophosphocholine Esterase, Adult, African Continental Ancestry Group, Aged, Alleles, Animals, Cholesterol, HDL, Cholesterol, LDL, Cohort Studies, Coronary Disease, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Gene Frequency, Genetic Association Studies, Genetic Code, Genetic Variation, Humans, Linear Models, Male, Mice, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Microtubule-Associated Proteins, Middle Aged, Phenotype, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Subtilisins, Triglycerides}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2014.01.009}, author = {Peloso, Gina M and Auer, Paul L and Bis, Joshua C and Voorman, Arend and Morrison, Alanna C and Stitziel, Nathan O and Brody, Jennifer A and Khetarpal, Sumeet A and Crosby, Jacy R and Fornage, Myriam and Isaacs, Aaron and Jakobsdottir, Johanna and Feitosa, Mary F and Davies, Gail and Huffman, Jennifer E and Manichaikul, Ani and Davis, Brian and Lohman, Kurt and Joon, Aron Y and Smith, Albert V and Grove, Megan L and Zanoni, Paolo and Redon, Valeska and Demissie, Serkalem and Lawson, Kim and Peters, Ulrike and Carlson, Christopher and Jackson, Rebecca D and Ryckman, Kelli K and Mackey, Rachel H and Robinson, Jennifer G and Siscovick, David S and Schreiner, Pamela J and Mychaleckyj, Josyf C and Pankow, James S and Hofman, Albert and Uitterlinden, Andr{\'e} G and Harris, Tamara B and Taylor, Kent D and Stafford, Jeanette M and Reynolds, Lindsay M and Marioni, Riccardo E and Dehghan, Abbas and Franco, Oscar H and Patel, Aniruddh P and Lu, Yingchang and Hindy, George and Gottesman, Omri and Bottinger, Erwin P and Melander, Olle and Orho-Melander, Marju and Loos, Ruth J F and Duga, Stefano and Merlini, Piera Angelica and Farrall, Martin and Goel, Anuj and Asselta, Rosanna and Girelli, Domenico and Martinelli, Nicola and Shah, Svati H and Kraus, William E and Li, Mingyao and Rader, Daniel J and Reilly, Muredach P and McPherson, Ruth and Watkins, Hugh and Ardissino, Diego and Zhang, Qunyuan and Wang, Judy and Tsai, Michael Y and Taylor, Herman A and Correa, Adolfo and Griswold, Michael E and Lange, Leslie A and Starr, John M and Rudan, Igor and Eiriksdottir, Gudny and Launer, Lenore J and Ordovas, Jose M and Levy, Daniel and Chen, Y-D Ida and Reiner, Alexander P and Hayward, Caroline and Polasek, Ozren and Deary, Ian J and Borecki, Ingrid B and Liu, Yongmei and Gudnason, Vilmundur and Wilson, James G and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Kooperberg, Charles and Rich, Stephen S and Psaty, Bruce M and Rotter, Jerome I and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Rice, Kenneth and Boerwinkle, Eric and Kathiresan, Sekar and Cupples, L Adrienne} } @article {6815, title = {Association of Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s disease GWAS loci with MRI markers of brain aging.}, journal = {Neurobiol Aging}, volume = {36}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Apr}, pages = {1765.e7-16}, abstract = {

Whether novel risk variants of Alzheimer{\textquoteright}s disease (AD) identified through genome-wide association studies also influence magnetic resonance imaging-based intermediate phenotypes of AD in the general population is unclear. We studied association of 24 AD risk loci with intracranial volume, total brain volume, hippocampal volume (HV), white matter hyperintensity burden, and brain infarcts in a meta-analysis of genetic association studies from large population-based samples (N = 8175-11,550). In single-SNP based tests, AD risk allele of APOE (rs2075650) was associated with smaller HV (p = 0.0054) and CD33 (rs3865444) with smaller intracranial volume (p = 0.0058). In gene-based tests, there was associations of HLA-DRB1 with total brain volume (p = 0.0006) and BIN1 with HV (p = 0.00089). A weighted AD genetic risk score was associated with smaller HV (beta {\textpm} SE = -0.047 {\textpm} 0.013, p = 0.00041), even after excluding the APOE locus (p = 0.029). However, only association of AD genetic risk score with HV, including APOE, was significant after multiple testing correction (including number of independent phenotypes tested). These results suggest that novel AD genetic risk variants may contribute to structural brain aging in nondemented older community persons.

}, keywords = {Aging, Alleles, Alzheimer Disease, Apolipoproteins E, Brain, Female, Genome-Wide Association Study, Hippocampus, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Organ Size, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk, Sialic Acid Binding Ig-like Lectin 3}, issn = {1558-1497}, doi = {10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2014.12.028}, author = {Chauhan, Ganesh and Adams, Hieab H H and Bis, Joshua C and Weinstein, Galit and Yu, Lei and T{\"o}glhofer, Anna Maria and Smith, Albert Vernon and van der Lee, Sven J and Gottesman, Rebecca F and Thomson, Russell and Wang, Jing and Yang, Qiong and Niessen, Wiro J and Lopez, Oscar L and Becker, James T and Phan, Thanh G and Beare, Richard J and Arfanakis, Konstantinos and Fleischman, Debra and Vernooij, Meike W and Mazoyer, Bernard and Schmidt, Helena and Srikanth, Velandai and Knopman, David S and Jack, Clifford R and Amouyel, Philippe and Hofman, Albert and DeCarli, Charles and Tzourio, Christophe and van Duijn, Cornelia M and Bennett, David A and Schmidt, Reinhold and Longstreth, William T and Mosley, Thomas H and Fornage, Myriam and Launer, Lenore J and Seshadri, Sudha and Ikram, M Arfan and Debette, Stephanie} } @article {6689, title = {Association of Rare Loss-Of-Function Alleles in HAL, Serum Histidine: Levels and Incident Coronary Heart Disease.}, journal = {Circ Cardiovasc Genet}, volume = {8}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Apr}, pages = {351-5}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Histidine is a semiessential amino acid with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Few data are available on the associations between genetic variants, histidine levels, and incident coronary heart disease (CHD) in a population-based sample.

METHODS AND RESULTS: By conducting whole exome sequencing on 1152 African Americans in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study and focusing on loss-of-function (LoF) variants, we identified 3 novel rare LoF variants in HAL, a gene that encodes histidine ammonia-lyase in the first step of histidine catabolism. These LoF variants had large effects on blood histidine levels (β=0.26; P=1.2{\texttimes}10(-13)). The positive association with histidine levels was replicated by genotyping an independent sample of 718 ARIC African Americans (minor allele frequency=1\%; P=1.2{\texttimes}10(-4)). In addition, high blood histidine levels were associated with reduced risk of developing incident CHD with an average of 21.5 years of follow-up among African Americans (hazard ratio=0.18; P=1.9{\texttimes}10(-4)). This finding was validated in an independent sample of European Americans from the Framingham Heart Study (FHS) Offspring Cohort. However, LoF variants in HAL were not directly significantly associated with incident CHD after meta-analyzing results from the CHARGE Consortium.

CONCLUSIONS: Three LoF mutations in HAL were associated with increased histidine levels, which in turn were shown to be inversely related to the risk of CHD among both African Americans and European Americans. Future investigations on the association between HAL gene variation and CHD are warranted.

