Transethnic genome‐wide scan identifies novel Alzheimer's disease loci. Issue 7 (7th February 2017) - Jun, Gyungah R.
Abstract: Introduction: Genetic loci for Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been identified in whites of European ancestry, but the genetic architecture of AD among other populations is less understood. Methods: We conducted a transethnic genome‐wide association study (GWAS) for late‐onset AD in Stage 1 sample including whites of European Ancestry, African‐Americans, Japanese, and Israeli‐Arabs assembled by the Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Consortium. Suggestive results from Stage 1 from novel loci were followed up using summarized results in the International Genomics Alzheimer's Project GWAS dataset. Results: Genome‐wide significant (GWS) associations in single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)–based tests ( P < 5 × 10 −8 ) were identified for SNPs in PFDN1/HBEGF, USP6NL/ECHDC3, and BZRAP1‐AS1 and for the interaction of the (apolipoprotein E) APOE ε4 allele with NFIC SNP. We also obtained GWS evidence ( P < 2.7 × 10 −6 ) for gene‐based association in the total sample with a novel locus, TPBG ( P = 1.8 × 10 −6 ). Discussion: Our findings highlight the value of transethnic studies for identifying novel AD susceptibility loci.