Gene expression variability in human and chimpanzee populations share common determinants.

ABSTRACT: Inter-individual variation in gene expression has been shown to be heritable and is often associated with differences in disease susceptibility between individuals. Many studies focused on mapping associations between genetic and gene regulatory variation, yet much less attention has been paid to the evolutionary processes that shape the observed differences in gene regulation between individuals in humans or any other primate. To begin addressing this gap, we performed a comparative analysis of gene expression variability and expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) in humans and chimpanzees, using gene expression data from primary heart samples. We found that expression variability in both species is often determined by non-genetic sources, such as cell-type heterogeneity. However, we

SUBMITTER: Fair BJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7644215 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature