Local Adaptation of Sun-Exposure-Dependent Gene Expression Regulation in Human Skin.

ABSTRACT: Sun-exposure is a key environmental variable in the study of human evolution. Several skin-pigmentation genes serve as classical examples of positive selection, suggesting that sun-exposure has significantly shaped worldwide genomic variation. Here we investigate the interaction between genetic variation and sun-exposure, and how this impacts gene expression regulation. Using RNA-Seq data from 607 human skin samples, we identified thousands of transcripts that are differentially expressed between sun-exposed skin and non-sun-exposed skin. We then tested whether genetic variants may influence each individual's gene expression response to sun-exposure. Our analysis revealed 10 sun-exposure-dependent gene expression quantitative trait loci (se-eQTLs), including genes involved in skin pigmenta

SUBMITTER: Kita R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5070784 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature