Search

Compared to disorders of similar heritability and contribution of common variants, few genome-wide significant loci have been implicated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This undermines the use of polygenic risk scores (PRSs) to investigate the common genetic architecture of ASD. Deconstructing PRS-ASD into its related traits via “developmental deconstruction” could reveal the underlying genetic liabilities of ASD. Using the data of >24k individuals with ASD and >28k of their unaffected family members from the SSC, SPARK, and MSSNG cohorts, we computed the PRSs for ASD and 11 genetically-related traits. We applied an unsupervised learning approach to the ASD-related PRSs to derive “multi-PRSs” that captured their variability in orthogonal dimensions. We found that multi-PRSs captured a similar proportion of genetic risk for ASD in cases versus intrafamilial controls (ORmulti-PRS=1.10, R2=0.501%), compared to PRS-ASD itself (ORPRS-ASD=1.16, R2=0.619%). While multi-PRS dimensions conferred risk for ASD, they had “mirroring” effects on developmental phenotypes among cases with ASD. We posit that this phenomenon may partially account for the paucity of genome-wide significant loci and the clinical heterogeneity of ASD. This approach can serve as a proxy for PRS-ASD in cases where non-overlapping and well-powered GWAS summary statistics are difficult to obtain, or accounting for heterogeneity in a single dimension is preferable. This approach may also capture the overall liability for a condition (i.e.: genetic “P-factor”). Altogether, we present a novel approach to studying the role of inherited, additive, and non-specific genetic risk factors in ASD.

Asymmetry between the left and right brain is a key feature of brain organization. Hemispheric functional specialization underlies some of the most advanced human-defining cognitive operations, such as articulated language, perspective taking, or rapid detection of facial cues. Yet, genetic investigations into brain asymmetry have mostly relied on common variant studies, which typically exert small effects on brain phenotypes. Here, we leverage rare genomic deletions and duplications to study how genetic alterations reverberate in human brain and behavior. We quantitatively dissected the impact of eight high-effect-size copy number variations (CNVs) on brain asymmetry in a multi-site cohort of 552 CNV carriers and 290 non-carriers. Isolated multivariate brain asymmetry patterns spotlighted regions typically thought to subserve lateralized functions, including language, hearing, as well as visual, face and word recognition. Planum temporale asymmetry emerged as especially susceptible to deletions and duplications of specific gene sets. Targeted analysis of common variants through genome-wide association study (GWAS) consolidated partly diverging genetic influences on the right versus left planum temporale structure. In conclusion, our gene-brain-behavior mapping highlights the consequences of genetically controlled brain lateralization on human-defining cognitive traits.

Copy number variations (CNVs) are rare genomic deletions and duplications that can exert profound effects on brain and behavior. Previous reports of pleiotropy in CNVs imply that they converge on shared mechanisms at some level of pathway cascades, from genes to large-scale neural circuits to the phenome. However, studies to date have primarily examined single CNV loci in small clinical cohorts. It remains unknown how distinct CNVs escalate the risk for the same developmental and psychiatric disorders. Here, we quantitatively dissect the impact on brain organization and behavioral differentiation across eight key CNVs. In 534 clinical CNV carriers from multiple sites, we explored CNV-specific brain morphology patterns. We extensively annotated these CNV-associated patterns with deep phenotyping assays through the UK Biobank resource. Although the eight CNVs cause disparate brain changes, they are tied to similar phenotypic profiles across ∼1000 lifestyle indicators. Our population-level investigation established brain structural divergences and phenotypical convergences of CNVs, with direct relevance to major brain disorders.

