1. Integrating genetic, transcriptional, and functional analyses to identify 5 novel genes for atrial fibrillation.
- Author
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Sinner MF, Tucker NR, Lunetta KL, Ozaki K, Smith JG, Trompet S, Bis JC, Lin H, Chung MK, Nielsen JB, Lubitz SA, Krijthe BP, Magnani JW, Ye J, Gollob MH, Tsunoda T, Müller-Nurasyid M, Lichtner P, Peters A, Dolmatova E, Kubo M, Smith JD, Psaty BM, Smith NL, Jukema JW, Chasman DI, Albert CM, Ebana Y, Furukawa T, Macfarlane PW, Harris TB, Darbar D, Dörr M, Holst AG, Svendsen JH, Hofman A, Uitterlinden AG, Gudnason V, Isobe M, Malik R, Dichgans M, Rosand J, Van Wagoner DR, Benjamin EJ, Milan DJ, Melander O, Heckbert SR, Ford I, Liu Y, Barnard J, Olesen MS, Stricker BH, Tanaka T, Kääb S, and Ellinor PT
- Subjects
- Aged, Animals, Atrial Fibrillation ethnology, Atrial Fibrillation physiopathology, Chromosome Mapping, Connexin 43 physiology, Europe, Female, Gene Knockdown Techniques, Genetic Loci physiology, Genetic Predisposition to Disease ethnology, Genotype, Homeodomain Proteins physiology, Humans, Japan, Male, Middle Aged, Muscle Proteins, Nuclear Proteins physiology, Quantitative Trait Loci, Repressor Proteins physiology, T-Box Domain Proteins physiology, Transcription Factors genetics, Transcription Factors physiology, Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases physiology, Zebrafish, Zebrafish Proteins genetics, Zebrafish Proteins physiology, Homeobox Protein PITX2, Atrial Fibrillation genetics, Connexin 43 genetics, Homeodomain Proteins genetics, Nuclear Proteins genetics, Repressor Proteins genetics, T-Box Domain Proteins genetics, Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases genetics
- Abstract
Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects >30 million individuals worldwide and is associated with an increased risk of stroke, heart failure, and death. AF is highly heritable, yet the genetic basis for the arrhythmia remains incompletely understood., Methods and Results: To identify new AF-related genes, we used a multifaceted approach, combining large-scale genotyping in 2 ethnically distinct populations, cis-eQTL (expression quantitative trait loci) mapping, and functional validation. Four novel loci were identified in individuals of European descent near the genes NEURL (rs12415501; relative risk [RR]=1.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.13-1.23; P=6.5×10(-16)), GJA1 (rs13216675; RR=1.10; 95% CI, 1.06-1.14; P=2.2×10(-8)), TBX5 (rs10507248; RR=1.12; 95% CI, 1.08-1.16; P=5.7×10(-11)), and CAND2 (rs4642101; RR=1.10; 95% CI, 1.06-1.14; P=9.8×10(-9)). In Japanese, novel loci were identified near NEURL (rs6584555; RR=1.32; 95% CI, 1.26-1.39; P=2.0×10(-25)) and CUX2 (rs6490029; RR=1.12; 95% CI, 1.08-1.16; P=3.9×10(-9)). The top single-nucleotide polymorphisms or their proxies were identified as cis-eQTLs for the genes CAND2 (P=2.6×10(-19)), GJA1 (P=2.66×10(-6)), and TBX5 (P=1.36×10(-5)). Knockdown of the zebrafish orthologs of NEURL and CAND2 resulted in prolongation of the atrial action potential duration (17% and 45%, respectively)., Conclusions: We have identified 5 novel loci for AF. Our results expand the diversity of genetic pathways implicated in AF and provide novel molecular targets for future biological and pharmacological investigation., (© 2014 American Heart Association, Inc.)
- Published
- 2014
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