}, keywords = {Adult, African Americans, Alleles, Coronary Disease, European Continental Ancestry Group, Female, Histidine, Histidine Ammonia-Lyase, Humans, Male, Mutation}, issn = {1942-3268}, doi = {10.1161/CIRCGENETICS.114.000697}, author = {Yu, Bing and Li, Alexander H and Muzny, Donna and Veeraraghavan, Narayanan and de Vries, Paul S and Bis, Joshua C and Musani, Solomon K and Alexander, Danny and Morrison, Alanna C and Franco, Oscar H and Uitterlinden, Andre and Hofman, Albert and Dehghan, Abbas and Wilson, James G and Psaty, Bruce M and Gibbs, Richard and Wei, Peng and Boerwinkle, Eric} } @article {6688, title = {Genetic overlap between diagnostic subtypes of ischemic stroke.}, journal = {Stroke}, volume = {46}, year = {2015}, month = {2015 Mar}, pages = {615-9}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Despite moderate heritability, the phenotypic heterogeneity of ischemic stroke has hampered gene discovery, motivating analyses of diagnostic subtypes with reduced sample sizes. We assessed evidence for a shared genetic basis among the 3 major subtypes: large artery atherosclerosis (LAA), cardioembolism, and small vessel disease (SVD), to inform potential cross-subtype analyses.

METHODS: Analyses used genome-wide summary data for 12 389 ischemic stroke cases (including 2167 LAA, 2405 cardioembolism, and 1854 SVD) and 62 004 controls from the Metastroke consortium. For 4561 cases and 7094 controls, individual-level genotype data were also available. Genetic correlations between subtypes were estimated using linear mixed models and polygenic profile scores. Meta-analysis of a combined LAA-SVD phenotype (4021 cases and 51 976 controls) was performed to identify shared risk alleles.

RESULTS: High genetic correlation was identified between LAA and SVD using linear mixed models (rg=0.96, SE=0.47, P=9{\texttimes}10(-4)) and profile scores (rg=0.72; 95\% confidence interval, 0.52-0.93). Between LAA and cardioembolism and SVD and cardioembolism, correlation was moderate using linear mixed models but not significantly different from zero for profile scoring. Joint meta-analysis of LAA and SVD identified strong association (P=1{\texttimes}10(-7)) for single nucleotide polymorphisms near the opioid receptor μ1 (OPRM1) gene.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that LAA and SVD, which have been hitherto treated as genetically distinct, may share a substantial genetic component. Combined analyses of LAA and SVD may increase power to identify small-effect alleles influencing shared pathophysiological processes.

}, keywords = {Alleles, Atherosclerosis, Cerebral Small Vessel Diseases, Cohort Studies, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Embolism, Genome-Wide Association Study, Genotype, Humans, Ischemia, Linear Models, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Stroke}, issn = {1524-4628}, doi = {10.1161/STROKEAHA.114.007930}, author = {Holliday, Elizabeth G and Traylor, Matthew and Malik, Rainer and Bevan, Steve and Falcone, Guido and Hopewell, Jemma C and Cheng, Yu-Ching and Cotlarciuc, Ioana and Bis, Joshua C and Boerwinkle, Eric and Boncoraglio, Giorgio B and Clarke, Robert and Cole, John W and Fornage, Myriam and Furie, Karen L and Ikram, M Arfan and Jannes, Jim and Kittner, Steven J and Lincz, Lisa F and Maguire, Jane M and Meschia, James F and Mosley, Thomas H and Nalls, Mike A and Oldmeadow, Christopher and Parati, Eugenio A and Psaty, Bruce M and Rothwell, Peter M and Seshadri, Sudha and Scott, Rodney J and Sharma, Pankaj and Sudlow, Cathie and Wiggins, Kerri L and Worrall, Bradford B and Rosand, Jonathan and Mitchell, Braxton D and Dichgans, Martin and Markus, Hugh S and Levi, Christopher and Attia, John and Wray, Naomi R} } @article {8975, title = {Rare coding variants in 35 genes associate with circulating lipid levels-A multi-ancestry analysis of 170,000 exomes.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {109}, year = {2022}, month = {2022 01 06}, pages = {81-96}, abstract = {

