PSAP-Genomic-Regions: A Method Leveraging Population Data to Prioritize Coding and Non-Coding Variants in Whole Genome Sequencing for Rare Disease Diagnosis.

The introduction of Next-Generation Sequencing technologies in the clinics has improved rare disease diagnosis. Nonetheless, for very heterogeneous or very rare diseases, more than half of cases still lack molecular diagnosis. Novel strategies are needed to prioritize variants within a single individual. The Population Sampling Probability (PSAP) method was developed to meet this aim but only for coding variants in exome data. Here, we propose an extension of the PSAP method to the non-coding genome called PSAP-genomic-regions. In this extension, instead of considering genes as testing units (PSAP-genes strategy), we use genomic regions defined over the whole genome that pinpoint potential functional constraints. We conceived an evaluation protocol for our method using artificially generated disease exomes and genomes, by inserting coding and non-coding pathogenic ClinVar variants in large data sets of exomes and genomes from the general population. PSAP-genomic-regions significantly improves the ranking of these variants compared to using a pathogenicity score alone. Using PSAP-genomic-regions, more than 50% of non-coding ClinVar variants were among the top 10 variants of the genome. On real sequencing data from six patients with Cerebral Small Vessel Disease and nine patients with male infertility, all causal variants were ranked in the top 100 variants with PSAP-genomic-regions. By revisiting the testing units used in the PSAP method to include non-coding variants, we have developed PSAP-genomic-regions, an efficient whole-genome prioritization tool which offers promising results for the diagnosis of unresolved rare diseases.

Combining full-length gene assay and SpliceAI to interpret the splicing impact of all possible SPINK1 coding variants.

BACKGROUND: Single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) within gene coding sequences can significantly impact pre-mRNA splicing, bearing profound implications for pathogenic mechanisms and precision medicine. In this study, we aim to harness the well-established full-length gene splicing assay (FLGSA) in conjunction with SpliceAI to prospectively interpret the splicing effects of all potential coding SNVs within the four-exon SPINK1 gene, a gene associated with chronic pancreatitis. RESULTS: Our study began with a retrospective analysis of 27 SPINK1 coding SNVs previously assessed using FLGSA, proceeded with a prospective analysis of 35 new FLGSA-tested SPINK1 coding SNVs, followed by data extrapolation, and ended with further validation. In total, we analyzed 67 SPINK1 coding SNVs, which account for 9.3% of the 720 possible coding SNVs. Among these 67 FLGSA-analyzed SNVs, 12 were found to impact splicing. Through detailed comparison of FLGSA results and SpliceAI predictions, we inferred that the remaining 653 untested coding SNVs in the SPINK1 gene are unlikely to significantly affect splicing. Of the 12 splice-altering events, nine produced both normally spliced and aberrantly spliced transcripts, while the remaining three only generated aberrantly spliced transcripts. These splice-impacting SNVs were found solely in exons 1 and 2, notably at the first and/or last coding nucleotides of these exons. Among the 12 splice-altering events, 11 were missense variants (2.17% of 506 potential missense variants), and one was synonymous (0.61% of 164 potential synonymous variants). Notably, adjusting the SpliceAI cut-off to 0.30 instead of the conventional 0.20 would improve specificity without reducing sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: By integrating FLGSA with SpliceAI, we have determined that less than 2% (1.67%) of all possible coding SNVs in SPINK1 significantly influence splicing outcomes. Our findings emphasize the critical importance of conducting splicing analysis within the broader genomic sequence context of the study gene and highlight the inherent uncertainties associated with intermediate SpliceAI scores (0.20 to 0.80). This study contributes to the field by being the first to prospectively interpret all potential coding SNVs in a disease-associated gene with a high degree of accuracy, representing a meaningful attempt at shifting from retrospective to prospective variant analysis in the era of exome and genome sequencing.

Testing for association with rare variants in the coding and non-coding genome: RAVA-FIRST, a new approach based on CADD deleteriousness score.

