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Genetic insight into the putative causal proteins and druggable targets of osteoporosis: a large-scale proteome-wide mendelian randomization study

Authors :
Zhichong Wu
Kenneth Guangpu Yang
Tsz-Ping Lam
Jack Chun Yiu Cheng
Zezhang Zhu
Wayne Yuk-Wai Lee
Source :
Frontiers in Genetics, Vol 14 (2023)
Publication Year :
2023
Publisher :
Frontiers Media S.A., 2023.

Abstract

Background: Osteoporosis is a major causative factor of the global burden of disease and disability, characterized by low bone mineral density (BMD) and high risks of fracture. We aimed to identify putative causal proteins and druggable targets of osteoporosis.Methods: This study utilized the largest GWAS summary statistics on plasma proteins and estimated heel BMD (eBMD) to identify causal proteins of osteoporosis by mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Different GWAS datasets were used to validate the results. Multiple sensitivity analyses were conducted to evaluate the robustness of primary MR findings. We have also performed an enrichment analysis for the identified causal proteins and evaluated their druggability.Results: After Bonferroni correction, 67 proteins were identified to be causally associated with estimated BMD (eBMD) (p < 4 × 10−5). We further replicated 38 of the 67 proteins to be associated with total body BMD, lumbar spine BMD, femoral neck BMD as well as fractures, such as RSPO3, IDUA, SMOC2, and LRP4. The findings were supported by sensitivity analyses. Enrichment analysis identified multiple Gene Ontology items, including collagen-containing extracellular matrix (GO:0062023, p = 1.6 × 10−10), collagen binding (GO:0005518, p = 8.6 × 10−5), and extracellular matrix structural constituent (GO:0005201, p = 2.7 × 10−5).Conclusion: The study identified novel putative causal proteins for osteoporosis which may serve as potential early screening biomarkers and druggable targets. Furthermore, the role of plasma proteins involved in collagen binding and extracellular matrix in the development of osteoporosis was highlighted. Further studies are warranted to validate our findings and investigate the underlying mechanism.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
16648021
Volume :
14
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Frontiers in Genetics
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.24e69cb3711547b49437e23f0f7ae965
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2023.1161817