Large-scale gene sequencing studies for complex traits have the potential to identify causal genes with therapeutic implications. We performed gene-based association testing of blood lipid levels with rare (minor allele frequency < 1\%) predicted damaging coding variation by using sequence data from >170,000 individuals from multiple ancestries: 97,493 European, 30,025 South Asian, 16,507 African, 16,440 Hispanic/Latino, 10,420 East Asian, and 1,182 Samoan. We identified 35 genes associated with circulating lipid levels; some of these genes have not been previously associated with lipid levels when using rare coding variation from population-based samples. We prioritize 32 genes in array-based genome-wide association study (GWAS) loci based on aggregations of rare coding variants; three (EVI5, SH2B3, and PLIN1) had no prior association of rare coding variants with lipid levels. Most of our associated genes showed evidence of association among multiple ancestries. Finally, we observed an enrichment of gene-based associations for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol drug target genes and for genes closest to GWAS index single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Our results demonstrate that gene-based associations can be beneficial for drug target development and provide evidence that the gene closest to the array-based GWAS index SNP is often the functional gene for blood lipid levels.

}, keywords = {Alleles, Blood Glucose, Case-Control Studies, Computational Biology, Databases, Genetic, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Exome, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genetic Variation, Genetics, Population, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Lipid Metabolism, Lipids, Liver, Molecular Sequence Annotation, Multifactorial Inheritance, Open Reading Frames, Phenotype, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2021.11.021}, author = {Hindy, George and Dornbos, Peter and Chaffin, Mark D and Liu, Dajiang J and Wang, Minxian and Selvaraj, Margaret Sunitha and Zhang, David and Park, Joseph and Aguilar-Salinas, Carlos A and Antonacci-Fulton, Lucinda and Ardissino, Diego and Arnett, Donna K and Aslibekyan, Stella and Atzmon, Gil and Ballantyne, Christie M and Barajas-Olmos, Francisco and Barzilai, Nir and Becker, Lewis C and Bielak, Lawrence F and Bis, Joshua C and Blangero, John and Boerwinkle, Eric and Bonnycastle, Lori L and Bottinger, Erwin and Bowden, Donald W and Bown, Matthew J and Brody, Jennifer A and Broome, Jai G and Burtt, Noel P and Cade, Brian E and Centeno-Cruz, Federico and Chan, Edmund and Chang, Yi-Cheng and Chen, Yii-der I and Cheng, Ching-Yu and Choi, Won Jung and Chowdhury, Rajiv and Contreras-Cubas, Cecilia and C{\'o}rdova, Emilio J and Correa, Adolfo and Cupples, L Adrienne and Curran, Joanne E and Danesh, John and de Vries, Paul S and DeFronzo, Ralph A and Doddapaneni, Harsha and Duggirala, Ravindranath and Dutcher, Susan K and Ellinor, Patrick T and Emery, Leslie S and Florez, Jose C and Fornage, Myriam and Freedman, Barry I and Fuster, Valentin and Garay-Sevilla, Ma Eugenia and Garc{\'\i}a-Ortiz, Humberto and Germer, Soren and Gibbs, Richard A and Gieger, Christian and Glaser, Benjamin and Gonzalez, Clicerio and Gonzalez-Villalpando, Maria Elena and Graff, Mariaelisa and Graham, Sarah E and Grarup, Niels and Groop, Leif C and Guo, Xiuqing and Gupta, Namrata and Han, Sohee and Hanis, Craig L and Hansen, Torben and He, Jiang and Heard-Costa, Nancy L and Hung, Yi-Jen and Hwang, Mi Yeong and Irvin, Marguerite R and Islas-Andrade, Sergio and Jarvik, Gail P and Kang, Hyun Min and Kardia, Sharon L R and Kelly, Tanika and Kenny, Eimear E and Khan, Alyna T and Kim, Bong-Jo and Kim, Ryan W and Kim, Young Jin and Koistinen, Heikki A and Kooperberg, Charles and Kuusisto, Johanna and Kwak, Soo Heon and Laakso, Markku and Lange, Leslie A and Lee, Jiwon and Lee, Juyoung and Lee, Seonwook and Lehman, Donna M and Lemaitre, Rozenn N and Linneberg, Allan and Liu, Jianjun and Loos, Ruth J F and Lubitz, Steven A and Lyssenko, Valeriya and Ma, Ronald C W and Martin, Lisa Warsinger and Mart{\'\i}nez-Hern{\'a}ndez, Ang{\'e}lica and Mathias, Rasika A and McGarvey, Stephen T and McPherson, Ruth and Meigs, James B and Meitinger, Thomas and Melander, Olle and Mendoza-Caamal, Elvia and Metcalf, Ginger A and Mi, Xuenan and Mohlke, Karen L and Montasser, May E and Moon, Jee-Young and Moreno-Macias, Hortensia and Morrison, Alanna C and Muzny, Donna M and Nelson, Sarah C and Nilsson, Peter M and O{\textquoteright}Connell, Jeffrey R and Orho-Melander, Marju and Orozco, Lorena and Palmer, Colin N A and Palmer, Nicholette D and Park, Cheol Joo and Park, Kyong Soo and Pedersen, Oluf and Peralta, Juan M and Peyser, Patricia A and Post, Wendy S and Preuss, Michael and Psaty, Bruce M and Qi, Qibin and Rao, D C and Redline, Susan and Reiner, Alexander P and Revilla-Monsalve, Cristina and Rich, Stephen S and Samani, Nilesh and Schunkert, Heribert and Schurmann, Claudia and Seo, Daekwan and Seo, Jeong-Sun and Sim, Xueling and Sladek, Rob and Small, Kerrin S and So, Wing Yee and Stilp, Adrienne M and Tai, E Shyong and Tam, Claudia H T and Taylor, Kent D and Teo, Yik Ying and Thameem, Farook and Tomlinson, Brian and Tsai, Michael Y and Tuomi, Tiinamaija and Tuomilehto, Jaakko and Tusi{\'e}-Luna, Teresa and Udler, Miriam S and van Dam, Rob M and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Viaud Martinez, Karine A and Wang, Fei Fei and Wang, Xuzhi and Watkins, Hugh and Weeks, Daniel E and Wilson, James G and Witte, Daniel R and Wong, Tien-Yin and Yanek, Lisa R and Kathiresan, Sekar and Rader, Daniel J and Rotter, Jerome I and Boehnke, Michael and McCarthy, Mark I and Willer, Cristen J and Natarajan, Pradeep and Flannick, Jason A and Khera, Amit V and Peloso, Gina M} } @article {9387, title = {Aberrant activation of TCL1A promotes stem cell expansion in clonal haematopoiesis.}, journal = {Nature}, volume = {616}, year = {2023}, month = {2023 Apr}, pages = {755-763}, abstract = {

Mutations in a diverse set of driver genes increase the fitness of haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), leading to clonal haematopoiesis. These lesions are precursors for blood cancers, but the basis of their fitness advantage remains largely unknown, partly owing to a paucity of large cohorts in which the clonal expansion rate has been assessed by longitudinal sampling. Here, to circumvent this limitation, we developed a method to infer the expansion rate from data from a single time point. We applied this method to 5,071 people with clonal haematopoiesis. A genome-wide association study revealed that a common inherited polymorphism in the TCL1A promoter was associated with a slower expansion rate in clonal haematopoiesis overall, but the effect varied by driver gene. Those carrying this protective allele exhibited markedly reduced growth rates or prevalence of clones with driver mutations in TET2, ASXL1, SF3B1 and SRSF2, but~this effect was not seen in~clones with~driver mutations in DNMT3A. TCL1A was not expressed in normal or DNMT3A-mutated HSCs, but the introduction of mutations in TET2 or ASXL1 led to the expression of TCL1A protein and the expansion of HSCs in vitro. The protective allele restricted TCL1A expression and expansion of mutant HSCs, as did experimental~knockdown of TCL1A expression. Forced expression of TCL1A promoted the expansion of human HSCs in vitro and mouse HSCs in vivo. Our results indicate that the fitness advantage of several commonly mutated driver genes in clonal haematopoiesis may be mediated by TCL1A activation.

}, keywords = {Alleles, Animals, Clonal Hematopoiesis, Genome-Wide Association Study, Hematopoiesis, Hematopoietic Stem Cells, Humans, Mice, Mutation, Promoter Regions, Genetic}, issn = {1476-4687}, doi = {10.1038/s41586-023-05806-1}, author = {Weinstock, Joshua S and Gopakumar, Jayakrishnan and Burugula, Bala Bharathi and Uddin, Md Mesbah and Jahn, Nikolaus and Belk, Julia A and Bouzid, Hind and Daniel, Bence and Miao, Zhuang and Ly, Nghi and Mack, Taralynn M and Luna, Sofia E and Prothro, Katherine P and Mitchell, Shaneice R and Laurie, Cecelia A and Broome, Jai G and Taylor, Kent D and Guo, Xiuqing and Sinner, Moritz F and von Falkenhausen, Aenne S and K{\"a}{\"a}b, Stefan and Shuldiner, Alan R and O{\textquoteright}Connell, Jeffrey R and Lewis, Joshua P and Boerwinkle, Eric and Barnes, Kathleen C and Chami, Nathalie and Kenny, Eimear E and Loos, Ruth J F and Fornage, Myriam and Hou, Lifang and Lloyd-Jones, Donald M and Redline, Susan and Cade, Brian E and Psaty, Bruce M and Bis, Joshua C and Brody, Jennifer A and Silverman, Edwin K and Yun, Jeong H and Qiao, Dandi and Palmer, Nicholette D and Freedman, Barry I and Bowden, Donald W and Cho, Michael H and DeMeo, Dawn L and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Yanek, Lisa R and Becker, Lewis C and Kardia, Sharon L R and Peyser, Patricia A and He, Jiang and Rienstra, Michiel and van der Harst, Pim and Kaplan, Robert and Heckbert, Susan R and Smith, Nicholas L and Wiggins, Kerri L and Arnett, Donna K and Irvin, Marguerite R and Tiwari, Hemant and Cutler, Michael J and Knight, Stacey and Muhlestein, J Brent and Correa, Adolfo and Raffield, Laura M and Gao, Yan and de Andrade, Mariza and Rotter, Jerome I and Rich, Stephen S and Tracy, Russell P and Konkle, Barbara A and Johnsen, Jill M and Wheeler, Marsha M and Smith, J Gustav and Melander, Olle and Nilsson, Peter M and Custer, Brian S and Duggirala, Ravindranath and Curran, Joanne E and Blangero, John and McGarvey, Stephen and Williams, L Keoki and Xiao, Shujie and Yang, Mao and Gu, C Charles and Chen, Yii-Der Ida and Lee, Wen-Jane and Marcus, Gregory M and Kane, John P and Pullinger, Clive R and Shoemaker, M Benjamin and Darbar, Dawood and Roden, Dan M and Albert, Christine and Kooperberg, Charles and Zhou, Ying and Manson, JoAnn E and Desai, Pinkal and Johnson, Andrew D and Mathias, Rasika A and Blackwell, Thomas W and Abecasis, Goncalo R and Smith, Albert V and Kang, Hyun M and Satpathy, Ansuman T and Natarajan, Pradeep and Kitzman, Jacob O and Whitsel, Eric A and Reiner, Alexander P and Bick, Alexander G and Jaiswal, Siddhartha} } @article {9866, title = {Genomic and phenotypic correlates of mosaic loss of chromosome Y in blood.}, journal = {Am J Hum Genet}, volume = {112}, year = {2025}, month = {2025 Feb 06}, pages = {276-290}, abstract = {