Rare variant association tests (RVAT) have been developed to study the contribution of rare variants widely accessible through high-throughput sequencing technologies. RVAT require to aggregate rare variants in testing units and to filter variants to retain only the most likely causal ones. In the exome, genes are natural testing units and variants are usually filtered based on their functional consequences. However, when dealing with whole-genome sequence (WGS) data, both steps are challenging. No natural biological unit is available for aggregating rare variants. Sliding windows procedures have been proposed to circumvent this difficulty, however they are blind to biological information and result in a large number of tests. We propose a new strategy to perform RVAT on WGS data: "RAVA-FIRST" (RAre Variant Association using Functionally-InfoRmed STeps) comprising three steps. (1) New testing units are defined genome-wide based on functionally-adjusted Combined Annotation Dependent Depletion (CADD) scores of variants observed in the gnomAD populations, which are referred to as "CADD regions". (2) A region-dependent filtering of rare variants is applied in each CADD region. (3) A functionally-informed burden test is performed with sub-scores computed for each genomic category within each CADD region. Both on simulations and real data, RAVA-FIRST was found to outperform other WGS-based RVAT. Applied to a WGS dataset of venous thromboembolism patients, we identified an intergenic region on chromosome 18 enriched for rare variants in early-onset patients. This region that was missed by standard sliding windows procedures is included in a TAD region that contains a strong candidate gene. RAVA-FIRST enables new investigations of rare non-coding variants in complex diseases, facilitated by its implementation in the R package Ravages.

Ravages: An R package for the simulation and analysis of rare variants in multicategory phenotypes.

Current software packages for the analysis and the simulations of rare variants are only available for binary and continuous traits. Ravages provides solutions in a single R package to perform rare variant association tests for multicategory, binary and continuous phenotypes, to simulate datasets under different scenarios and to compute statistical power. Association tests can be run in the whole genome thanks to C++ implementation of most of the functions, using either RAVA-FIRST, a recently developed strategy to filter and analyse genome-wide rare variants, or user-defined candidate regions. Ravages also includes a simulation module that generates genetic data for cases who can be stratified into several subgroups and for controls. Through comparisons with existing programmes, we show that Ravages complements existing tools and will be useful to study the genetic architecture of complex diseases. Ravages is available on the CRAN at https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/Ravages/ and maintained on Github at https://github.com/genostats/Ravages.

CHCHD10S59L/+ mouse model: Behavioral and neuropathological features of frontotemporal dementia.

CHCHD10-related disease causes a spectrum of clinical presentations including mitochondrial myopathy, cardiomyopathy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). We generated a knock-in mouse model bearing the p.Ser59Leu (S59L) CHCHD10 variant. Chchd10S59L/+ mice have been shown to phenotypically replicate the disorders observed in patients: myopathy with mtDNA instability, cardiomyopathy and typical ALS features (protein aggregation, neuromuscular junction degeneration and spinal motor neuron loss). Here, we conducted a comprehensive behavioral, electrophysiological and neuropathological assessment of Chchd10S59L/+ mice. These animals show impaired learning and memory capacities with reduced long-term potentiation (LTP) measured at the Perforant Pathway-Dentate Gyrus (PP-DG) synapses. In the hippocampus of Chchd10S59L/+ mice, neuropathological studies show the involvement of protein aggregates, activation of the integrated stress response (ISR) and neuroinflammation in the degenerative process. These findings contribute to decipher mechanisms associated with CHCHD10 variants linking mitochondrial dysfunction and neuronal death. They also validate the Chchd10S59L/+ mice as a relevant model for FTD, which can be used for preclinical studies to test new therapeutic strategies for this devastating disease.

RAVAQ: An integrative pipeline from quality control to region-based rare variant association analysis.