Funding Information: This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health/U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (Grant No. R01MH106595 [to CMN, MBS, KJRe, and KCK]), and National Institutes of Health (Grant No. 5U01MH109539 [to the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium] and Grant No. U19 MH069056 [to BWD])). Financial support for the PTSD PGC was provided by the Cohen Veterans Bioscience, Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute, and One Mind. Genotyping of samples was provided in part through the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Genetics at the Broad Institute supported by Cohen Veterans Bioscience Statistical analyses were carried out on the LISA/Genetic Cluster Computer ( https://userinfo.surfsara.nl/systems/lisa ) hosted by SURFsara. This research has been conducted using the UK Biobank resource (Application No. 41209). Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a heritable (h2 = 24–71%) psychiatric illness. Copy number variation (CNV) is a form of rare genetic variation that has been implicated in the etiology of psychiatric disorders, but no large-scale investigation of CNV in PTSD has been performed. We present an association study of CNV burden and PTSD symptoms in a sample of 114,383 participants (13,036 cases and 101,347 controls) of European ancestry. CNVs were called using two calling algorithms and intersected to a consensus set. Quality control was performed to remove strong outlier samples. CNVs were examined for association with PTSD within each cohort using linear or logistic regression analysis adjusted for population structure and CNV quality metrics, then inverse variance weighted meta-analyzed across cohorts. We examined the genome-wide total span of CNVs, enrichment of CNVs within specified gene-sets, and CNVs overlapping individual genes and implicated neurodevelopmental regions. The total distance covered by deletions crossing over known neurodevelopmental CNV regions was significant (beta = 0.029, SE = 0.005, P = 6.3 × 10−8). The genome-wide neurodevelopmental CNV burden identified explains 0.034% of the variation in PTSD symptoms. The 15q11.2 BP1-BP2 microdeletion region was significantly associated with PTSD (beta = 0.0206, SE = 0.0056, P = 0.0002). No individual significant genes interrupted by CNV were identified. 22 gene pathways related to the function of the nervous system and brain were significant in pathway analysis (FDR q < 0.05), but these associations were not significant once NDD regions were removed. A larger sample size, better detection methods, and annotated resources of CNV are needed to explore this relationship further. publishersversion published

Resume Avec pres de 54 000 nouveaux cas par an en France, le cancer de la prostate est le cancer le plus frequent chez l’homme et est la troisieme cause de deces par cancer. De nos jours, le diagnostic precoce du cancer de la prostate se fait par un dosage sanguin du marqueur Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) et un toucher rectal. Cependant, le diagnostic repose sur les biopsies prostatiques qui peuvent etre sources d’infection (moins de 5 % de risque) et peuvent etre negatives dans 55 % des cas. La recherche de nouveaux marqueurs plus robustes est donc necessaire. Le sequencage haut debit du genome et du transcriptome humains combines aux analyses bio-informatiques ont completement change la comprehension de l’organisation du genome. Il s’avere que seul 2 % du genome est transcrit en ARNm codant pour des proteines, 66 % synthetise des ARN non codants dont font partie les longs ARN non codants (lncRNA). Ces ARN, de plus de 200 nucleotides, sont specifiques d’une cellule ou d’un tissu donne et peuvent avoir des fonctions oncogeniques ou suppressives de tumeurs. Ils peuvent egalement etre des biomarqueurs diagnostiques, pronostiques et des cibles therapeutiques en cancerologie. Parmi les differentes classes de lncRNA, les transcrits antisens (aslncRNA), codes par le brin d’ADN complementaire a celui d’un ARN messager, sont les moins decrits. Nous avons identifie, par sequencage haut debit, de nombreux aslncRNA non annotes dont trois d’entre eux sont tres significativement augmentes dans les tumeurs de prostate en comparaison a des tissus prostatiques normaux. Nos resultats ont ete valides, par la technique d’hybridation (NanoString) sur une cohorte de 166 tumeurs et une etude preliminaire sur des urines de patients atteints de cancer de la prostate semble tres prometteuse. Notre objectif est de developper un test urinaire specifique, non invasif, precoce, rapide et robuste qui permettrait de diagnostiquer le cancer de la prostate ou d’orienter avec beaucoup plus de pertinence les patients vers des biopsies.

Psychiatric and cognitive phenotypes have been associated with a range of specific, rare copy number variants (CNVs). Moreover, IQ is strongly associated with CNV risk scores that model the predicted risk of CNVs across the genome. But the utility of CNV risk scores for psychiatric phenotypes has been sparsely examined.To determine how CNV risk scores, common genetic variation indexed by polygenic scores (PGSs), and environmental factors combine to associate with cognition and psychopathology in a community sample.The Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort is a community-based study examining genetics, psychopathology, neurocognition, and neuroimaging. Participants were recruited through the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia pediatric network. Participants with stable health and fluency in English underwent genotypic and phenotypic characterization from November 5, 2009, through December 30, 2011. Data were analyzed from January 1 through July 30, 2021.The study examined (1) CNV risk scores derived from models of burden, predicted intolerance, and gene dosage sensitivity; (2) PGSs from genomewide association studies related to developmental outcomes; and (3) environmental factors, including trauma exposure and neighborhood socioeconomic status.The study examined (1) neurocognition, with the Penn Computerized Neurocognitive Battery; (2) psychopathology, with structured interviews based on the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children; and (3) brain volume, with magnetic resonance imaging.Participants included 9498 youths aged 8 to 21 years; 4906 (51.7%) were female, and the mean (SD) age was 14.2 (3.7) years. After quality control, 18 185 total CNVs greater than 50 kilobases (10 517 deletions and 7668 duplications) were identified in 7101 unrelated participants genotyped on Illumina arrays. In these participants, elevated CNV risk scores were associated with lower overall accuracy on cognitive tests (standardized β = 0.12; 95% CI, 0.10-0.14; P = 7.41 × 10-26); lower accuracy across a range of cognitive subdomains; increased overall psychopathology; increased psychosis-spectrum symptoms; and higher deviation from a normative developmental model of brain volume. Statistical models of developmental outcomes were significantly improved when CNV risk scores were combined with PGSs and environmental factors.In this study, elevated CNV risk scores were associated with lower cognitive ability, higher psychopathology including psychosis-spectrum symptoms, and greater deviations from normative magnetic resonance imaging models of brain development. Together, these results represent a step toward synthesizing rare genetic, common genetic, and environmental factors to understand clinically relevant outcomes in youth.

International audience; Genomic copy number variants (CNVs) are routinely identified and reported back to patients with neuropsychiatric disorders, but their quantitative effects on essential traits such as cognitive ability are poorly documented. We have recently shown that the effect size of deletions on cognitive ability can be statistically predicted using measures of intolerance to haploinsufficiency. However, the effect sizes of duplications remain unknown. It is also unknown if the effect of multigenic CNVs are driven by a few genes intolerant to haploinsufficiency or distributed across tolerant genes as well. Here, we identified all CNVs > 50 kilobases in 24,092 individuals from unselected and autism cohorts with assessments of general intelligence. Statistical models used measures of intolerance to haploinsufficiency of genes included in CNVs to predict their effect size on intelligence. Intolerant genes decrease general intelligence by 0.8 and 2.6 points of intelligence quotient when duplicated or deleted, respectively. Effect sizes showed no heterogeneity across cohorts. Validation analyses demonstrated that models could predict CNV effect sizes with 78% accuracy. Data on the inheritance of 27,766 CNVs showed that deletions and duplications with the same effect size on intelligence occur de novo at the same frequency. We estimated that around 10,000 intolerant and tolerant genes negatively affect intelligence when deleted, and less than 2% have large effect sizes. Genes encompassed in CNVs were not enriched in any GOterms but gene regulation and brain expression were GOterms overrepresented in the intolerant subgroup. Such pervasive effects on cognition may be related to emergent properties of the genome not restricted to a limited number of biological pathways.

International audience; Objective:Deleterious copy number variants (CNVs) are identified in up to 20% of individuals with autism. However, levels of autism risk conferred by most rare CNVs remain unknown. The authors recently developed statistical models to estimate the effect size on IQ of all CNVs, including undocumented ones. In this study, the authors extended this model to autism susceptibility.Methods:The authors identified CNVs in two autism populations (Simons Simplex Collection and MSSNG) and two unselected populations (IMAGEN and Saguenay Youth Study). Statistical models were used to test nine quantitative variables associated with genes encompassed in CNVs to explain their effects on IQ, autism susceptibility, and behavioral domains.Results:The “probability of being loss-of-function intolerant” (pLI) best explains the effect of CNVs on IQ and autism risk. Deleting 1 point of pLI decreases IQ by 2.6 points in autism and unselected populations. The effect of duplications on IQ is threefold smaller. Autism susceptibility increases when deleting or duplicating any point of pLI. This is true for individuals with high or low IQ and after removing de novo and known recurrent neuropsychiatric CNVs. When CNV effects on IQ are accounted for, autism susceptibility remains mostly unchanged for duplications but decreases for deletions. Model estimates for autism risk overlap with previously published observations. Deletions and duplications differentially affect social communication, behavior, and phonological memory, whereas both equally affect motor skills.Conclusions:Autism risk conferred by duplications is less influenced by IQ compared with deletions. The model applied in this study, trained on CNVs encompassing >4,500 genes, suggests highly polygenic properties of gene dosage with respect to autism risk and IQ loss. These models will help to interpret CNVs identified in the clinic.

Genomic Copy Number Variants (CNVs) are routinely identified and reported back to patients with neuropsychiatric disorders, but their quantitative effects on essential traits such as cognitive ability are poorly documented. We have recently shown that the effect-size of deletions on cognitive ability can be statistically predicted using measures of intolerance to haploinsufficiency. However, the effect-sizes of duplications remain unknown. It is also unknown if the effect of multigenic CNVs are driven by a few genes intolerant to haploinsufficiency or distributed across tolerant genes as well.Here, we identified all CNVs >50 kilobases in 24,092 individuals from unselected and autism cohorts with assessments of general intelligence. Statistical models used measures of intolerance to haploinsufficiency of genes included in CNVs to predict their effect-size on intelligence. Intolerant genes decrease general intelligence by 0.8 and 2.6 points of IQ when duplicated or deleted, respectively. Effect-sizes showed no heterogeneity across cohorts. Validation analyses demonstrated that models could predict CNV effect-sizes with 78% accuracy. Data on the inheritance of 27,766 CNVs showed that deletions and duplications with the same effect-size on intelligence occur de novo at the same frequency.We estimated that around 10,000 intolerant and tolerant genes negatively affect intelligence when deleted, and less than 2% have large effect-sizes. Genes encompassed in CNVs were not enriched in any GOterms but gene regulation and brain expression were GOterms overrepresented in the intolerant subgroup. Such pervasive effects on cognition may be related to emergent properties of the genome not restricted to a limited number of biological pathways.

ObjectiveDeleterious copy number variants (CNVs) are identified in up to 20% of individuals with autism. However, only 13 genomic loci have been formally associated with autism because the majority of CNVs are too rare to perform individual association studies. To investigate the implication of undocumented CNVs in neurodevelopmental disorders, we recently developed a new framework to estimate their effect-size on intelligence quotient (IQ) and sought to extend this approach to autism susceptibility and multiple cognitive domains.MethodsWe identified CNVs in two autism samples (Simons Simplex Collection and MSSNG) and two unselected populations (IMAGEN and Saguenay Youth Study). Statistical models integrating scores of genes encompassed in CNVs were used to explain their effect on autism susceptibility and multiple cognitive domains.ResultsAmong 9 scores of genes, the “probability-of-being loss-of-function intolerant” (pLI) best explains the effect of CNVs on IQ and autism risk. Deletions decrease IQ by a mean of 2.6 points per point of pLI. The effect of duplications on IQ is three-fold smaller. The odd ratios for autism increases when deleting or duplicating any point of pLI. This increased autism risk is similar in subgroups of individuals below or above median IQ. Once CNV effects on IQ are accounted for, autism susceptibility remains mostly unchanged for duplications but decreases for deletions. Model estimates for autism risk overlap with previously published observations. Deletions and duplications differentially affect social communication, behaviour, and phonological memory, whereas both equally affect motor skills.ConclusionsAutism risk conferred by duplications is less influenced by IQ compared to deletions. CNVs increase autism risk similarly in individuals with high and low IQ. Our model, trained on CNVs encompassing >4,500 genes, suggests highly polygenic properties of gene dosage with respect to autism risk. These models will help interpreting CNVs identified in the clinic.

SummaryEpithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) drives a loss of epithelial traits by neoplastic cells enabling metastasis and recurrence in cancer. HOTAIR emerged as one of the most renowned long noncoding RNAs promoting EMT mostly as a scaffold for PRC2 and repressive histone H3 Lys27 methylation at gene promoters. In addition to PRC2, HOTAIR interacts with the Lsd1 lysine demethylase, a known epigenetic regulator of cell fate during development and differentiation. However, Lsd1 role in HOTAIR function is still poorly understood. Here, through expression of truncated variants of HOTAIR, we revealed that, in contrast to PRC2, its Lsd1-interacting domain is essential for acquisition of migratory properties by epithelial cells. HOTAIR induces Lsd1 relocation from its inherent genomic loci hence reprogramming the epithelial transcriptome. Our results uncovered an unexpected role of HOTAIR in EMT as an Lsd1 effector and pointed to the importance of Lsd1 as a guardian of the epithelial identity.

