Alzheimer disease susceptibility loci: evidence for a protein network under natural selection.

ABSTRACT: Recent genome-wide association studies have identified a number of susceptibility loci for Alzheimer disease (AD). To understand the functional consequences and potential interactions of the associated loci, we explored large-scale data sets interrogating the human genome for evidence of positive natural selection. Our findings provide significant evidence for signatures of recent positive selection acting on several haplotypes carrying AD susceptibility alleles; interestingly, the genes found in these selected haplotypes can be assembled, independently, into a molecular complex via a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network approach. These results suggest a possible coevolution of genes encoding physically-interacting proteins that underlie AD susceptibility and are coexpressed in differ

SUBMITTER: Raj T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3322230 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature