%0 Journal Article %J Am J Hum Genet %D 2018 %T Genome Analyses of >200,000 Individuals Identify 58 Loci for Chronic Inflammation and Highlight Pathways that Link Inflammation and Complex Disorders. %A Ligthart, Symen %A Vaez, Ahmad %A Võsa, Urmo %A Stathopoulou, Maria G %A de Vries, Paul S %A Prins, Bram P %A van der Most, Peter J %A Tanaka, Toshiko %A Naderi, Elnaz %A Rose, Lynda M %A Wu, Ying %A Karlsson, Robert %A Barbalic, Maja %A Lin, Honghuang %A Pool, René %A Zhu, Gu %A Macé, Aurélien %A Sidore, Carlo %A Trompet, Stella %A Mangino, Massimo %A Sabater-Lleal, Maria %A Kemp, John P %A Abbasi, Ali %A Kacprowski, Tim %A Verweij, Niek %A Smith, Albert V %A Huang, Tao %A Marzi, Carola %A Feitosa, Mary F %A Lohman, Kurt K %A Kleber, Marcus E %A Milaneschi, Yuri %A Mueller, Christian %A Huq, Mahmudul %A Vlachopoulou, Efthymia %A Lyytikäinen, Leo-Pekka %A Oldmeadow, Christopher %A Deelen, Joris %A Perola, Markus %A Zhao, Jing Hua %A Feenstra, Bjarke %A Amini, Marzyeh %A Lahti, Jari %A Schraut, Katharina E %A Fornage, Myriam %A Suktitipat, Bhoom %A Chen, Wei-Min %A Li, Xiaohui %A Nutile, Teresa %A Malerba, Giovanni %A Luan, Jian'an %A Bak, Tom %A Schork, Nicholas %A del Greco M, Fabiola %A Thiering, Elisabeth %A Mahajan, Anubha %A Marioni, Riccardo E %A Mihailov, Evelin %A Eriksson, Joel %A Ozel, Ayse Bilge %A Zhang, Weihua %A Nethander, Maria %A Cheng, Yu-Ching %A Aslibekyan, Stella %A Ang, Wei %A Gandin, Ilaria %A Yengo, Loic %A Portas, Laura %A Kooperberg, Charles %A Hofer, Edith %A Rajan, Kumar B %A Schurmann, Claudia %A den Hollander, Wouter %A Ahluwalia, Tarunveer S %A Zhao, Jing %A Draisma, Harmen H M %A Ford, Ian %A Timpson, Nicholas %A Teumer, Alexander %A Huang, Hongyan %A Wahl, Simone %A Liu, Yongmei %A Huang, Jie %A Uh, Hae-Won %A Geller, Frank %A Joshi, Peter K %A Yanek, Lisa R %A Trabetti, Elisabetta %A Lehne, Benjamin %A Vozzi, Diego %A Verbanck, Marie %A Biino, Ginevra %A Saba, Yasaman %A Meulenbelt, Ingrid %A O'Connell, Jeff R %A Laakso, Markku %A Giulianini, Franco %A Magnusson, Patrik K E %A Ballantyne, Christie M %A Hottenga, Jouke Jan %A Montgomery, Grant W %A Rivadineira, Fernando %A Rueedi, Rico %A Steri, Maristella %A Herzig, Karl-Heinz %A Stott, David J %A Menni, Cristina %A Frånberg, Mattias %A St Pourcain, Beate %A Felix, Stephan B %A Pers, Tune H %A Bakker, Stephan J L %A Kraft, Peter %A Peters, Annette %A Vaidya, Dhananjay %A Delgado, Graciela %A Smit, Johannes H %A Großmann, Vera %A Sinisalo, Juha %A Seppälä, Ilkka %A Williams, Stephen R %A Holliday, Elizabeth G %A Moed, Matthijs %A Langenberg, Claudia %A Räikkönen, Katri %A Ding, Jingzhong %A Campbell, Harry %A Sale, Michele M %A Chen, Yii-Der I %A James, Alan L %A Ruggiero, Daniela %A Soranzo, Nicole %A Hartman, Catharina A %A Smith, Erin N %A Berenson, Gerald S %A Fuchsberger, Christian %A Hernandez, Dena %A Tiesler, Carla M T %A Giedraitis, Vilmantas %A Liewald, David %A Fischer, Krista %A Mellström, Dan %A Larsson, Anders %A Wang, Yunmei %A Scott, William R %A Lorentzon, Matthias %A Beilby, John %A Ryan, Kathleen A %A Pennell, Craig E %A Vuckovic, Dragana %A Balkau, Beverly %A Concas, Maria Pina %A Schmidt, Reinhold %A Mendes de Leon, Carlos F %A Bottinger, Erwin P %A Kloppenburg, Margreet %A Paternoster, Lavinia %A Boehnke, Michael %A Musk, A W %A Willemsen, Gonneke %A Evans, David M %A Madden, Pamela A F %A Kähönen, Mika %A Kutalik, Zoltán %A Zoledziewska, Magdalena %A Karhunen, Ville %A Kritchevsky, Stephen B %A Sattar, Naveed %A LaChance, Genevieve %A Clarke, Robert %A Harris, Tamara B %A Raitakari, Olli T %A Attia, John R %A van Heemst, Diana %A Kajantie, Eero %A Sorice, Rossella %A Gambaro, Giovanni %A Scott, Robert A %A Hicks, Andrew A %A Ferrucci, Luigi %A Standl, Marie %A Lindgren, Cecilia M %A Starr, John M %A Karlsson, Magnus %A Lind, Lars %A Li, Jun Z %A Chambers, John C %A Mori, Trevor A %A de Geus, Eco J C N %A Heath, Andrew C %A Martin, Nicholas G %A Auvinen, Juha %A Buckley, Brendan M %A de Craen, Anton J M %A Waldenberger, Melanie %A Strauch, Konstantin %A Meitinger, Thomas %A Scott, Rodney J %A McEvoy, Mark %A Beekman, Marian %A Bombieri, Cristina %A Ridker, Paul M %A Mohlke, Karen L %A Pedersen, Nancy L %A