Mosaic loss of Y (mLOY) is the most common somatic chromosomal alteration detected in human blood. The presence of mLOY is associated with altered blood cell counts and increased risk of Alzheimer disease, solid tumors, and other age-related diseases. We sought to gain a better understanding of genetic drivers and associated phenotypes of mLOY through analyses of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of a large set of genetically diverse males from the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program. We show that haplotype-based calling methods can be used with WGS data to successfully identify mLOY events. This approach enabled us to identify differences in mLOY frequencies across populations defined by genetic similarity, revealing a higher frequency of mLOY in the European (EUR) ancestry group compared to other ancestries. We identify multiple loci associated with mLOY susceptibility and show that subsets of human hematopoietic stem cells are enriched for the activity of mLOY susceptibility variants. Finally, we found that certain alleles on chromosome Y are more likely to be lost than others in detectable mLOY clones.

}, keywords = {Alleles, Chromosome Deletion, Chromosomes, Human, Y, Genomics, Haplotypes, Humans, Male, Mosaicism, Phenotype, Whole Genome Sequencing}, issn = {1537-6605}, doi = {10.1016/j.ajhg.2024.12.014}, author = {Jakubek, Yasminka A and Ma, Xiaolong and Stilp, Adrienne M and Yu, Fulong and Bacon, Jason and Wong, Justin W and Aguet, Francois and Ardlie, Kristin and Arnett, Donna K and Barnes, Kathleen and Bis, Joshua C and Blackwell, Tom and Becker, Lewis C and Boerwinkle, Eric and Bowler, Russell P and Budoff, Matthew J and Carson, April P and Chen, Jiawen and Cho, Michael H and Coresh, Josef and Cox, Nancy J and de Vries, Paul S and DeMeo, Dawn L and Fardo, David W and Fornage, Myriam and Guo, Xiuqing and Hall, Michael E and Heard-Costa, Nancy and Hidalgo, Bertha and Irvin, Marguerite Ryan and Johnson, Andrew D and Jorgenson, Eric and Kenny, Eimear E and Kessler, Michael D and Levy, Daniel and Li, Yun and Lima, Jo{\~a}o A C and Liu, Yongmei and Locke, Adam E and Loos, Ruth J F and Machiela, Mitchell J and Mathias, Rasika A and Mitchell, Braxton D and Murabito, Joanne M and Mychaleckyj, Josyf C and North, Kari E and Orchard, Peter and Parker, Stephen C J and Pershad, Yash and Peyser, Patricia A and Pratte, Katherine A and Psaty, Bruce M and Raffield, Laura M and Redline, Susan and Rich, Stephen S and Rotter, Jerome I and Shah, Sanjiv J and Smith, Jennifer A and Smith, Aaron P and Smith, Albert and Taub, Margaret A and Tiwari, Hemant K and Tracy, Russell and Tuftin, Bjoernar and Bick, Alexander G and Sankaran, Vijay G and Reiner, Alexander P and Scheet, Paul and Auer, Paul L} } @article {9942, title = {Whole genome sequencing analysis of body mass index identifies novel African ancestry-specific risk allele.}, journal = {Nat Commun}, volume = {16}, year = {2025}, month = {2025 Apr 11}, pages = {3470}, abstract = {

Obesity is a major public health crisis associated with high mortality rates. Previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) investigating body mass index (BMI) have largely relied on imputed data from European individuals. This study leveraged whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data from 88,873 participants from the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Program, of which 51\% were of non-European population groups. We discovered 18 BMI-associated signals (P < 5 {\texttimes} 10), including two secondary signals. Notably, we identified and replicated a novel low-frequency single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in MTMR3 that was common in individuals of African descent. Using a diverse study population, we further identified two novel secondary signals in known BMI loci and pinpointed two likely causal variants in the POC5 and DMD loci. Our work demonstrates the benefits of combining WGS and diverse cohorts in expanding current catalog of variants and genes confer risk for obesity, bringing us one step closer to personalized medicine.