Next-generation sequencing technologies have opened up the possibility to sequence large samples of cases and controls to test for association with rare variants. To limit cost and increase sample sizes, data from controls could be used in multiple studies and might thus be generated on different sequencing platforms. This could pose some problems of comparability between cases and controls due to batch effects that could be confounding factors, leading to false-positive association signals. To limit batch effects and ensure comparability of datasets, stringent quality controls are required. We propose an integrative five-steps pipeline, RAVAQ, that (a) performs a specific three-step quality control taking into account the case-control status to ensure data comparability, (b) selects qualifying variants as defined by the user, and (c) performs rare variant association tests per genomic region. The RAVAQ pipeline is wrapped in an R package. It is user-friendly and flexible in its arguments to adapt to the specificity of each research project. We provide examples showing how RAVAQ improves rare variant association tests. The default RAVAQ quality control outperformed the widely used Variant Quality Score Recalibration method, removing inflation due to spurious signals. RAVAQ is open source and freely available at https://gitlab.com/gmarenne/ravaq.

Expanding ACMG variant classification guidelines into a general framework.

BACKGROUND: The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG)-recommended five variant classification categories (pathogenic, likely pathogenic, uncertain significance, likely benign, and benign) have been widely used in medical genetics. However, these guidelines are fundamentally constrained in practice owing to their focus upon Mendelian disease genes and their dichotomous classification of variants as being either causal or not. Herein, we attempt to expand the ACMG guidelines into a general variant classification framework that takes into account not only the continuum of clinical phenotypes, but also the continuum of the variants' genetic effects, and the different pathological roles of the implicated genes. MAIN BODY: As a disease model, we employed chronic pancreatitis (CP), which manifests clinically as a spectrum from monogenic to multifactorial. Bearing in mind that any general conceptual proposal should be based upon sound data, we focused our analysis on the four most extensively studied CP genes, PRSS1, CFTR, SPINK1 and CTRC. Based upon several cross-gene and cross-variant comparisons, we first assigned the different genes to two distinct categories in terms of disease causation: CP-causing (PRSS1 and SPINK1) and CP-predisposing (CFTR and CTRC). We then employed two new classificatory categories, "predisposing" and "likely predisposing", to replace ACMG's "pathogenic" and "likely pathogenic" categories in the context of CP-predisposing genes, thereby classifying all pathologically relevant variants in these genes as "predisposing". In the case of CP-causing genes, the two new classificatory categories served to extend the five ACMG categories whilst two thresholds (allele frequency and functional) were introduced to discriminate "pathogenic" from "predisposing" variants. CONCLUSION: Employing CP as a disease model, we expand ACMG guidelines into a five-category classification system (predisposing, likely predisposing, uncertain significance, likely benign, and benign) and a seven-category classification system (pathogenic, likely pathogenic, predisposing, likely predisposing, uncertain significance, likely benign, and benign) in the context of disease-predisposing and disease-causing genes, respectively. Taken together, the two systems constitute a general variant classification framework that, in principle, should span the entire spectrum of variants in any disease-related gene. The maximal compliance of our five-category and seven-category classification systems with the ACMG guidelines ought to facilitate their practical application.

Classification of PRSS1 variants responsible for chronic pancreatitis: An expert perspective from the Franco-Chinese GREPAN study group.

BACKGROUND: PRSS1 was the first reported chronic pancreatitis (CP) gene. The existence of both gain-of-function (GoF) and gain-of-proteotoxicity (GoP) pathological PRSS1 variants, together with the fact that PRSS1 variants have been identified in CP subtypes spanning the range from monogenic to multifactorial, has made the classification of PRSS1 variants very challenging. METHODS: All currently reported PRSS1 variants (derived primarily from two databases) were manually reviewed with respect to their clinical genetics, functional analysis and population allele frequency. They were classified by variant type and pathological mechanism within the framework of our recently proposed ACMG/AMP guidelines-based seven-category system. RESULTS: The total number of distinct germline PRSS1 variants included for analysis was 100, comprising 3 copy number variants (CNVs), 12 5' and 3' variants, 19 intronic variants, 5 nonsense variants, 1 frameshift deletion variant, 6 synonymous variants, 1 in-frame duplication, 3 gene conversions and 50 missense variants. Based upon a combination of clinical genetic and functional analysis, population data and in silico analysis, we classified 26 variants (all 3 CNVs, the in-frame duplication, all 3 gene conversions and 19 missense) as "pathogenic", 3 variants (missense) as "likely pathogenic", 5 variants (four missense and one promoter) as "predisposing", 13 variants (all missense) as "unknown significance", 2 variants (missense) as "likely benign", and all remaining 51 variants as "benign". CONCLUSIONS: We describe an expert classification of the 100 PRSS1 variants reported to date. The results have immediate implications for reclassifying many ClinVar-registered PRSS1 variants as well as providing optimal guidelines/standards for reporting PRSS1 variants.

