Ethnically biased microsatellites contribute to differential gene expression and glutathione metabolism in Africans and Europeans.

ABSTRACT: Approximately three percent of the human genome is occupied by microsatellites: a type of short tandem repeat (STR). Microsatellites have well established effects on (a) the genetic structure of diverse human populations and (b) expression of nearby genes. These lines of inquiry have uncovered 3,984 ethnically biased microsatellite loci (EBML) and 28,375 expression STRs (eSTRs), respectively. We hypothesize that a combination of EBML, eSTRs, and gene expression data (RNA-seq) can be used to show that microsatellites contribute to differential gene expression and phenotype in human populations. In fact, our previous study demonstrated a degree of mutual overlap between EBML and eSTRs but fell short of quantifying effects on gene expression. The present work aims to narrow the gap. First, we

SUBMITTER: Kinney N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7993785 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature