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"Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 30 region of myosin IXB (MYO9B) gene have recently been reported to associate with different inflammatory or autoimmune diseases. We monitored for the association of MYO9B variants to multiple sclerosis (MS) in four Northern European populations. First, 18 SNPs including 6 SNPs with previous evidence for association to immune disorders, were tested in 730 Finnish MS families, but no linkage or family-based association was observed. To ensure the power to detect variants with a modest effect size, we further analyzed 10 variants in 899 Finnish cases and 1325 controls, and in a total of 1521 cases and 1476 controls from Denmark, Norway and Sweden, but found no association. Our results thereby do not support a major function of the tested MYO9B variants in MS. European Journal of Human Genetics (2009) 17, 840-843; doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2008.251; published online 14 January 2009" "Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 30 region of myosin IXB (MYO9B) gene have recently been reported to associate with different inflammatory or autoimmune diseases. We monitored for the association of MYO9B variants to multiple sclerosis (MS) in four Northern European populations. First, 18 SNPs including 6 SNPs with previous evidence for association to immune disorders, were tested in 730 Finnish MS families, but no linkage or family-based association was observed. To ensure the power to detect variants with a modest effect size, we further analyzed 10 variants in 899 Finnish cases and 1325 controls, and in a total of 1521 cases and 1476 controls from Denmark, Norway and Sweden, but found no association. Our results thereby do not support a major function of the tested MYO9B variants in MS. European Journal of Human Genetics (2009) 17, 840-843; doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2008.251; published online 14 January 2009" "Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 30 region of myosin IXB (MYO9B) gene have recently been reported to associate with different inflammatory or autoimmune diseases. We monitored for the association of MYO9B variants to multiple sclerosis (MS) in four Northern European populations. First, 18 SNPs including 6 SNPs with previous evidence for association to immune disorders, were tested in 730 Finnish MS families, but no linkage or family-based association was observed. To ensure the power to detect variants with a modest effect size, we further analyzed 10 variants in 899 Finnish cases and 1325 controls, and in a total of 1521 cases and 1476 controls from Denmark, Norway and Sweden, but found no association. Our results thereby do not support a major function of the tested MYO9B variants in MS. European Journal of Human Genetics (2009) 17, 840-843; doi: 10.1038/ejhg.2008.251; published online 14 January 2009"

We introduce a new method for linkage disequilibrium mapping: haplotype pattern mining (HPM). The method, inspired by data mining methods, is based on discovery of recurrent patterns. We define a class of useful haplotype patterns in genetic case-control data and use the algorithm for finding disease-associated haplotypes. The haplotypes are ordered by their strength of association with the phenotype, and all haplotypes exceeding a given threshold level are used for prediction of disease susceptibility–gene location. The method is model-free, in the sense that it does not require (and is unable to utilize) any assumptions about the inheritance model of the disease. The statistical model is nonparametric. The haplotypes are allowed to contain gaps, which improves the method's robustness to mutations and to missing and erroneous data. Experimental studies with simulated microsatellite and SNP data show that the method has good localization power in data sets with large degrees of phenocopies and with lots of missing and erroneous data. The power of HPM is roughly identical for marker maps at a density of 3 single-nucleotide polymorphisms/cM or 1 microsatellite/cM. The capacity to handle high proportions of phenocopies makes the method promising for complex disease mapping. An example of correct disease susceptibility–gene localization with HPM is given with real marker data from families from the United Kingdom affected by type 1 diabetes. The method is extendable to include environmental covariates or phenotype measurements or to find several genes simultaneously.

Despite chronic inflammation, psoriatic lesions hardly ever progress to skin cancer. Aberrant function of the CCHCR1 gene (Coiled-Coil alpha-Helical Rod protein 1, HCR) within the PSORS1 locus may contribute to the onset of psoriasis. As CCHCR1 is expressed in certain cancers and regulates keratinocyte (KC) proliferation in a transgenic mouse model, we studied its relation to proliferation in cutaneous squamous cell cancer (SCC) cell lines by expression arrays and quantitative RT-PCR and in skin tumors by immunohistochemistry. CCHCR1 protein was detected in the pushing border of SCC and lining basal cell carcinoma islands. Different from psoriasis, Ki67 had a similar expression pattern as CCHCR1. The most intense CCHCR1 staining occurred in areas positive for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Expression of CCHCR1 mRNA was upregulated 30-80% in SCC lines when compared to normal KCs and correlated positively with Ki67 expression. The most aggressive and invasive tumor cell lines (RT3, FaDu) expressed CCHCR1 mRNA less than non-tumorigenic HaCaT cells. Moreover, the tumor promoters okadaic acid and menadione downregulated CCHCR1 mRNA. We conclude that both in psoriasis and the early stages of KC transformation, CCHCR1 may function as a negative regulator of proliferation, but beyond a certain point in oncogenesis cannot control this phenomenon any longer.

Background: Genome-wide data provide a powerful tool for inferring patterns of genetic variation and structure of human populations. Principal Findings: In this study, we analysed almost 250,000 SNPs from a total of 945 samples from Eastern and Western Finland, Sweden, Northern Germany and Great Britain complemented with HapMap data. Small but statistically significant differences were observed between the European populations (FST=0.0040, p,10 24 ), also between Eastern and Western Finland (FST=0.0032, p,10 23 ). The latter indicated the existence of a relatively strong autosomal substructure within the country, similar to that observed earlier with smaller numbers of markers. The Germans and British were less differentiated than the Swedes, Western Finns and especially the Eastern Finns who also showed other signs of genetic drift. This is likely caused by the later founding of the northern populations, together with subsequent founder and bottleneck effects, and a smaller population size. Furthermore, our data suggest a small eastern contribution among the Finns, consistent with the historical and linguistic background of the population. Significance: Our results warn against a priori assumptions of homogeneity among Finns and other seemingly isolated populations. Thus, in association studies in such populations, additional caution for population structure may be necessary. Our results illustrate that population history is often important for patterns of genetic variation, and that the analysis of hundreds of thousands of SNPs provides high resolution also for population genetics.