Morrison, Alanna C %A Boomsma, Dorret I %A Whitfield, John B %A Strachan, David P %A Hofman, Albert %A Vollenweider, Peter %A Cucca, Francesco %A Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta %A Jukema, J Wouter %A Spector, Tim D %A Hamsten, Anders %A Zeller, Tanja %A Uitterlinden, André G %A Nauck, Matthias %A Gudnason, Vilmundur %A Qi, Lu %A Grallert, Harald %A Borecki, Ingrid B %A Rotter, Jerome I %A März, Winfried %A Wild, Philipp S %A Lokki, Marja-Liisa %A Boyle, Michael %A Salomaa, Veikko %A Melbye, Mads %A Eriksson, Johan G %A Wilson, James F %A Penninx, Brenda W J H %A Becker, Diane M %A Worrall, Bradford B %A Gibson, Greg %A Krauss, Ronald M %A Ciullo, Marina %A Zaza, Gianluigi %A Wareham, Nicholas J %A Oldehinkel, Albertine J %A Palmer, Lyle J %A Murray, Sarah S %A Pramstaller, Peter P %A Bandinelli, Stefania %A Heinrich, Joachim %A Ingelsson, Erik %A Deary, Ian J %A Mägi, Reedik %A Vandenput, Liesbeth %A van der Harst, Pim %A Desch, Karl C %A Kooner, Jaspal S %A Ohlsson, Claes %A Hayward, Caroline %A Lehtimäki, Terho %A Shuldiner, Alan R %A Arnett, Donna K %A Beilin, Lawrence J %A Robino, Antonietta %A Froguel, Philippe %A Pirastu, Mario %A Jess, Tine %A Koenig, Wolfgang %A Loos, Ruth J F %A Evans, Denis A %A Schmidt, Helena %A Smith, George Davey %A Slagboom, P Eline %A Eiriksdottir, Gudny %A Morris, Andrew P %A Psaty, Bruce M %A Tracy, Russell P %A Nolte, Ilja M %A Boerwinkle, Eric %A Visvikis-Siest, Sophie %A Reiner, Alex P %A Gross, Myron %A Bis, Joshua C %A Franke, Lude %A Franco, Oscar H %A Benjamin, Emelia J %A Chasman, Daniel I %A Dupuis, Josée %A Snieder, Harold %A Dehghan, Abbas %A Alizadeh, Behrooz Z %X

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a sensitive biomarker of chronic low-grade inflammation and is associated with multiple complex diseases. The genetic determinants of chronic inflammation remain largely unknown, and the causal role of CRP in several clinical outcomes is debated. We performed two genome-wide association studies (GWASs), on HapMap and 1000 Genomes imputed data, of circulating amounts of CRP by using data from 88 studies comprising 204,402 European individuals. Additionally, we performed in silico functional analyses and Mendelian randomization analyses with several clinical outcomes. The GWAS meta-analyses of CRP revealed 58 distinct genetic loci (p < 5 × 10). After adjustment for body mass index in the regression analysis, the associations at all except three loci remained. The lead variants at the distinct loci explained up to 7.0% of the variance in circulating amounts of CRP. We identified 66 gene sets that were organized in two substantially correlated clusters, one mainly composed of immune pathways and the other characterized by metabolic pathways in the liver. Mendelian randomization analyses revealed a causal protective effect of CRP on schizophrenia and a risk-increasing effect on bipolar disorder. Our findings provide further insights into the biology of inflammation and could lead to interventions for treating inflammation and its clinical consequences.

%B Am J Hum Genet %V 103 %P 691-706 %8 2018 Nov 01 %G eng %N 5 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30388399?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1016/j.ajhg.2018.09.009 %0 Journal Article %J Nature %D 2017 %T Rare and low-frequency coding variants alter human adult height. %A Marouli, Eirini %A Graff, Mariaelisa %A Medina-Gomez, Carolina %A Lo, Ken Sin %A Wood, Andrew R %A Kjaer, Troels R %A Fine, Rebecca S %A Lu, Yingchang %A Schurmann, Claudia %A Highland, Heather M %A Rüeger, Sina %A Thorleifsson, Gudmar %A Justice, Anne E %A Lamparter, David %A Stirrups, Kathleen E %A Turcot, Valérie %A Young, Kristin L %A Winkler, Thomas W %A Esko, Tõnu %A Karaderi, Tugce %A Locke, Adam E %A Masca, Nicholas G D %A Ng, Maggie C Y %A Mudgal, Poorva %A Rivas, Manuel A %A Vedantam, Sailaja %A Mahajan, Anubha %A Guo, Xiuqing %A Abecasis, Goncalo %A Aben, Katja K %A Adair, Linda S %A Alam, Dewan S %A Albrecht, Eva %A Allin, Kristine H %A Allison, Matthew %A Amouyel, Philippe %A Appel, Emil V %A Arveiler, Dominique %A Asselbergs, Folkert W %A Auer, Paul L %A Balkau, Beverley %A