1. Genetic and Environmental Effects on Gene Expression Signatures of Blood Pressure: A Transcriptome-Wide Twin Study.
- Author
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Huang Y, Ollikainen M, Sipilä P, Mustelin L, Wang X, Su S, Huan T, Levy D, Wilson J, Snieder H, Kaprio J, and Wang X
- Subjects
- Aged, Analysis of Variance, Blood Pressure Determination methods, Cohort Studies, Environment, Female, Finland, Genome-Wide Association Study methods, Humans, Linear Models, Male, Middle Aged, Reference Values, Risk Assessment, Blood Pressure genetics, Gene Expression Regulation, Surveys and Questionnaires, Transcriptome genetics, Twins genetics
- Abstract
Recently, 2 transcriptome-wide studies identified 40 genes that were differentially expressed in relation to blood pressure. However, to what extent these BP-related gene expression signatures and their associations with BP are driven by genetic or environmental factors has not been investigated. In this study of 391 twins (193 twin pairs and 5 singletons; age 55-69 years; 40% male; 57% monozygous) recruited from the Finnish Twin Cohort, transcriptome-wide data on peripheral leukocytes were obtained using the Illumina HT12 V4 array. Our transcriptome-wide analysis identified 1 gene ( MOK [MAPK/MAK/MRK overlapping kinase], P =7.16×10
- 8 ) with its expression levels associated with systolic BP at the cutoff of false-discovery rate <0.05. This association was further replicated in the Framingham Heart Study ( P =1.02×10- 5 ). Out of the 40 genes previously reported, 12 genes could be replicated in the twin cohort with false-discovery rate <0.05 and consistent direction of effect. Univariate twin modeling showed that genetic factors contributed to the expression variations of 12 genes with heritability estimates ranging from 6% to 65%. Bivariate twin modeling showed that 53% of the phenotypic association between systolic BP and MOK expression, and 100% of the phenotypic association of systolic and diastolic BP with CD97 (cluster of differentiation 97), TIPARP (TCDD-inducible poly[ADP-ribose] polymerase), and TPPP3 expression could be explained by genetic factors shared in common. In this study of adult twins, we identified one more gene, MOK , with its expression level associated with BP, and replicated several previously identified signals. Our study further provides new insights into the genetic and environmental sources of BP-related gene expression signatures., (© 2018 American Heart Association, Inc.)- Published
- 2018
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