The broad use of RNA-sequencing technologies held a promise of improved diagnostic tools based on comprehensive transcript sets. However, mining human transcriptome data for disease biomarkers in clinical specimens is restricted by the limited power of conventional reference-based protocols relying on uniquely mapped reads and transcript annotations. Here, we implemented a blind reference-free computational protocol, DE-kupl, to directly infer RNA variations of any origin, including yet unreferenced RNAs, from high coverage total stranded RNA-sequencing datasets of tissue origin. As a bench test, this protocol was powered for detection of RNA subsequences embedded into unannotated putative long noncoding (lnc)RNAs expressed in prostate cancer tissues. Through filtering and visual inspection of 1,179 candidates, we defined 21 lncRNA probes that were further validated for robust tumor-specific expression by NanoString single molecule-based RNA measurements in 144 tissue specimens. Predictive modeling yielded a restricted probe panel enabling over 90% of true positive detection of cancer in an independent dataset from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Remarkably, this clinical signature made of only 9 unannotated lncRNAs largely outperformed PCA3, the only RNA biomarker approved by the Food and Drug Administration agency, specifically, in detection of high-risk prostate tumors. The proposed reference-free computational workflow is modular, highly sensitive and robust and can be applied to any pathology and any clinical application.

We address here the issue of prioritizing non-coding mutations in the tumoral genome. To this aim, we created two independent computational models. The first (germline) model estimates purifying selection based on population SNP data. The second (somatic) model estimates tumor mutation density based on whole genome tumor sequencing. We show that each model reflects a different set of constraints acting either on the normal or tumor genome, and we identify the specific genome features that most contribute to these constraints. Importantly, we show that the somatic mutation model carries independent functional information that can be used to narrow down the non-coding regions that may be relevant to cancer progression. On this basis, we identify positions in non-coding RNAs and the non-coding parts of mRNAs that are both under purifying selection in the germline and protected from mutation in tumors, thus introducing a new strategy for future detection of cancer driver elements in the expressed non-coding genome., Author Summary Cancer cells undergo a mutation/selection process that resembles that of any living cell. Most mutations in cancer cell DNA occur in the so-called "non-coding" regions that represent 98.5% of the genome length. Pinning down which of these mutations contribute to the fitness of cancer cells would be important for identifying new "cancer drivers", which may in turn lead to future treatments. Unfortunately, predicting the impact of a non-coding DNA alteration remains extremely difficult. In this study, we analyze millions of non-coding cancer mutations and show cancer-specific mutational patterns can be used to predict non-coding regions that are preserved from mutations and may thus be important for cancer cell survival. Combining this information with population data, we propose a new scoring system that should help prioritize important non-coding mutations in future studies.

Epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) describes the loss of epithelial traits and gain of mesenchymal traits by normal cells during development and by neoplastic cells during cancer metastasis. The long noncoding RNA HOTAIR triggers EMT, in part by serving as a scaffold for PRC2 and thus promoting repressive histone H3K27 methylation. In addition to PRC2, HOTAIR interacts with the LSD1 lysine demethylase, an epigenetic regulator of cell fate during development and differentiation, but little is known about the role of LSD1 in HOTAIR function during EMT. Here, we show that HOTAIR requires its LSD1‐interacting domain, but not its PRC2‐interacting domain, to promote the migration of epithelial cells. This activity is suppressed by LSD1 overexpression. LSD1‐HOTAIR interactions induce partial reprogramming of the epithelial transcriptome altering LSD1 distribution at promoter and enhancer regions. Thus, we uncover an unexpected role of HOTAIR in EMT as an LSD1 decommissioning factor, counteracting its activity in the control of epithelial identity., This study shows that HOTAIR lncRNA independently of PRC2 redistributes LSD1 along chromatin genome‐wide and thus impairs Lsd1 function in maintaining epithelial identity.