Banas, Bernhard %A Bang, Lia E %A Benn, Marianne %A Bergmann, Sven %A Bielak, Lawrence F %A Blüher, Matthias %A Boeing, Heiner %A Boerwinkle, Eric %A Böger, Carsten A %A Bonnycastle, Lori L %A Bork-Jensen, Jette %A Bots, Michiel L %A Bottinger, Erwin P %A Bowden, Donald W %A Brandslund, Ivan %A Breen, Gerome %A Brilliant, Murray H %A Broer, Linda %A Burt, Amber A %A Butterworth, Adam S %A Carey, David J %A Caulfield, Mark J %A Chambers, John C %A Chasman, Daniel I %A Chen, Yii-Der Ida %A Chowdhury, Rajiv %A Christensen, Cramer %A Chu, Audrey Y %A Cocca, Massimiliano %A Collins, Francis S %A Cook, James P %A Corley, Janie %A Galbany, Jordi Corominas %A Cox, Amanda J %A Cuellar-Partida, Gabriel %A Danesh, John %A Davies, Gail %A de Bakker, Paul I W %A de Borst, Gert J %A de Denus, Simon %A de Groot, Mark C H %A de Mutsert, Renée %A Deary, Ian J %A Dedoussis, George %A Demerath, Ellen W %A den Hollander, Anneke I %A Dennis, Joe G %A Di Angelantonio, Emanuele %A Drenos, Fotios %A Du, Mengmeng %A Dunning, Alison M %A Easton, Douglas F %A Ebeling, Tapani %A Edwards, Todd L %A Ellinor, Patrick T %A Elliott, Paul %A Evangelou, Evangelos %A Farmaki, Aliki-Eleni %A Faul, Jessica D %A Feitosa, Mary F %A Feng, Shuang %A Ferrannini, Ele %A Ferrario, Marco M %A Ferrières, Jean %A Florez, Jose C %A Ford, Ian %A Fornage, Myriam %A Franks, Paul W %A Frikke-Schmidt, Ruth %A Galesloot, Tessel E %A Gan, Wei %A Gandin, Ilaria %A Gasparini, Paolo %A Giedraitis, Vilmantas %A Giri, Ayush %A Girotto, Giorgia %A Gordon, Scott D %A Gordon-Larsen, Penny %A Gorski, Mathias %A Grarup, Niels %A Grove, Megan L %A Gudnason, Vilmundur %A Gustafsson, Stefan %A Hansen, Torben %A Harris, Kathleen Mullan %A Harris, Tamara B %A Hattersley, Andrew T %A Hayward, Caroline %A He, Liang %A Heid, Iris M %A Heikkilä, Kauko %A Helgeland, Øyvind %A Hernesniemi, Jussi %A Hewitt, Alex W %A Hocking, Lynne J %A Hollensted, Mette %A Holmen, Oddgeir L %A Hovingh, G Kees %A Howson, Joanna M M %A Hoyng, Carel B %A Huang, Paul L %A Hveem, Kristian %A Ikram, M Arfan %A Ingelsson, Erik %A Jackson, Anne U %A Jansson, Jan-Håkan %A Jarvik, Gail P %A Jensen, Gorm B %A Jhun, Min A %A Jia, Yucheng %A Jiang, Xuejuan %A Johansson, Stefan %A Jørgensen, Marit E %A Jørgensen, Torben %A Jousilahti, Pekka %A Jukema, J Wouter %A Kahali, Bratati %A Kahn, René S %A Kähönen, Mika %A Kamstrup, Pia R %A Kanoni, Stavroula %A Kaprio, Jaakko %A Karaleftheri, Maria %A Kardia, Sharon L R %A Karpe, Fredrik %A Kee, Frank %A Keeman, Renske %A Kiemeney, Lambertus A %A Kitajima, Hidetoshi %A Kluivers, Kirsten B %A Kocher, Thomas %A Komulainen, Pirjo %A Kontto, Jukka %A Kooner, Jaspal S %A Kooperberg, Charles %A Kovacs, Peter %A Kriebel, Jennifer %A Kuivaniemi, Helena %A Küry, Sébastien %A Kuusisto, Johanna %A La Bianca, Martina %A Laakso, Markku %A Lakka, Timo A %A Lange, Ethan M %A Lange, Leslie A %A Langefeld, Carl D %A Langenberg, Claudia %A Larson, Eric B %A Lee, I-Te %A Lehtimäki, Terho %A Lewis, Cora E %A Li, Huaixing %A Li, Jin %A Li-Gao, Ruifang %A Lin, Honghuang %A Lin, Li-An %A Lin, Xu %A Lind, Lars %A Lindström, Jaana %A Linneberg, Allan %A Liu, Yeheng %A Liu, Yongmei %A Lophatananon, Artitaya %A Luan, Jian'an %A Lubitz, Steven A %A Lyytikäinen, Leo-Pekka %A Mackey, David A %A Madden, Pamela A F %A Manning, Alisa K %A Männistö, Satu %A Marenne, Gaëlle %A Marten, Jonathan %A Martin, Nicholas G %A Mazul, Angela L %A Meidtner, Karina %A Metspalu, Andres %A Mitchell, Paul %A Mohlke, Karen L %A Mook-Kanamori, Dennis O %A Morgan, Anna %A Morris, Andrew D %A Morris, Andrew P %A Müller-Nurasyid, Martina %A Munroe, Patricia B %A Nalls, Mike A %A Nauck, Matthias %A Nelson, Christopher P %A Neville, Matt %A Nielsen, Sune F %A Nikus, Kjell %A Njølstad, Pål R %A Nordestgaard, Børge G %A Ntalla, Ioanna %A O'Connel, Jeffrey R %A Oksa, Heikki %A Loohuis, Loes M Olde %A Ophoff, Roel A %A Owen, Katharine R %A Packard, Chris J %A Padmanabhan, Sandosh %A Palmer, Colin N A %A Pasterkamp, Gerard %A Patel, Aniruddh P %A Pattie, Alison %A Pedersen, Oluf %A Peissig, Peggy L %A Peloso, Gina M %A Pennell, Craig E %A Perola, Markus %A Perry, James A %A Perry, John R B %A Person, Thomas N %A Pirie, Ailith %A