CHCHD10 and SLP2 control the stability of the PHB complex: a key factor for motor neuron viability.

CHCHD10 is an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/frontotemporal dementia gene that encodes a mitochondrial protein whose precise function is unclear. Here we show that Coiled-Coil-Helix-Coiled-Coil-Helix Domain Containing protein 10 interacts with the Stomatin-Like Protein 2 and participates in the stability of the prohibitin complex in the inner mitochondrial membrane. By using patient fibroblasts and mouse models expressing the same CHCHD10 variant (p.Ser59Leu), we show that Stomatin-Like Protein 2 forms aggregates with prohibitins, found in vivo in the hippocampus and as aggresome-like inclusions in spinal motor neurons of Chchd10S59L/+ mice. Affected cells and tissues display instability of the prohibitin complex, which participates at least in part in the activation of the OMA1 cascade with OPA1 processing leading to mitochondrial fragmentation, abnormal mitochondrial cristae morphogenesis and neuronal death found in spinal cord and the hippocampus of Chchd10S59L/+ animals. Destabilization of the prohibitin complex leads to the instability of the mitochondrial contact site and cristae organizing the system complex, probably by the disruption of OPA1-mitofilin interaction. Thus, Stomatin-Like Protein 2/prohibitin aggregates and destabilization of the prohibitin complex are critical in the sequence of events leading to motor neuron death in CHCHD10S59L-related disease.

WGS Revealed Novel BBS5 Pathogenic Variants, Missed by WES, Causing Ciliary Structure and Function Defects.

Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) is an autosomal recessive ciliopathy that affects multiple organs, leading to retinitis pigmentosa, polydactyly, obesity, renal anomalies, cognitive impairment, and hypogonadism. Until now, biallelic pathogenic variants have been identified in at least 24 genes delineating the genetic heterogeneity of BBS. Among those, BBS5 is a minor contributor to the mutation load and is one of the eight subunits forming the BBSome, a protein complex implied in protein trafficking within the cilia. This study reports on a European BBS5 patient with a severe BBS phenotype. Genetic analysis was performed using multiple next-generation sequencing (NGS) tests (targeted exome, TES and whole exome, WES), and biallelic pathogenic variants could only be identified using whole-genome sequencing (WGS), including a previously missed large deletion of the first exons. Despite the absence of family samples, the biallelic status of the variants was confirmed. The BBS5 protein's impact was confirmed on the patient's cells (presence/absence and size of the cilium) and ciliary function (Sonic Hedgehog pathway). This study highlights the importance of WGS and the challenge of reliable structural variant detection in patients' genetic explorations as well as functional tests to assess a variant's pathogenicity.

Burden of rare variants in arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy with right dominant form-associated genes provides new insights for molecular diagnosis and clinical management.

Arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy with right dominant form (ACR) is a rare heritable cardiac cardiomyopathy disorder associated with sudden cardiac death. Pathogenic variants (PVs) in desmosomal genes have been causally related to ACR in 40% of cases. Other genes encoding nondesmosomal proteins have been described in ACR, but their contribution in this pathology is still debated. A panel of 71 genes associated with inherited cardiopathies was screened in an ACR population of 172 probands and 856 individuals from the general population. PVs and uncertain significance variants (VUS) have been identified in 36% and 18.6% of patients, respectively. Among the cardiopathy-associated genes, burden tests show a significant enrichment in PV and VUS only for desmosomal genes PKP2 (plakophilin-2), DSP (desmoplakin), DSC2 (desmocollin-2), and DSG2 (desmoglein-2). Importantly, VUS may account for 15% of ACR cases and should then be considered for molecular diagnosis. Among the other genes, no evidence of enrichment was detected, suggesting an extreme caution in the interpretation of these genetic variations without associated functional or segregation data. Genotype-phenotype correlation points to (1) a more severe and earlier onset of the disease in PV and VUS carriers, underlying the importance to carry out presymptomatic diagnosis in relatives and (2) to a more prevalent left ventricular dysfunction in DSP variant carriers.

Functionally deficient TRPV6 variants contribute to hereditary and familial chronic pancreatitis.

The recent discovery of TRPV6 as a pancreatitis susceptibility gene served to identify a novel mechanism of chronic pancreatitis (CP) due to Ca2+ dysregulation. Herein, we analyzed TRPV6 in 81 probands with hereditary CP (HCP), 204 probands with familial CP (FCP), and 462 patients with idiopathic CP (ICP) by targeted next-generation sequencing. We identified 25 rare nonsynonymous TRPV6 variants, 18 of which had not been previously reported. All 18 variants were characterized by a Ca2+ imaging assay, with 8 being identified as functionally deficient. Evaluation of functionally deficient variants in the three CP cohorts revealed two novel findings: (i) functionally deficient TRPV6 variants appear to occur more frequently in HCP/FCP patients than in ICP patients (3.2% vs. 1.5%) and (ii) functionally deficient TRPV6 variants found in HCP and FCP probands appear to be more frequently coinherited with known risk variants in SPINK1, CTRC, and/or CFTR than those found in ICP patients (66.7% vs 28.6%). Additionally, genetic analysis of available HCP and FCP family members revealed complex patterns of inheritance in some families. Our findings confirm that functionally deficient TRPV6 variants represent an important contributor to CP. Importantly, functionally deficient TRPV6 variants account for a significant proportion of cases of HCP/FCP.

Evaluation of saliva as a source of accurate whole-genome and microbiome sequencing data.

This study sets out to establish the suitability of saliva-based whole-genome sequencing (WGS) through a comparison against blood-based WGS. To fully appraise the observed differences, we developed a novel technique of pseudo-replication. We also investigated the potential of characterizing individual salivary microbiomes from non-human DNA fragments found in saliva. We observed that the majority of discordant genotype calls between blood and saliva fell into known regions of the human genome that are typically sequenced with low confidence; and could be identified by quality control measures. Pseudo-replication demonstrated that the levels of discordance between blood- and saliva-derived WGS data were entirely similar to what one would expect between technical replicates if an individual's blood or saliva had been sequenced twice. Finally, we successfully sequenced salivary microbiomes in parallel to human genomes as demonstrated by a comparison against the Human Microbiome Project.

End-Truncated LAMB1 Causes a Hippocampal Memory Defect and a Leukoencephalopathy.

OBJECTIVE: The majority of patients with a familial cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) referred for molecular screening do not show pathogenic variants in known genes. In this study, we aimed to identify novel CSVD causal genes. METHODS: We performed a gene-based collapsing test of rare protein-truncating variants identified in exome data of 258 unrelated CSVD patients of an ethnically matched control cohort and of 2 publicly available large-scale databases, gnomAD and TOPMed. Western blotting was used to investigate the functional consequences of variants. Clinical and magnetic resonance imaging features of mutated patients were characterized. RESULTS: We showed that LAMB1 truncating variants escaping nonsense-mediated messenger RNA decay are strongly overrepresented in CSVD patients, reaching genome-wide significance (p < 5 × 10-8 ). Using 2 antibodies recognizing the N- and C-terminal parts of LAMB1, we showed that truncated forms of LAMB1 are expressed in the endogenous fibroblasts of patients and trapped in the cytosol. These variants are associated with a novel phenotype characterized by the association of a hippocampal type episodic memory defect and a diffuse vascular leukoencephalopathy. INTERPRETATION: These findings are important for diagnosis and clinical care, to avoid unnecessary and sometimes invasive investigations, and also from a mechanistic point of view to understand the role of extracellular matrix proteins in neuronal homeostasis. ANN NEUROL 2021;90:962-975.

Heritability: What's the point? What is it not for? A human genetics perspective.

In this paper, we explain the concept of heritability and describe the different methods and the genotype-phenotype correspondences used to estimate heritability in the specific field of human genetics. Heritability studies are conducted on extremely diverse human traits: quantitative traits (physical, biological, but also cognitive and behavioral measurements) and binary traits (as is the case of most human diseases). Instead of variables such as education and socio-economic status as covariates in genetic studies, they are now the direct object of genetic analysis. We make a review of the different assumptions underlying heritability estimates and dispute the validity of most of them. Moreover, and maybe more importantly, we show that they are very often misinterpreted. These erroneous interpretations lead to a vision of a genetic determinism of human traits. This vision is currently being widely disseminated not only by the mass media and the mainstream press, but also by the scientific press. We caution against the dangerous implication it has both medically and socially. Contrarily to the field of animal and plant genetics for which the polygenic model and the concept of heritability revolutionized selection methods, we explain why it does not provide answer in human genetics.

Phenotypic Differences Between Polygenic and Monogenic Hypobetalipoproteinemia.

OBJECTIVE: Primary hypobetalipoproteinemia is characterized by LDL-C (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) concentrations below the fifth percentile. Primary hypobetalipoproteinemia mostly results from heterozygous mutations in the APOB (apolipoprotein B) and PCSK9 genes, and a polygenic origin is hypothesized in the remaining cases. Hypobetalipoproteinemia patients present an increased risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and steatohepatitis. Here, we compared hepatic alterations between monogenic, polygenic, and primary hypobetalipoproteinemia of unknown cause. Approach and Results: Targeted next-generation sequencing was performed in a cohort of 111 patients with hypobetalipoproteinemia to assess monogenic and polygenic origins using an LDL-C-dedicated polygenic risk score. Forty patients (36%) had monogenic hypobetalipoproteinemia, 38 (34%) had polygenic hypobetalipoproteinemia, and 33 subjects (30%) had hypobetalipoproteinemia from an unknown cause. Patients with monogenic hypobetalipoproteinemia had lower LDL-C and apolipoprotein B plasma levels compared with those with polygenic hypobetalipoproteinemia. Liver function was assessed by hepatic ultrasonography and liver enzymes levels. Fifty-nine percent of patients with primary hypobetalipoproteinemia presented with liver steatosis, whereas 21% had increased alanine aminotransferase suggestive of liver injury. Monogenic hypobetalipoproteinemia was also associated with an increased prevalence of liver steatosis (81% versus 29%, P<0.001) and liver injury (47% versus 0%) compared with polygenic hypobetalipoproteinemia. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the importance of genetic diagnosis in the clinical care of primary hypobetalipoproteinemia patients. It shows for the first time that a polygenic origin of hypobetalipoproteinemia is associated with a lower risk of liver steatosis and liver injury versus monogenic hypobetalipoproteinemia. Thus, polygenic risk score is a useful tool to establish a more personalized follow-up of primary hypobetalipoproteinemia patients.

SLITRK2, an X-linked modifier of the age at onset in C9orf72 frontotemporal lobar degeneration.

The G4C2-repeat expansion in C9orf72 is the most common cause of frontotemporal dementia and of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The variability of age at onset and phenotypic presentations is a hallmark of C9orf72 disease. In this study, we aimed to identify modifying factors of disease onset in C9orf72 carriers using a family-based approach, in pairs of C9orf72 carrier relatives with concordant or discordant age at onset. Linkage and association analyses provided converging evidence for a locus on chromosome Xq27.3. The minor allele A of rs1009776 was associated with an earlier onset (P = 1 × 10-5). The association with onset of dementia was replicated in an independent cohort of unrelated C9orf72 patients (P = 0.009). The protective major allele delayed the onset of dementia from 5 to 13 years on average depending on the cohort considered. The same trend was observed in an independent cohort of C9orf72 patients with extreme deviation of the age at onset (P = 0.055). No association of rs1009776 was detected in GRN patients, suggesting that the effect of rs1009776 was restricted to the onset of dementia due to C9orf72. The minor allele A is associated with a higher SLITRK2 expression based on both expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) databases and in-house expression studies performed on C9orf72 brain tissues. SLITRK2 encodes for a post-synaptic adhesion protein. We further show that synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2 and synaptophysin, two synaptic vesicle proteins, were decreased in frontal cortex of C9orf72 patients carrying the minor allele. Upregulation of SLITRK2 might be associated with synaptic dysfunctions and drives adverse effects in C9orf72 patients that could be modulated in those carrying the protective allele. How the modulation of SLITRK2 expression affects synaptic functions and influences the disease onset of dementia in C9orf72 carriers will require further investigations. In summary, this study describes an original approach to detect modifier genes in rare diseases and reinforces rising links between C9orf72 and synaptic dysfunctions that might directly influence the occurrence of first symptoms.

