👤 John Barnard

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a prevalent and morbid abnormality of the heart rhythm with a strong genetic component. Here, we meta-analyzed genome and exome sequencing data from 36 studies that included 52,416 AF cases and 277,762 controls. In burden tests of rare coding variation, we identified novel associations between AF and the genes MYBPC3, LMNA, PKP2, FAM189A2 and KDM5B. We further identified associations between AF and rare structural variants owing to deletions in CTNNA3 and duplications of GATA4. We broadly replicated our findings in independent samples from MyCode, deCODE and UK Biobank. Finally, we found that CRISPR knockout of KDM5B in stem-cell-derived atrial cardiomyocytes led to a shortening of the action potential duration and widespread transcriptomic dysregulation of genes relevant to atrial homeostasis and conduction. Our results highlight the contribution of rare coding and structural variants to AF, including genetic links between AF and cardiomyopathies, and expand our understanding of the rare variant architecture for this common arrhythmia. Show less

Apolipoprotein A5 (APOA5) regulates the metabolisms of triglyceride and HDL. APOA5 variants have been linked to coronary artery disease (CAD), but their causal roles are not well studied yet. This study aims to identify the causal effects of APOA5 variants on premature CAD. Sequencing analysis of APOA5 in 128 premature, familiar CAD patients from GeneQuest identified 11 genomic variants, including p.S19W (rs3135506). SKAT analysis showed that all sequenced variants, in aggregate, significantly increased the risk of premature CAD (P-skat = 0.037). Individually, the p.S19W variant was significantly associated with risk of premature CAD (OR = 2.30, P = 0.008) in an independent set of 342 premature CAD patients and 537 controls after adjusting for covariates of sex, age, hypertension, body mass index, triglycerides (TGs), and total, LDL-, and HDL-cholesterol levels. Meanwhile, p.S19W significantly correlated with HDL-C levels (P = 0.048) and TG levels (P = 0.025). Mediation analysis yielded a mediation effect of p.S19W on risk of premature CAD through HDL-C (OR = 0.98, P = 0.040) and TG (OR = 0.98, P = 0.042), suggesting a causal relationship between p.S19W and premature CAD partially through its effects on HDL-C and TG levels. These results suggest that APOA5 variation regulates TG and HDL levels, thus displaying a causal role in the development of CAD. Show less

Genetic risk factors for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have yet to be fully elucidated. Postzygotic mosaic mutations (PMMs) have been implicated in several neurodevelopmental disorders and overgrowth syndromes. By leveraging whole-exome sequencing data on a large family-based ASD cohort, the Simons Simplex Collection, we systematically evaluated the potential role of PMMs in autism risk. Initial re-evaluation of published single-nucleotide variant (SNV) de novo mutations showed evidence consistent with putative PMMs for 11% of mutations. We developed a robust and sensitive SNV PMM calling approach integrating complementary callers, logistic regression modeling, and additional heuristics. In our high-confidence call set, we identified 470 PMMs in children, increasing the proportion of mosaic SNVs to 22%. Probands have a significant burden of synonymous PMMs and these mutations are enriched for computationally predicted impacts on splicing. Evidence of increased missense PMM burden was not seen in the full cohort. However, missense burden signal increased in subcohorts of families where probands lacked nonsynonymous germline mutations, especially in genes intolerant to mutations. Parental mosaic mutations that were transmitted account for 6.8% of the presumed de novo mutations in the children. PMMs were identified in previously implicated high-confidence neurodevelopmental disorder risk genes, such as CHD2, CTNNB1, SCN2A, and SYNGAP1, as well as candidate risk genes with predicted functions in chromatin remodeling or neurodevelopment, including ACTL6B, BAZ2B, COL5A3, SSRP1, and UNC79. We estimate that PMMs potentially contribute risk to 3%-4% of simplex ASD case subjects and future studies of PMMs in ASD and related disorders are warranted. Show less

Apolipoprotein (apo) A-IV is a protein component of triglyceride (TG)-rich lipoproteins and high density lipoproteins (HDL). Plasma apo A-IV levels were measured by immunoelectrophoresis and these values were related to other biological variables in 723 middle aged and elderly men and women (more than 90% of them were Caucasian) prior to participation in a lifestyle modification program. Apo A-IV may play an important function in regulating lipid absorption, reverse cholesterol transport, and food intake. The data are consistent with the following concepts: (1) apo A-IV levels are significantly and positively correlated with age (r = 0.159, P < 0.05) in all subjects, with plasma apo A-I levels in both men (r = 0.194, P < 0.001) and women (r = 0.213, P < 0.001), and with apo E (r=0.111, P<0.05) and TG levels (r =0.120, P <0.05) in men; (2) apo A-IV levels are inversely correlated with body mass index (r = 0.170, P <0.05) in women; (3) female subjects on hormone replacement therapy have significantly lower plasma apo A-IV levels (by 4.1%, P < 0.05) than normal controls; (4) diabetic subjects have significantly higher apo A-IV levels (by 21%, P < 0.01) than normal subjects; (5) there is no significant effect of smoking, alcohol intake, and apo A-IV-1/2 genotype on apo A-IV levels. The data indicate that plasma apo A-IV levels are significantly affected by age, diabetes, and hormone replacement therapy. Show less