Polasek, Ozren %A Posthuma, Danielle %A Raitakari, Olli T %A Rasheed, Asif %A Rauramaa, Rainer %A Reilly, Dermot F %A Reiner, Alex P %A Renstrom, Frida %A Ridker, Paul M %A Rioux, John D %A Robertson, Neil %A Robino, Antonietta %A Rolandsson, Olov %A Rudan, Igor %A Ruth, Katherine S %A Saleheen, Danish %A Salomaa, Veikko %A Samani, Nilesh J %A Sandow, Kevin %A Sapkota, Yadav %A Sattar, Naveed %A Schmidt, Marjanka K %A Schreiner, Pamela J %A Schulze, Matthias B %A Scott, Robert A %A Segura-Lepe, Marcelo P %A Shah, Svati %A Sim, Xueling %A Sivapalaratnam, Suthesh %A Small, Kerrin S %A Smith, Albert Vernon %A Smith, Jennifer A %A Southam, Lorraine %A Spector, Timothy D %A Speliotes, Elizabeth K %A Starr, John M %A Steinthorsdottir, Valgerdur %A Stringham, Heather M %A Stumvoll, Michael %A Surendran, Praveen %A 't Hart, Leen M %A Tansey, Katherine E %A Tardif, Jean-Claude %A Taylor, Kent D %A Teumer, Alexander %A Thompson, Deborah J %A Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur %A Thuesen, Betina H %A Tönjes, Anke %A Tromp, Gerard %A Trompet, Stella %A Tsafantakis, Emmanouil %A Tuomilehto, Jaakko %A Tybjaerg-Hansen, Anne %A Tyrer, Jonathan P %A Uher, Rudolf %A Uitterlinden, André G %A Ulivi, Sheila %A van der Laan, Sander W %A Van Der Leij, Andries R %A van Duijn, Cornelia M %A van Schoor, Natasja M %A van Setten, Jessica %A Varbo, Anette %A Varga, Tibor V %A Varma, Rohit %A Edwards, Digna R Velez %A Vermeulen, Sita H %A Vestergaard, Henrik %A Vitart, Veronique %A Vogt, Thomas F %A Vozzi, Diego %A Walker, Mark %A Wang, Feijie %A Wang, Carol A %A Wang, Shuai %A Wang, Yiqin %A Wareham, Nicholas J %A Warren, Helen R %A Wessel, Jennifer %A Willems, Sara M %A Wilson, James G %A Witte, Daniel R %A Woods, Michael O %A Wu, Ying %A Yaghootkar, Hanieh %A Yao, Jie %A Yao, Pang %A Yerges-Armstrong, Laura M %A Young, Robin %A Zeggini, Eleftheria %A Zhan, Xiaowei %A Zhang, Weihua %A Zhao, Jing Hua %A Zhao, Wei %A Zhao, Wei %A Zheng, He %A Zhou, Wei %A Rotter, Jerome I %A Boehnke, Michael %A Kathiresan, Sekar %A McCarthy, Mark I %A Willer, Cristen J %A Stefansson, Kari %A Borecki, Ingrid B %A Liu, Dajiang J %A North, Kari E %A Heard-Costa, Nancy L %A Pers, Tune H %A Lindgren, Cecilia M %A Oxvig, Claus %A Kutalik, Zoltán %A Rivadeneira, Fernando %A Loos, Ruth J F %A Frayling, Timothy M %A Hirschhorn, Joel N %A Deloukas, Panos %A Lettre, Guillaume %K ADAMTS Proteins %K Adult %K Alleles %K Body Height %K Cell Adhesion Molecules %K Female %K Gene Frequency %K Genetic Variation %K Genome, Human %K Glycoproteins %K Glycosaminoglycans %K Hedgehog Proteins %K Humans %K Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins %K Interferon Regulatory Factors %K Interleukin-11 Receptor alpha Subunit %K Male %K Multifactorial Inheritance %K NADPH Oxidase 4 %K NADPH Oxidases %K Phenotype %K Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A %K Procollagen N-Endopeptidase %K Proteoglycans %K Proteolysis %K Receptors, Androgen %K Somatomedins %X

Height is a highly heritable, classic polygenic trait with approximately 700 common associated variants identified through genome-wide association studies so far. Here, we report 83 height-associated coding variants with lower minor-allele frequencies (in the range of 0.1-4.8%) and effects of up to 2 centimetres per allele (such as those in IHH, STC2, AR and CRISPLD2), greater than ten times the average effect of common variants. In functional follow-up studies, rare height-increasing alleles of STC2 (giving an increase of 1-2 centimetres per allele) compromised proteolytic inhibition of PAPP-A and increased cleavage of IGFBP-4 in vitro, resulting in higher bioavailability of insulin-like growth factors. These 83 height-associated variants overlap genes that are mutated in monogenic growth disorders and highlight new biological candidates (such as ADAMTS3, IL11RA and NOX4) and pathways (such as proteoglycan and glycosaminoglycan synthesis) involved in growth. Our results demonstrate that sufficiently large sample sizes can uncover rare and low-frequency variants of moderate-to-large effect associated with polygenic human phenotypes, and that these variants implicate relevant genes and pathways.

