The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) and Association of Molecular Pathology (AMP) recently published important new guidelines aiming to improve and standardize the ...pathogenicity classification of genomic variants. The Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research (CSER) consortium evaluated the use of these guidelines across nine laboratories. One identified obstacle to consistent usage of the ACMG-AMP guidelines is the lack of a definition of cosegregation as criteria for pathogenicity classification. Cosegregation data differ from many other types of pathogenicity data in being quantitative. However, the ACMG-AMP guidelines do not define quantitative criteria for use of these data. Here, such quantitative criteria, in an easily implementable form, are proposed.
The eMERGE (electronic MEdical Records and GEnomics) Network is an NHGRI-supported consortium of five institutions to explore the utility of DNA repositories coupled to Electronic Medical Record ...(EMR) systems for advancing discovery in genome science. eMERGE also includes a special emphasis on the ethical, legal and social issues related to these endeavors.
The five sites are supported by an Administrative Coordinating Center. Setting of network goals is initiated by working groups: (1) Genomics, (2) Informatics, and (3) Consent & Community Consultation, which also includes active participation by investigators outside the eMERGE funded sites, and (4) Return of Results Oversight Committee. The Steering Committee, comprised of site PIs and representatives and NHGRI staff, meet three times per year, once per year with the External Scientific Panel.
The primary site-specific phenotypes for which samples have undergone genome-wide association study (GWAS) genotyping are cataract and HDL, dementia, electrocardiographic QRS duration, peripheral arterial disease, and type 2 diabetes. A GWAS is also being undertaken for resistant hypertension in ≈ 2,000 additional samples identified across the network sites, to be added to data available for samples already genotyped. Funded by ARRA supplements, secondary phenotypes have been added at all sites to leverage the genotyping data, and hypothyroidism is being analyzed as a cross-network phenotype. Results are being posted in dbGaP. Other key eMERGE activities include evaluation of the issues associated with cross-site deployment of common algorithms to identify cases and controls in EMRs, data privacy of genomic and clinically-derived data, developing approaches for large-scale meta-analysis of GWAS data across five sites, and a community consultation and consent initiative at each site.
Plans are underway to expand the network in diversity of populations and incorporation of GWAS findings into clinical care.
By combining advanced clinical informatics, genome science, and community consultation, eMERGE represents a first step in the development of data-driven approaches to incorporate genomic information into routine healthcare delivery.
This article is based on the address given by the author at the 2021 virtual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) on October 19, 2021. The video of the original address can be ...found at the ASHG website.
Abstract Background Inconsistent associations between modifiable risk factors and chronic back pain (CBP) may be due to the inability of traditional epidemiologic study designs to properly account ...for an array of potential genetic and environmental confounding factors. The co-twin control research design, comparing modifiable risk factors in twins discordant for CBP, offers a unique way to remove numerous confounding factors. Purpose The study aimed to examine the association of modifiable lifestyle and psychological factors with lifetime CBP. Study Design/Setting This is a cross-sectional co-twin control study in a nationwide sample of male twin members of the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. Patient Sample The sample is composed of 7,108 participants, including 1,308 monozygotic (MZ) pairs and 793 dizygotic pairs. Outcome Measure The outcome measure is the self-reported lifetime history of CBP. Methods Lifestyle factors included body mass index (BMI), smoking history, alcohol consumption, habitual physical activity, and typical sleep duration. Psychological factors included depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms (PTSD Checklist). Covariates included age, race, education, and income. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated for the association of risk factors with lifetime CBP when considering twins as individuals, and a within-pair co-twin control analysis that accounted for familial and genetic factors. Funding was through VA Grant 5IK2RX001515; there were no study-specific conflicts of interest. Results The mean age of respondents was 62 years and the prevalence of lifetime CBP was 28%. All lifestyle factors were associated with CBP in the individual level analysis. However, none of these persisted in the within-pair analyses, except for severe obesity (BMI ≥35.0), which was associated with lifetime CBP in both individual-level (OR=1.6, 95% CI: 1.3–1.9) and within-pair analyses (MZ analysis: OR=3.7, 95% CI: 1.2–11.4). Symptoms of PTSD and depression were strongly associated with lifetime CBP in both the individual-level (moderate or severe depression: OR=4.2, 95% CI: 3.6–4.9, and severe PTSD: OR=4.8, 95% CI: 4.0–5.7) and within-pair (MZ) analyses (moderate or severe depression: OR=4.6, 95% CI: 2.4–8.7, and severe PTSD: OR=3.2, 95% CI: 1.6–6.5). Conclusions Many associations between modifiable lifestyle risk factors and CBP are due to confounding by familial and genetic factors. Severe obesity, depression, and PTSD should be considered in the development of intervention strategies to reduce the prevalence of CBP.
The incorporation of genomics into medicine is stimulating interest on the return of incidental findings (IFs) from exome and genome sequencing. However, no large-scale study has yet estimated the ...number of expected actionable findings per individual; therefore, we classified actionable pathogenic single-nucleotide variants in 500 European- and 500 African-descent participants randomly selected from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Exome Sequencing Project. The 1,000 individuals were screened for variants in 114 genes selected by an expert panel for their association with medically actionable genetic conditions possibly undiagnosed in adults. Among the 1,000 participants, 585 instances of 239 unique variants were identified as disease causing in the Human Gene Mutation Database (HGMD). The primary literature supporting the variants’ pathogenicity was reviewed. Of the identified IFs, only 16 unique autosomal-dominant variants in 17 individuals were assessed to be pathogenic or likely pathogenic, and one participant had two pathogenic variants for an autosomal-recessive disease. Furthermore, one pathogenic and four likely pathogenic variants not listed as disease causing in HGMD were identified. These data can provide an estimate of the frequency (∼3.4% for European descent and ∼1.2% for African descent) of the high-penetrance actionable pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in adults. The 23 participants with pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants were disproportionately of European (17) versus African (6) descent. The process of classifying these variants underscores the need for a more comprehensive and diverse centralized resource to provide curated information on pathogenicity for clinical use to minimize health disparities in genomic medicine.
Paraoxonase-1 (PON1), an esterase/lactonase primarily associated with plasma high-density lipoprotein (HDL), was the first member of this family of enzymes to be characterized. Its name was derived ...from its ability to hydrolyze paraoxon, the toxic metabolite of the insecticide parathion. Related enzymes PON2 and PON3 were named from their evolutionary relationship with PON1. Mice with each PON gene knocked out were generated at UCLA and have been key for elucidating their roles in organophosphorus (OP) metabolism, cardiovascular disease, innate immunity, obesity, and cancer. PON1 status, determined with two-substrate analyses, reveals an individual’s functional Q192R genotype and activity levels. The three-dimensional structure for a chimeric PON1 has been useful for understanding the structural properties of PON1 and for engineering PON1 as a catalytic scavenger of OP compounds. All three PONs hydrolyze microbial N-acyl homoserine lactone quorum sensing factors, quenching Pseudomonas aeruginosa’s pathogenesis. All three PONs modulate oxidative stress and inflammation. PON2 is localized in the mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum. PON2 has potent antioxidant properties and is found at 3- to 4-fold higher levels in females than males, providing increased protection against oxidative stress, as observed in primary cultures of neurons and astrocytes from female mice compared with male mice. The higher levels of PON2 in females may explain the lower frequency of neurological and cardiovascular diseases in females and the ability to identify males but not females with Parkinson’s disease using a special PON1 status assay. Less is known about PON3; however, recent experiments with PON3 knockout mice show them to be susceptible to obesity, gallstone formation and atherosclerosis. Like PONs 1 and 2, PON3 also appears to modulate oxidative stress. It is localized in the endoplasmic reticulum, mitochondria and on HDL. Both PON2 and PON3 are upregulated in cancer, favoring tumor progression through mitochondrial protection against oxidative stress and apoptosis.
•Paraoxonases are lipo-lactonases with shared and unique substrate specificities.•PONs are associated with a variety of human diseases and PON1 with OP exposures.•PON1 activity measurement is important when assessing risk of exposure or disease.•Intracellular PON2 protects against oxidative stress and apoptosis.•PON3 seems to have similar functions and shares localization with PON1 and PON2.
Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a heritable disorder that ranges in severity from death in the perinatal period to an increased lifetime risk of fracture. Mutations in COL1A1 and COL1A2, which encode ...the chains of type I procollagen, result in dominant forms of OI, and mutations in several other genes result in recessive forms of OI. Here, we describe four recessive-OI-affected families in which we identified causative mutations in wingless-type MMTV integration site family 1 (WNT1). In family 1, we identified a homozygous missense mutation by exome sequencing. In family 2, we identified a homozygous nonsense mutation predicted to produce truncated WNT1. In family 3, we found a nonsense mutation and a single-nucleotide duplication on different alleles, and in family 4, we found a homozygous 14 bp deletion. The mutations in families 3 and 4 are predicted to result in nonsense-mediated mRNA decay and the absence of WNT1. WNT1 is a secreted signaling protein that binds the frizzled receptor (FZD) and the coreceptor low-density lipoprotein-receptor-related protein 5 (LRP5). Biallelic loss-of-function mutations in LRP5 result in recessive osteoporosis-pseudoglioma syndrome with low bone mass, whereas heterozygous gain-of-function mutations result in van Buchem disease with elevated bone density. Biallelic loss-of-function mutations in WNT1 result in a recessive clinical picture that includes bone fragility with a moderately severe and progressive presentation that is not easily distinguished from dominant OI type III.
Many modern human genomes retain DNA inherited from interbreeding with archaic hominins, such as Neandertals, yet the influence of this admixture on human traits is largely unknown. We analyzed the ...contribution of common Neandertal variants to over 1000 electronic health record (EHR)–derived phenotypes in ~28,000 adults of European ancestry. We discovered and replicated associations of Neandertal alleles with neurological, psychiatric, immunological, and dermatological phenotypes. Neandertal alleles together explained a significant fraction of the variation in risk for depression and skin lesions resulting from sun exposure (actinic keratosis), and individual Neandertal alleles were significantly associated with specific human phenotypes, including hypercoagulation and tobacco use. Our results establish that archaic admixture influences disease risk in modern humans, provide hypotheses about the effects of hundreds of Neandertal haplotypes, and demonstrate the utility of EHR data in evolutionary analyses.
The FDA and genomic tests--getting regulation right Evans, Barbara J; Burke, Wylie; Jarvik, Gail P
New England journal of medicine/The New England journal of medicine,
06/2015, Volume:
372, Issue:
23
Journal Article
PDF
