biostudies-literaturevan der Valk RJNICHD NIH HHSEuropean Research CouncilNIDDK NIH HHSNIEHS NIH HHSMedical Research CouncilDutch Research Council (NWO)NHGRI NIH HHSNational Institute for Health Research (NIHR)NCI NIH HHSNINDS NIH HHSWellcome TrustLundbeck Foundation1155-68https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC4447786biostudies-literatureUnknown24(4)Common genetic variants have been identified for adult height, but not much is known about the genetics of skeletal growth in early life. To identify common genetic variants that influence fetal skeletal growth, we meta-analyzed 22 genome-wide association studies (Stage 1; N = 28 459). We identified seven independent top single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (P < 1 × 10(-6)) for birth length, of which three were novel and four were in or near loci known to be associated with adult height (LCORL, PTCH1, GPR126 and HMGA2). The three novel SNPs were followed-up in nine replication studies (Stage 2; N = 11 995), with rs905938 in DC-STAMP domain containing 2 (DCST2) genome-wide significantly associated with birth length in a joint analysis (Stages 1 + 2; β = 0.046, SE = 0.008, P = 2.46 × 10(-8Human molecular geneticsA novel common variant in DCST2 is associated with length in early life and height in adulthood.PMC4447786480-04-004R163-2013-16235U01 HG004423U01 HG004424U01 HG004446R01 CA141688104150/Z/14/Z14192U01 NS047537090532MC_UU_12013/3MC_UU_12011/4085541/Z/08/ZMC_UU_12013/1HHSN268200782096CN01 ES075558230374R01 HD034243R01 HD034242NF-SI-0611-10099102215098381MC_PC_15018G0601361U01 HG004438U01 HG004415R01 HD056465MC_UP_A620_1017MR/K014536/1MR/K002449/2MR/K002449/1R01 DK075787MC_UU_12013/4098051Simpson AHayes MGRing SMUitterlinden AGKeinanen-Kiukaanniemi SAtalay MIlonen JPalotie AMahajan ALiang LFrayling TMEarly Growth Genetics (EGG) ConsortiumMelbye MBonnelykke KGeller FTaal HRRaitakari OTSunyer JStergiakouli ELyytikainen LPKaakinen MGrant SFDa Silva Couto Alves ANiinikoski HEstivill XStokholm JNewnham JPZeggini EBustamante MSaw SMPanoutsopoulou KFranke LCustovic ASengpiel VBarton SJHartikainen ALDedoussis GVPostma DSMurray CSKooijman MNCousminer DLSaaf ATimpson NJVeijola REarly Genetics and Lifecourse Epidemiology (EAGLE) ConsortiumHofman AGroen-Blokhuis MHocher BWiden EHuikari VVaarasmaki MBoomsma DIMyhre RJaddoe VWBradfield JPRivadeneira FBisgaard HBuxton JLMentch FDLewin ALakka TSt Pourcain BPers THCurtin JASebert SEriksen PMedina-Gomez CGrallert HBergstrom AHuang JJoro RPennell CEEvans DMBlakemore AIFeenstra BMagnus PMccarthy MIGuxens MKoppelman GHTeo YYvan der Valk RJThiering EPitkanen NGenetic Investigation of ANthropometric Traits (GIANT) ConsortiumLlop SKemp JPKull IKnip Mvan Duijn CMLindi VJarvelin MRPahkala KHakonarson HKerkhof MDavey Smith GHorikoshi MAng WEriksson JFreathy RMWarrington NMGonzalez JRArmstrong LLKreiner-Moller EFlexeder CRodriguez AJacobsson BGehring USergeyev ELowe WLKiess WKorner Ade Jongste JCTiesler CMChawes BHirschhorn JNWaage JNtalla IMelen EHolloway JWSevelsted AfalseA novel common variant in DCST2 is associated with length in early life and height in adulthood.Common genetic variants have been identified for adult height, but not much is known about the genetics of skeletal growth in early life. To identify common genetic variants that influence fetal skeletal growth, we meta-analyzed 22 genome-wide association studies (Stage 1; N = 28 459). We identified seven independent top single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (P < 1 × 10(-6)) for birth length, of which three were novel and four were in or near loci known to be associated with adult height (LCORL, PTCH1, GPR126 and HMGA2). The three novel SNPs were followed-up in nine replication studies (Stage 2; N = 11 995), with rs905938 in DC-STAMP domain containing 2 (DCST2) genome-wide significantly associated with birth length in a joint analysis (Stages 1 + 2; β = 0.046, SE = 0.008, P = 2.46 × 10(-82015-01-01T00:00:00Z2015 Feb2026-04-29T02:41:10.983Z2019-03-27T01:52:21ZS-EPMC44477862528165910.1093/hmg/ddu510