%B Nature %V 542 %P 186-190 %8 2017 02 09 %G eng %N 7640 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28146470?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1038/nature21039 %0 Journal Article %J Nat Commun %D 2015 %T Rare coding variants and X-linked loci associated with age at menarche. %A Lunetta, Kathryn L %A Day, Felix R %A Sulem, Patrick %A Ruth, Katherine S %A Tung, Joyce Y %A Hinds, David A %A Esko, Tõnu %A Elks, Cathy E %A Altmaier, Elisabeth %A He, Chunyan %A Huffman, Jennifer E %A Mihailov, Evelin %A Porcu, Eleonora %A Robino, Antonietta %A Rose, Lynda M %A Schick, Ursula M %A Stolk, Lisette %A Teumer, Alexander %A Thompson, Deborah J %A Traglia, Michela %A Wang, Carol A %A Yerges-Armstrong, Laura M %A Antoniou, Antonis C %A Barbieri, Caterina %A Coviello, Andrea D %A Cucca, Francesco %A Demerath, Ellen W %A Dunning, Alison M %A Gandin, Ilaria %A Grove, Megan L %A Gudbjartsson, Daniel F %A Hocking, Lynne J %A Hofman, Albert %A Huang, Jinyan %A Jackson, Rebecca D %A Karasik, David %A Kriebel, Jennifer %A Lange, Ethan M %A Lange, Leslie A %A Langenberg, Claudia %A Li, Xin %A Luan, Jian'an %A Mägi, Reedik %A Morrison, Alanna C %A Padmanabhan, Sandosh %A Pirie, Ailith %A Polasek, Ozren %A Porteous, David %A Reiner, Alex P %A Rivadeneira, Fernando %A Rudan, Igor %A Sala, Cinzia F %A Schlessinger, David %A Scott, Robert A %A Stöckl, Doris %A Visser, Jenny A %A Völker, Uwe %A Vozzi, Diego %A Wilson, James G %A Zygmunt, Marek %A Boerwinkle, Eric %A Buring, Julie E %A Crisponi, Laura %A Easton, Douglas F %A Hayward, Caroline %A Hu, Frank B %A Liu, Simin %A Metspalu, Andres %A Pennell, Craig E %A Ridker, Paul M %A Strauch, Konstantin %A Streeten, Elizabeth A %A Toniolo, Daniela %A Uitterlinden, André G %A Ulivi, Sheila %A Völzke, Henry %A Wareham, Nicholas J %A Wellons, Melissa %A Franceschini, Nora %A Chasman, Daniel I %A Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur %A Murray, Anna %A Stefansson, Kari %A Murabito, Joanne M %A Ong, Ken K %A Perry, John R B %X

More than 100 loci have been identified for age at menarche by genome-wide association studies; however, collectively these explain only ∼3% of the trait variance. Here we test two overlooked sources of variation in 192,974 European ancestry women: low-frequency protein-coding variants and X-chromosome variants. Five missense/nonsense variants (in ALMS1/LAMB2/TNRC6A/TACR3/PRKAG1) are associated with age at menarche (minor allele frequencies 0.08-4.6%; effect sizes 0.08-1.25 years per allele; P<5 × 10(-8)). In addition, we identify common X-chromosome loci at IGSF1 (rs762080, P=9.4 × 10(-13)) and FAAH2 (rs5914101, P=4.9 × 10(-10)). Highlighted genes implicate cellular energy homeostasis, post-transcriptional gene silencing and fatty-acid amide signalling. A frequently reported mutation in TACR3 for idiopathic hypogonatrophic hypogonadism (p.W275X) is associated with 1.25-year-later menarche (P=2.8 × 10(-11)), illustrating the utility of population studies to estimate the penetrance of reportedly pathogenic mutations. Collectively, these novel variants explain ∼0.5% variance, indicating that these overlooked sources of variation do not substantially explain the 'missing heritability' of this complex trait.

%B Nat Commun %V 6 %P 7756 %8 2015 %G eng %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26239645?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1038/ncomms8756 %0 Journal Article %J Hum Mol Genet %D 2014 %T DNA mismatch repair gene MSH6 implicated in determining age at natural menopause. %A Perry, John R B %A Hsu, Yi-Hsiang %A Chasman, Daniel I %A Johnson, Andrew D %A Elks, Cathy %A Albrecht, Eva %A Andrulis, Irene L %A Beesley, Jonathan %A Berenson, Gerald S %A Bergmann, Sven %A Bojesen, Stig E %A Bolla, Manjeet K %A Brown, Judith %A Buring, Julie E %A Campbell, Harry %A Chang-Claude, Jenny %A Chenevix-Trench, Georgia %A Corre, Tanguy %A Couch, Fergus J %A Cox, Angela %A Czene, Kamila %A d'Adamo, Adamo Pio %A Davies, Gail %A Deary, Ian J %A Dennis, Joe %A Easton, Douglas F %A Engelhardt, Ellen G %A Eriksson, Johan G %A Esko, Tõnu %A Fasching, Peter A %A Figueroa, Jonine D %A Flyger, Henrik %A Fraser, Abigail %A Garcia-Closas, Montse %A Gasparini, Paolo %A Gieger, Christian %A Giles, Graham %A Guenel, Pascal %A Hägg, Sara %A Hall, Per %A Hayward, Caroline %A Hopper, John %A Ingelsson, Erik %A Kardia, Sharon L R %A Kasiman, Katherine %A Knight, Julia A %A Lahti, Jari %A Lawlor, Debbie A %A Magnusson, Patrik K E %A Margolin, Sara %A Marsh, Julie A %A Metspalu, Andres %A Olson, Janet E %A Pennell, Craig E %A Polasek, Ozren %A Rahman, Iffat %A Ridker, Paul M %A Robino, Antonietta %A Rudan, Igor %A Rudolph, Anja %A Salumets, Andres %A Schmidt, Marjanka K %A Schoemaker, Minouk J %A Smith, Erin N %A Smith, Jennifer A %A Southey, Melissa %A Stöckl, Doris %A Swerdlow, Anthony J %A Thompson, Deborah J %A Truong, Therese %A Ulivi, Sheila %A Waldenberger, Melanie %A Wang, Qin %A Wild, Sarah %A Wilson, James F %A Wright, Alan F %A Zgaga, Lina %A Ong, Ken K %A Murabito, Joanne M %A Karasik, David %A Murray, Anna %K Age Factors %K DNA-Binding Proteins %K Female %K Genome-Wide Association Study %K Humans %K Menopause %K Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide %X

The length of female reproductive lifespan is associated with multiple adverse outcomes, including breast cancer, cardiovascular disease and infertility. The biological processes that govern the timing of the beginning and end of reproductive life are not well understood. Genetic variants are known to contribute to ∼50% of the variation in both age at menarche and menopause, but to date the known genes explain <15% of the genetic component. We have used genome-wide association in a bivariate meta-analysis of both traits to identify genes involved in determining reproductive lifespan. We observed significant genetic correlation between the two traits using genome-wide complex trait analysis. However, we found no robust statistical evidence for individual variants with an effect on both traits. A novel association with age at menopause was detected for a variant rs1800932 in the mismatch repair gene MSH6 (P = 1.9 × 10(-9)), which was also associated with altered expression levels of MSH6 mRNA in multiple tissues. This study contributes to the growing evidence that DNA repair processes play a key role in ovarian ageing and could be an important therapeutic target for infertility.

