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Trisomy 21 is the most frequent genetic cause of cognitive impairment. To assess the perturbations of gene expression in trisomy 21, and to eliminate the noise of genomic variability, we studied the transcriptome of fetal fibroblasts from a pair of monozygotic twins discordant for trisomy 21. Here we show that the differential expression between the twins is organized in domains along all chromosomes that are either upregulated or downregulated. These gene expression dysregulation domains (GEDDs) can be defined by the expression level of their gene content, and are well conserved in induced pluripotent stem cells derived from the twins' fibroblasts. Comparison of the transcriptome of the Ts65Dn mouse model of Down's syndrome and normal littermate mouse fibroblasts also showed GEDDs along the mouse chromosomes that were syntenic in human. The GEDDs correlate with the lamina-associated (LADs) and replication domains of mammalian cells. The overall position of LADs was not altered in trisomic cells; however, the H3K4me3 profile of the trisomic fibroblasts was modified and accurately followed the GEDD pattern. These results indicate that the nuclear compartments of trisomic cells undergo modifications of the chromatin environment influencing the overall transcriptome, and that GEDDs may therefore contribute to some trisomy 21 phenotypes. By studying the transcriptome of fetal cells of monozygotic twins discordant for trisomy 21, this paper finds that differential expression between the twins is organized in domains along all chromosomes; these gene expression dysregulation domains are conserved in the mouse model of Down's syndrome and correlate with the lamina-associated domains and replication domains. The genetic landscape of Down's syndrome Down's syndrome is thought to be caused by gene expression disturbances, so to understand the molecular mechanisms that underlie the phenotype requires an understanding of the transcriptome differences in cells and tissues carrying the total or partial trisomy of chromosome 21 that is typical of the condition. This study of the transcriptome of fetal cells of monozygotic twins discordant for trisomy 21 shows that differential expression between the twins is organized in domains along all chromosomes. These gene expression dysregulation domains are conserved in the mouse model of Down's syndrome and correlate with the lamina-associated domains and replication domains. Although the overall genome topology is not altered in trisomic cells, the authors report modifications of the chromatin environment influencing the overall transcriptome and suggest that the dysregulation domains they identify may therefore contribute to some Down's syndrome phenotypes., Author(s): Audrey Letourneau [sup.1] , Federico A. Santoni [sup.1] , Ximena Bonilla [sup.1] , M. Reza Sailani [sup.1] , David Gonzalez [sup.2] , Jop Kind [sup.3] , Claire Chevalier [sup.4] [...]

The article describes that single nucleotide located in targets 3' untranslated region (UTR) of protein- coding genes can affect miRNA regulation.

A study providing the first extensive data set on HSA21 gene expression variation in Down syndrome is presented. Results underscore its role in modulating the outcome of gene- dosage imbalance.

Understanding how genetic variation affects distinct cellular phenotypes, such as gene expression levels, alternative splicing and DNA methylation levels, is essential for better understanding of complex diseases and traits. Furthermore, how inter-individual variation of DNA methylation is associated to gene expression is just starting to be studied. In this study, we use the GenCord cohort of 204 newborn Europeans’ lymphoblastoid cell lines, T-cells and fibroblasts derived from umbilical cords. The samples were previously genotyped for 2.5 million SNPs, mRNA-sequenced, and assayed for methylation levels in 482,421 CpG sites. We observe that methylation sites associated to expression levels are enriched in enhancers, gene bodies and CpG island shores. We show that while the correlation between DNA methylation and gene expression can be positive or negative, it is very consistent across cell-types. However, this epigenetic association to gene expression appears more tissue-specific than the genetic effects on gene expression or DNA methylation (observed in both sharing estimations based on P-values and effect size correlations between cell-types). This predominance of genetic effects can also be reflected by the observation that allele specific expression differences between individuals dominate over tissue-specific effects. Additionally, we discover genetic effects on alternative splicing and interestingly, a large amount of DNA methylation correlating to alternative splicing, both in a tissue-specific manner. The locations of the SNPs and methylation sites involved in these associations highlight the participation of promoter proximal and distant regulatory regions on alternative splicing. Overall, our results provide high-resolution analyses showing how genome sequence variation has a broad effect on cellular phenotypes across cell-types, whereas epigenetic factors provide a secondary layer of variation that is more tissue-specific. Furthermore, the details of how this tissue-specificity may vary across inter-relations of molecular traits, and where these are occurring, can yield further insights into gene regulation and cellular biology as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural variation in DNA sequence contributes to individual differences in quantitative traits. While multiple studies have shown genetic control over gene expression variation, few additional cellular traits have been investigated. Here, we investigated the natural variation of NADPH oxidase-dependent hydrogen peroxide (H2O2 release), which is the joint effect of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, superoxide metabolism and degradation, and is related to a number of human disorders. We assessed the normal variation of H2O2 release in lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL) in a family-based 3-generation cohort (CEPH-HapMap), and in 3 population-based cohorts (KORA, GenCord, HapMap). Substantial individual variation was observed, 45% of which were associated with heritability in the CEPH-HapMap cohort. We identified 2 genome-wide significant loci of Hsa12 and Hsa15 in genome-wide linkage analysis. Next, we performed genome-wide association study (GWAS) for the combined KORA-GenCord cohorts (n = 279) using enhanced marker resolution by imputation (>1.4 million SNPs). We found 5 significant associations (p<5.00x10- 8) and 54 suggestive associations (p<1.00x10-5), one of which confirmed the linked region on Hsa15. To replicate our findings, we performed GWAS using 58 HapMap individuals and ~2.1 million SNPs. We identified 40 genome-wide significant and 302 suggestive SNPs, and confirmed genome signals on Hsa1, Hsa12, and Hsa15. Genetic loci within 900 kb from the known candidate gene p67phox on Hsa1 were identified in GWAS in both cohorts. We did not find replication of SNPs across all cohorts, but replication within the same genomic region. Finally, a highly significant decrease in H2O2 release was observed in Down Syndrome (DS) individuals (p<2.88x10-12). Taken together, our results show strong evidence of genetic control of H2O2 in LCL of healthy and DS cohorts and suggest that cellular phenotypes, which themselves are also complex, may be used as proxies for dissection of complex disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are regulatory noncoding RNAs that affect the production of a significant fraction of human mRNAs via post-transcriptional regulation. Interindividual variation of the miRNA expression levels is likely to influence the expression of miRNA target genes and may therefore contribute to phenotypic differences in humans, including susceptibility to common disorders. The extent to which miRNA levels are genetically controlled is largely unknown. In this report, we assayed the expression levels of miRNAs in primary fibroblasts from 180 European newborns of the GenCord project and performed association analysis to identify eQTLs (expression quantitative traits loci). We detected robust expression for 121 miRNAs out of 365 interrogated. We have identified significant cis- (10%) and trans- (11%) eQTLs. Furthermore, we detected one genomic locus (rs1522653) that influences the expression levels of five miRNAs, thus unraveling a novel mechanism for coregulation of miRNA expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]