Project description:Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a complex multifactorial disease with at least 34 loci contributing to genetic susceptibility. To gain functional understanding of AMD genetics, we generated transcriptional profiles of retina from 453 individuals including both controls and cases at distinct stages of AMD. We integrated retinal transcriptomes, covering 13,662 protein-coding and 1,462 noncoding genes, with genotypes at over 9 million common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis of a tissue not included in Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) and other large datasets. Cis-eQTL analysis revealed 10,474 genes under genetic regulation, including 4,541 eQTLs detected only in the retina. We then integrated the AMD-genome-wide association studies (GWAS) data with eQTLs and ascertained target genes at six loci. Furthermore, using transcriptome wide association analysis (TWAS), we identified 23 additional AMD-associated genes, including RLBP1, HIC1 and PARP12. Our studies expand the genetic landscape of AMD leading to direct targets for biological evaluation and establish the Genotype-Retina Expression (GREx) database as a resource for post-GWAS interpretation of retina-associated traits including glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.
Project description:Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a complex multifactorial disease with at least 34 loci contributing to genetic susceptibility. To gain functional understanding of AMD genetics, we generated DNA methylation profiles of retina from 160 individuals including both controls and cases at distinct stages of AMD. With genotypes over 8 million common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in cis, we identified 37,453 methylation quantitative trait loci (mQTL) and by integrating transcriptome of the same samples we identified 12,505 eQTLs and 13,747 DNAm sites that affect gene expression (eQTMs). We then integrated the AMD-genome-wide association studies (GWAS) data with mQTLs and eQTLs ascertained 87 target genes that may contribute to AMD risk. Our studies expand the methylation landscape of retina and AMD leading to direct targets for biological evaluation.
Project description:Gene expression profiling of immortalized human mesenchymal stem cells with hTERT/E6/E7 transfected MSCs. hTERT may change gene expression in MSCs. Goal was to determine the gene expressions of immortalized MSCs.