%B Hum Mol Genet %V 23 %P 2490-7 %8 2014 May 1 %G eng %N 9 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24357391?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1093/hmg/ddt620 %0 Journal Article %J Hum Mol Genet %D 2014 %T Genome-wide association study of sexual maturation in males and females highlights a role for body mass and menarche loci in male puberty. %A Cousminer, Diana L %A Stergiakouli, Evangelia %A Berry, Diane J %A Ang, Wei %A Groen-Blokhuis, Maria M %A Körner, Antje %A Siitonen, Niina %A Ntalla, Ioanna %A Marinelli, Marcella %A Perry, John R B %A Kettunen, Johannes %A Jansen, Rick %A Surakka, Ida %A Timpson, Nicholas J %A Ring, Susan %A McMahon, George %A Power, Chris %A Wang, Carol %A Kähönen, Mika %A Viikari, Jorma %A Lehtimäki, Terho %A Middeldorp, Christel M %A Hulshoff Pol, Hilleke E %A Neef, Madlen %A Weise, Sebastian %A Pahkala, Katja %A Niinikoski, Harri %A Zeggini, Eleftheria %A Panoutsopoulou, Kalliope %A Bustamante, Mariona %A Penninx, Brenda W J H %A Murabito, Joanne %A Torrent, Maties %A Dedoussis, George V %A Kiess, Wieland %A Boomsma, Dorret I %A Pennell, Craig E %A Raitakari, Olli T %A Hyppönen, Elina %A Davey Smith, George %A Ripatti, Samuli %A McCarthy, Mark I %A Widen, Elisabeth %X

Little is known about genes regulating male puberty. Further, while many identified pubertal timing variants associate with age at menarche, a late manifestation of puberty, and body mass, little is known about these variants' relationship to pubertal initiation or tempo. To address these questions, we performed genome-wide association meta-analysis in over 11 000 European samples with data on early pubertal traits, male genital and female breast development, measured by the Tanner scale. We report the first genome-wide significant locus for male sexual development upstream of myocardin-like 2 (MKL2) (P = 8.9 × 10(-9)), a menarche locus tagging a developmental pathway linking earlier puberty with reduced pubertal growth (P = 4.6 × 10(-5)) and short adult stature (p = 7.5 × 10(-6)) in both males and females. Furthermore, our results indicate that a proportion of menarche loci are important for pubertal initiation in both sexes. Consistent with epidemiological correlations between increased prepubertal body mass and earlier pubertal timing in girls, body mass index (BMI)-increasing alleles correlated with earlier breast development. In boys, some BMI-increasing alleles associated with earlier, and others with delayed, sexual development; these genetic results mimic the controversy in epidemiological studies, some of which show opposing correlations between prepubertal BMI and male puberty. Our results contribute to our understanding of the pubertal initiation program in both sexes and indicate that although mechanisms regulating pubertal onset in males and females may largely be shared, the relationship between body mass and pubertal timing in boys may be complex and requires further genetic studies.

%B Hum Mol Genet %V 23 %P 4452-64 %8 2014 Aug 15 %G eng %N 16 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24770850?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1093/hmg/ddu150 %0 Journal Article %J Nature %D 2014 %T Parent-of-origin-specific allelic associations among 106 genomic loci for age at menarche. %A Perry, John R B %A Day, Felix %A Elks, Cathy E %A Sulem, Patrick %A Thompson, Deborah J %A Ferreira, Teresa %A He, Chunyan %A Chasman, Daniel I %A Esko, Tõnu %A Thorleifsson, Gudmar %A Albrecht, Eva %A Ang, Wei Q %A Corre, Tanguy %A Cousminer, Diana L %A Feenstra, Bjarke %A Franceschini, Nora %A Ganna, Andrea %A Johnson, Andrew D %A Kjellqvist, Sanela %A Lunetta, Kathryn L %A McMahon, George %A Nolte, Ilja M %A Paternoster, Lavinia %A Porcu, Eleonora %A Smith, Albert V %A Stolk, Lisette %A Teumer, Alexander %A Tšernikova, Natalia %A Tikkanen, Emmi %A Ulivi, Sheila %A Wagner, Erin K %A Amin, Najaf %A Bierut, Laura J %A Byrne, Enda M %A Hottenga, Jouke-Jan %A Koller, Daniel L %A Mangino, Massimo %A Pers, Tune H %A Yerges-Armstrong, Laura M %A Hua Zhao, Jing %A Andrulis, Irene L %A Anton-Culver, Hoda %A Atsma, Femke %A Bandinelli, Stefania %A Beckmann, Matthias W %A Benitez, Javier %A Blomqvist, Carl %A Bojesen, Stig E %A Bolla, Manjeet K %A Bonanni, Bernardo %A Brauch, Hiltrud %A Brenner, Hermann %A Buring, Julie E %A Chang-Claude, Jenny %A Chanock, Stephen %A Chen, Jinhui %A Chenevix-Trench, Georgia %A Collée, J Margriet %A Couch, Fergus J %A Couper, David %A Coviello, Andrea D %A Cox, Angela %A Czene, Kamila %A d'Adamo, Adamo Pio %A Davey Smith, George %A De Vivo, Immaculata %A Demerath, Ellen W %A Dennis, Joe %A Devilee, Peter %A Dieffenbach, Aida K %A Dunning, Alison M %A Eiriksdottir, Gudny %A Eriksson, Johan G %A Fasching, Peter A %A Ferrucci, Luigi %A Flesch-Janys, Dieter %A Flyger, Henrik %A Foroud, Tatiana %A Franke, Lude %A Garcia, Melissa E %A García-Closas, Montserrat %A Geller, Frank %A de Geus, Eco E J %A Giles, Graham G %A Gudbjartsson, Daniel F %A Gudnason, Vilmundur %A Guenel, Pascal %A Guo, Suiqun %A Hall, Per %A Hamann, Ute %A Haring, Robin %A Hartman, Catharina A %A Heath, Andrew C %A Hofman, Albert %A Hooning, Maartje J %A Hopper, John L %A Hu, Frank B %A Hunter, David J %A Karasik, David %A Kiel, Douglas P %A Knight, Julia A %A Kosma, Veli-Matti %A Kutalik, Zoltán %A Lai, Sandra %A Lambrechts, Diether %A Lindblom, Annika %A Mägi, Reedik %A Magnusson, Patrik K %A Mannermaa, Arto %A Martin, Nicholas G %A Masson, Gisli %A McArdle, Patrick F %A McArdle, Wendy L %A Melbye, Mads %A Michailidou, Kyriaki %A Mihailov, Evelin %A Milani, Lili %A Milne, Roger L %A Nevanlinna, Heli %A Neven, Patrick %A Nohr, Ellen A %A Oldehinkel, Albertine J %A Oostra, Ben A %A Palotie, Aarno %A Peacock, Munro %A Pedersen, Nancy L %A Peterlongo, Paolo %A Peto, Julian %A Pharoah, Paul D P %A Postma, Dirkje S %A Pouta, Anneli %A Pylkäs, Katri %A Radice, Paolo %A Ring, Susan %A Rivadeneira, Fernando %A Robino, Antonietta %A Rose, Lynda M %A Rudolph, Anja %A Salomaa, Veikko %A Sanna, Serena %A Schlessinger, David %A Schmidt, Marjanka K %A Southey, Mellissa C %A Sovio, Ulla %A Stampfer, Meir J %A Stöckl, Doris %A Storniolo, Anna M %A Timpson, Nicholas J %A Tyrer, Jonathan %A Visser, Jenny A %A Vollenweider, Peter %A Völzke, Henry %A Waeber, Gerard %A Waldenberger, Melanie %A Wallaschofski, Henri %A Wang, Qin %A Willemsen, Gonneke %A Winqvist, Robert %A Wolffenbuttel, Bruce H R %A Wright, Margaret J %A Boomsma, Dorret I %A Econs, Michael J %A Khaw, Kay-Tee %A Loos, Ruth J F %A McCarthy, Mark I %A Montgomery, Grant W %A Rice, John P %A Streeten, Elizabeth A %A Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur %A van Duijn, Cornelia M %A Alizadeh, Behrooz Z %A Bergmann, Sven %A Boerwinkle, Eric %A Boyd, Heather A %A Crisponi, Laura %A Gasparini, Paolo %A Gieger, Christian %A Harris, Tamara B %A Ingelsson, Erik %A Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta %A Kraft, Peter %A Lawlor, Debbie %A Metspalu, Andres %A Pennell, Craig E %A Ridker, Paul M %A Snieder, Harold %A Sørensen, Thorkild I A %A Spector, Tim D %A Strachan, David P %A Uitterlinden, André G %A Wareham, Nicholas J %A Widen, Elisabeth %A Zygmunt, Marek %A Murray, Anna %A Easton, Douglas F %A Stefansson, Kari %A Murabito, Joanne M %A Ong, Ken K %K Adolescent %K Age Factors %K Alleles %K Body Mass Index %K Breast Neoplasms %K Cardiovascular Diseases %K Child %K Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 %K Europe %K Female %K Genetic Loci %K Genome-Wide Association Study %K Genomic Imprinting %K Humans %K Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System %K Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins %K Male %K Membrane Proteins %K Menarche %K Obesity %K Ovary %K Parents %K Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide %K Potassium Channels, Tandem Pore Domain %K Proteins %K Quantitative Trait Loci %K Receptors, GABA-B %K Receptors, Retinoic Acid %K Ribonucleoproteins %X

Age at menarche is a marker of timing of puberty in females. It varies widely between individuals, is a heritable trait and is associated with risks for obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, breast cancer and all-cause mortality. Studies of rare human disorders of puberty and animal models point to a complex hypothalamic-pituitary-hormonal regulation, but the mechanisms that determine pubertal timing and underlie its links to disease risk remain unclear. Here, using genome-wide and custom-genotyping arrays in up to 182,416 women of European descent from 57 studies, we found robust evidence (P < 5 × 10(-8)) for 123 signals at 106 genomic loci associated with age at menarche. Many loci were associated with other pubertal traits in both sexes, and there was substantial overlap with genes implicated in body mass index and various diseases, including rare disorders of puberty. Menarche signals were enriched in imprinted regions, with three loci (DLK1-WDR25, MKRN3-MAGEL2 and KCNK9) demonstrating parent-of-origin-specific associations concordant with known parental expression patterns. Pathway analyses implicated nuclear hormone receptors, particularly retinoic acid and γ-aminobutyric acid-B2 receptor signalling, among novel mechanisms that regulate pubertal timing in humans. Our findings suggest a genetic architecture involving at least hundreds of common variants in the coordinated timing of the pubertal transition.