The reversion variant (p.Arg90Leu) at the evolutionarily adaptive p.Arg90 site in CELA3B predisposes to chronic pancreatitis.

A gain-of-function missense variant in the CELA3B gene, p.Arg90Cys (c.268C>T), has recently been reported to cause pancreatitis in an extended pedigree. Herein, we sequenced the CELA3B gene in 644 genetically unexplained French chronic pancreatitis (CP) patients (all unrelated) and 566 controls. No obvious loss-of-function variants were identified. None of the six low-frequency or common missense variants detected showed significant association with CP. Nor did the aggregate rare/very rare missense variants (n = 14) show any significant association with CP. However, p.Arg90Leu (c.269G>T), which was found in four patients but no controls, and affects the same amino acid as p.Arg90Cys, serves to revert p.Arg90 to the human elastase ancestral allele. As p.Arg90Leu has previously been shown to exert a similar functional effect to that of p.Arg90Cys, our findings not only confirm the involvement of CELA3B in the etiology of CP but also pinpoint a new evolutionarily adaptive site in the human genome.

Rare Coding Variants in ANGPTL6 Are Associated with Familial Forms of Intracranial Aneurysm.

Intracranial aneurysms (IAs) are acquired cerebrovascular abnormalities characterized by localized dilation and wall thinning in intracranial arteries, possibly leading to subarachnoid hemorrhage and severe outcome in case of rupture. Here, we identified one rare nonsense variant (c.1378A>T) in the last exon of ANGPTL6 (Angiopoietin-Like 6)-which encodes a circulating pro-angiogenic factor mainly secreted from the liver-shared by the four tested affected members of a large pedigree with multiple IA-affected case subjects. We showed a 50% reduction of ANGPTL6 serum concentration in individuals heterozygous for the c.1378A>T allele (p.Lys460Ter) compared to relatives homozygous for the normal allele, probably due to the non-secretion of the truncated protein produced by the c.1378A>T transcripts. Sequencing ANGPTL6 in a series of 94 additional index case subjects with familial IA identified three other rare coding variants in five case subjects. Overall, we detected a significant enrichment (p = 0.023) in rare coding variants within this gene among the 95 index case subjects with familial IA, compared to a reference population of 404 individuals with French ancestry. Among the 6 recruited families, 12 out of 13 (92%) individuals carrying IA also carry such variants in ANGPTL6, versus 15 out of 41 (37%) unaffected ones. We observed a higher rate of individuals with a history of high blood pressure among affected versus healthy individuals carrying ANGPTL6 variants, suggesting that ANGPTL6 could trigger cerebrovascular lesions when combined with other risk factors such as hypertension. Altogether, our results indicate that rare coding variants in ANGPTL6 are causally related to familial forms of IA.

Principals about principal components in statistical genetics.

Principal components (PCs) are widely used in statistics and refer to a relatively small number of uncorrelated variables derived from an initial pool of variables, while explaining as much of the total variance as possible. Also in statistical genetics, principal component analysis (PCA) is a popular technique. To achieve optimal results, a thorough understanding about the different implementations of PCA is required and their impact on study results, compared to alternative approaches. In this review, we focus on the possibilities, limitations and role of PCs in ancestry prediction, genome-wide association studies, rare variants analyses, imputation strategies, meta-analysis and epistasis detection. We also describe several variations of classic PCA that deserve increased attention in statistical genetics applications.