Genome-wide association studies of autoimmune vitiligo identify 23 new risk loci and highlight key pathways and regulatory variants
Recommended Citation
Jin Y, Andersen G, Yorgov D, Ferrara TM, Ben S, Brownson KM, Holland PJ, Birlea SA, Siebert J, Hartmann A, Lienert A, van Geel N, Lambert J, Luiten RM, Wolkerstorfer A, Wietze van der Veen JP, Bennett DC, Taïeb A, Ezzedine K, Kemp EH, Gawkrodger DJ, Weetman AP, Kõks S, Prans E, Kingo K, Karelson M, Wallace MR, McCormack W, Overbeck A, Moretti S, Colucci R, Picardo M, Silverberg N, Olsson M, Valle Y, Korobko I, Böhm M, Lim HW, Hamzavi I, Zhou L, Mi Q, Fain P, Santorico S, Spritz R. Genome-wide association studies of autoimmune vitiligo identify 23 new risk loci and highlight key pathways and regulatory variants. Nature genetics 2016; 48(11):1418-1424.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-1-2016
Publication Title
Nature genetics
Abstract
Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease in which depigmented skin results from the destruction of melanocytes, with epidemiological association with other autoimmune diseases. In previous linkage and genome-wide association studies (GWAS1 and GWAS2), we identified 27 vitiligo susceptibility loci in patients of European ancestry. We carried out a third GWAS (GWAS3) in European-ancestry subjects, with augmented GWAS1 and GWAS2 controls, genome-wide imputation, and meta-analysis of all three GWAS, followed by an independent replication. The combined analyses, with 4,680 cases and 39,586 controls, identified 23 new significantly associated loci and 7 suggestive loci. Most encode immune and apoptotic regulators, with some also associated with other autoimmune diseases, as well as several melanocyte regulators. Bioinformatic analyses indicate a predominance of causal regulatory variation, some of which corresponds to expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) at these loci. Together, the identified genes provide a framework for the genetic architecture and pathobiology of vitiligo, highlight relationships with other autoimmune diseases and melanoma, and offer potential targets for treatment.
Medical Subject Headings
Autoimmune Diseases; Female; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Genome-Wide Association Study; Genotype; Humans; Male; Melanoma; Quantitative Trait Loci; Risk Assessment; Vitiligo
PubMed ID
27723757
Volume
48
Issue
11
First Page
1418
Last Page
1424