%B Nature %V 514 %P 92-7 %8 2014 Oct 2 %G eng %N 7520 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25231870?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1038/nature13545 %0 Journal Article %J Nat Genet %D 2010 %T Thirty new loci for age at menarche identified by a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies. %A Elks, Cathy E %A Perry, John R B %A Sulem, Patrick %A Chasman, Daniel I %A Franceschini, Nora %A He, Chunyan %A Lunetta, Kathryn L %A Visser, Jenny A %A Byrne, Enda M %A Cousminer, Diana L %A Gudbjartsson, Daniel F %A Esko, Tõnu %A Feenstra, Bjarke %A Hottenga, Jouke-Jan %A Koller, Daniel L %A Kutalik, Zoltán %A Lin, Peng %A Mangino, Massimo %A Marongiu, Mara %A McArdle, Patrick F %A Smith, Albert V %A Stolk, Lisette %A van Wingerden, Sophie H %A Zhao, Jing Hua %A Albrecht, Eva %A Corre, Tanguy %A Ingelsson, Erik %A Hayward, Caroline %A Magnusson, Patrik K E %A Smith, Erin N %A Ulivi, Shelia %A Warrington, Nicole M %A Zgaga, Lina %A Alavere, Helen %A Amin, Najaf %A Aspelund, Thor %A Bandinelli, Stefania %A Barroso, Inês %A Berenson, Gerald S %A Bergmann, Sven %A Blackburn, Hannah %A Boerwinkle, Eric %A Buring, Julie E %A Busonero, Fabio %A Campbell, Harry %A Chanock, Stephen J %A Chen, Wei %A Cornelis, Marilyn C %A Couper, David %A Coviello, Andrea D %A d'Adamo, Pio %A de Faire, Ulf %A de Geus, Eco J C %A Deloukas, Panos %A Döring, Angela %A Smith, George Davey %A Easton, Douglas F %A Eiriksdottir, Gudny %A Emilsson, Valur %A Eriksson, Johan %A Ferrucci, Luigi %A Folsom, Aaron R %A Foroud, Tatiana %A Garcia, Melissa %A Gasparini, Paolo %A Geller, Frank %A Gieger, Christian %A Gudnason, Vilmundur %A Hall, Per %A Hankinson, Susan E %A Ferreli, Liana %A Heath, Andrew C %A Hernandez, Dena G %A Hofman, Albert %A Hu, Frank B %A Illig, Thomas %A Järvelin, Marjo-Riitta %A Johnson, Andrew D %A Karasik, David %A Khaw, Kay-Tee %A Kiel, Douglas P %A Kilpeläinen, Tuomas O %A Kolcic, Ivana %A Kraft, Peter %A Launer, Lenore J %A Laven, Joop S E %A Li, Shengxu %A Liu, Jianjun %A Levy, Daniel %A Martin, Nicholas G %A McArdle, Wendy L %A Melbye, Mads %A Mooser, Vincent %A Murray, Jeffrey C %A Murray, Sarah S %A Nalls, Michael A %A Navarro, Pau %A Nelis, Mari %A Ness, Andrew R %A Northstone, Kate %A Oostra, Ben A %A Peacock, Munro %A Palmer, Lyle J %A Palotie, Aarno %A Paré, Guillaume %A Parker, Alex N %A Pedersen, Nancy L %A Peltonen, Leena %A Pennell, Craig E %A Pharoah, Paul %A Polasek, Ozren %A Plump, Andrew S %A Pouta, Anneli %A Porcu, Eleonora %A Rafnar, Thorunn %A Rice, John P %A Ring, Susan M %A Rivadeneira, Fernando %A Rudan, Igor %A Sala, Cinzia %A Salomaa, Veikko %A Sanna, Serena %A Schlessinger, David %A Schork, Nicholas J %A Scuteri, Angelo %A Segrè, Ayellet V %A Shuldiner, Alan R %A Soranzo, Nicole %A Sovio, Ulla %A Srinivasan, Sathanur R %A Strachan, David P %A Tammesoo, Mar-Liis %A Tikkanen, Emmi %A Toniolo, Daniela %A Tsui, Kim %A Tryggvadottir, Laufey %A Tyrer, Jonathon %A Uda, Manuela %A van Dam, Rob M %A van Meurs, Joyce B J %A Vollenweider, Peter %A Waeber, Gerard %A Wareham, Nicholas J %A Waterworth, Dawn M %A Weedon, Michael N %A Wichmann, H Erich %A Willemsen, Gonneke %A Wilson, James F %A Wright, Alan F %A Young, Lauren %A Zhai, Guangju %A Zhuang, Wei Vivian %A Bierut, Laura J %A Boomsma, Dorret I %A Boyd, Heather A %A Crisponi, Laura %A Demerath, Ellen W %A van Duijn, Cornelia M %A Econs, Michael J %A Harris, Tamara B %A Hunter, David J %A Loos, Ruth J F %A Metspalu, Andres %A Montgomery, Grant W %A Ridker, Paul M %A Spector, Tim D %A Streeten, Elizabeth A %A Stefansson, Kari %A Thorsteinsdottir, Unnur %A Uitterlinden, André G %A Widen, Elisabeth %A Murabito, Joanne M %A Ong, Ken K %A Murray, Anna %K Adolescent %K Aging %K Body Height %K Body Size %K Child %K DNA Copy Number Variations %K Female %K Genetic Loci %K Genetic Predisposition to Disease %K Genome-Wide Association Study %K Humans %K Inheritance Patterns %K Menarche %K Obesity %K Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide %K Quantitative Trait Loci %K Reproducibility of Results %K Time Factors %X

To identify loci for age at menarche, we performed a meta-analysis of 32 genome-wide association studies in 87,802 women of European descent, with replication in up to 14,731 women. In addition to the known loci at LIN28B (P = 5.4 × 10⁻⁶⁰) and 9q31.2 (P = 2.2 × 10⁻³³), we identified 30 new menarche loci (all P < 5 × 10⁻⁸) and found suggestive evidence for a further 10 loci (P < 1.9 × 10⁻⁶). The new loci included four previously associated with body mass index (in or near FTO, SEC16B, TRA2B and TMEM18), three in or near other genes implicated in energy homeostasis (BSX, CRTC1 and MCHR2) and three in or near genes implicated in hormonal regulation (INHBA, PCSK2 and RXRG). Ingenuity and gene-set enrichment pathway analyses identified coenzyme A and fatty acid biosynthesis as biological processes related to menarche timing.

%B Nat Genet %V 42 %P 1077-85 %8 2010 Dec %G eng %N 12 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21102462?dopt=Abstract %R 10.1038/ng.714