A multi-layer functional genomic analysis to understand noncoding genetic variation in lipids.

A major challenge of genome-wide association studies (GWASs) is to translate phenotypic associations into biological insights. Here, we integrate a large GWAS on blood lipids involving 1.6 million individuals from five ancestries with a wide array of functional genomic datasets to discover regulatory mechanisms underlying lipid associations. We first prioritize lipid-associated genes with expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) colocalizations and then add chromatin interaction data to narrow the search for functional genes. Polygenic enrichment analysis across 697 annotations from a host of tissues and cell types confirms the central role of the liver in lipid levels and highlights the selective enrichment of adipose-specific chromatin marks in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides. Overlapping transcription factor (TF) binding sites with lipid-associated loci identifies TFs relevant in lipid biology. In addition, we present an integrative framework to prioritize causal variants at GWAS loci, producing a comprehensive list of candidate causal genes and variants with multiple layers of functional evidence. We highlight two of the prioritized genes, CREBRF and RRBP1, which show convergent evidence across functional datasets supporting their roles in lipid biology.
Competing Interests: Declaration of interests G.C.-P. is currently an employee of 23andMe Inc. M.J.C. is the Chief Scientist for Genomics England, a UK Government company. B.M. Psaty serves on the steering committee of the Yale Open Data Access Project funded by Johnson & Johnson. G. Thorleifsson, A.H., D.F.G., H. Holm, U.T., and K.S. are employees of deCODE/Amgen Inc. V.S. has received honoraria for consultations from Novo Nordisk and Sanofi and has an ongoing research collaboration with Bayer Ltd. M. McCarthy has served on advisory panels for Pfizer, NovoNordisk, and Zoe Global and has received honoraria from Merck, Pfizer, Novo Nordisk, and Eli Lilly and research funding from Abbvie, Astra Zeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Merck, NovoNordisk, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi Aventis, Servier, and Takeda. M. McCarthy and A. Mahajan are employees of Genentech and holders of Roche stock. M.S. receives funding from Pfizer Inc. for a project unrelated to this work. M.E.K. is employed by SYNLAB MVZ Mannheim GmbH. W.M. has received grants from Siemens Healthineers, grants and personal fees from Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, grants and personal fees from AMGEN, grants from Astrazeneca, grants and personal fees from Sanofi, grants and personal fees from Alexion Pharmaceuticals, grants and personal fees from BASF, grants and personal fees from Abbott Diagnostics, grants and personal fees from Numares AG, grants and personal fees from Berlin-Chemie, grants and personal fees from Akzea Therapeutics, grants from Bayer Vital GmbH , grants from bestbion dx GmbH, grants from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH Co KG, grants from Immundiagnostik GmbH, grants from Merck Chemicals GmbH, grants from MSD Sharp and Dohme GmbH, grants from Novartis Pharma GmbH, grants from Olink Proteomics, and other from Synlab Holding Deutschland GmbH, all outside the submitted work. A.V.K. has served as a consultant to Sanofi, Medicines Company, Maze Pharmaceuticals, Navitor Pharmaceuticals, Verve Therapeutics, Amgen, and Color Genomics; received speaking fees from Illumina and the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research; received sponsored research agreements from the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research and IBM Research, and reports a patent related to a genetic risk predictor (20190017119). S. Kathiresan is an employee of Verve Therapeutics and holds equity in Verve Therapeutics, Maze Therapeutics, Catabasis, and San Therapeutics. He is a member of the scientific advisory boards for Regeneron Genetics Center and Corvidia Therapeutics; he has served as a consultant for Acceleron, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Novo Ventures, Ionis, Alnylam, Aegerion, Haug Partners, Noble Insights, Leerink Partners, Bayer Healthcare, Illumina, Color Genomics, MedGenome, Quest, and Medscape; and he reports patents related to a method of identifying and treating a person having a predisposition to or afflicted with cardiometabolic disease (20180010185) and a genetics risk predictor (20190017119). D.K. accepts consulting fees from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. D.O.M.-K. is a part-time clinical research consultant for Metabolon, Inc. D. Saleheen has received support from the British Heart Foundation, Pfizer, Regeneron, Genentech, and Eli Lilly pharmaceuticals. P.N. reports investigator-initated grants from Amgen, Apple, AstraZeneca, Boston Scientific, and Novartis, personal fees from Apple, AstraZeneca, Blackstone Life Sciences, Foresite Labs, Novartis, Roche / Genentech, is a co-founder of TenSixteen Bio, is a scientific advisory board member of Esperion Therapeutics, geneXwell, and TenSixteen Bio, and spousal employment at Vertex, all unrelated to the present work. The spouse of C.J.W. is employed by Regeneron.
(Copyright © 2022 American Society of Human Genetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)