}, keywords = {Adult, African People, Alleles, Body Mass Index, Female, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Obesity, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Population Groups, Whole Genome Sequencing}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-58420-2}, author = {Zhang, Xinruo and Brody, Jennifer A and Graff, Mariaelisa and Highland, Heather M and Chami, Nathalie and Xu, Hanfei and Wang, Zhe and Ferrier, Kendra R and Chittoor, Geetha and Josyula, Navya Shilpa and Meyer, Mariah and Gupta, Shreyash and Li, Xihao and Li, Zilin and Allison, Matthew A and Becker, Diane M and Bielak, Lawrence F and Bis, Joshua C and Boorgula, Meher Preethi and Bowden, Donald W and Broome, Jai G and Buth, Erin J and Carlson, Christopher S and Chang, Kyong-Mi and Chavan, Sameer and Chiu, Yen-Feng and Chuang, Lee-Ming and Conomos, Matthew P and DeMeo, Dawn L and Du, Mengmeng and Duggirala, Ravindranath and Eng, Celeste and Fohner, Alison E and Freedman, Barry I and Garrett, Melanie E and Guo, Xiuqing and Haiman, Chris and Heavner, Benjamin D and Hidalgo, Bertha and Hixson, James E and Ho, Yuk-Lam and Hobbs, Brian D and Hu, Donglei and Hui, Qin and Hwu, Chii-Min and Jackson, Rebecca D and Jain, Deepti and Kalyani, Rita R and Kardia, Sharon L R and Kelly, Tanika N and Lange, Ethan M and LeNoir, Michael and Li, Changwei and Le Marchand, Lo{\"\i}c and McDonald, Merry-Lynn N and McHugh, Caitlin P and Morrison, Alanna C and Naseri, Take and O{\textquoteright}Connell, Jeffrey and O{\textquoteright}Donnell, Christopher J and Palmer, Nicholette D and Pankow, James S and Perry, James A and Peters, Ulrike and Preuss, Michael H and Rao, D C and Regan, Elizabeth A and Reupena, Sefuiva M and Roden, Dan M and Rodriguez-Santana, Jose and Sitlani, Colleen M and Smith, Jennifer A and Tiwari, Hemant K and Vasan, Ramachandran S and Wang, Zeyuan and Weeks, Daniel E and Wessel, Jennifer and Wiggins, Kerri L and Wilkens, Lynne R and Wilson, Peter W F and Yanek, Lisa R and Yoneda, Zachary T and Zhao, Wei and Z{\"o}llner, Sebastian and Arnett, Donna K and Ashley-Koch, Allison E and Barnes, Kathleen C and Blangero, John and Boerwinkle, Eric and Burchard, Esteban G and Carson, April P and Chasman, Daniel I and Ida Chen, Yii-Der and Curran, Joanne E and Fornage, Myriam and Gordeuk, Victor R and He, Jiang and Heckbert, Susan R and Hou, Lifang and Irvin, Marguerite R and Kooperberg, Charles and Minster, Ryan L and Mitchell, Braxton D and Nouraie, Mehdi and Psaty, Bruce M and Raffield, Laura M and Reiner, Alexander P and Rich, Stephen S and Rotter, Jerome I and Benjamin Shoemaker, M and Smith, Nicholas L and Taylor, Kent D and Telen, Marilyn J and Weiss, Scott T and Zhang, Yingze and Heard-Costa, Nancy and Sun, Yan V and Lin, Xihong and Cupples, L Adrienne and Lange, Leslie A and Liu, Ching-Ti and Loos, Ruth J F and North, Kari E and Justice, Anne E} }