Population-level deficit of homozygosity unveils CPSF3 as an intellectual disability syndrome gene.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked DownloadPredicting the pathogenicity of biallelic missense variants can be challenging. Here, we use a deficit of observed homozygous carriers of missense variants, versus an expected number in a set of 153,054 chip-genotyped Icelanders, to identify potentially pathogenic genotypes. We follow three missense variants with a complete deficit of homozygosity and find that their pathogenic effect in homozygous state ranges from severe childhood disease to early embryonic lethality. One of these variants is in CPSF3, a gene not previously linked to disease. From a set of clinically sequenced Icelanders, and by sequencing archival samples targeted through the Icelandic genealogy, we find four homozygous carriers. Additionally, we find two homozygous carriers of Mexican descent of another missense variant in CPSF3. All six homozygous carriers of missense variants in CPSF3 show severe intellectual disability, seizures, microcephaly, and abnormal muscle tone. Here, we show how the absence of certain homozygous genotypes from a large population set can elucidate causes of previously unexplained recessive diseases and early miscarriage.Sacchi Foundatio

Multiomics analysis of rheumatoid arthritis yields sequence variants that have large effects on risk of the seropositive subset

Funding Information: Funding The study was funded by NORDFORSK (grant agreement no. 90825, project NORA), the Swedish Research Council (2018-02803), the Swedish innovation Agency (Vinnova), Innovationsfonden and The Research Council of Norway, Region Stockholm-Karolinska Institutet and Region Västerbotten (ALF), the Danish Rheumatism Association (R194-A6956), the Swedish Brain Foundation, Nils and Bibbi Jensens Foundation, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Margaretha af Ugglas Foundation, the South-Eastern Heath Region of Norway, the Health Research Fund of Central Denmark Region, Region of Southern Denmark, the A.P. Moller Foundation for the Advancement of Medical Science, the Colitis-Crohn Foreningen, the Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF15OC0016932), Aase og Ejnar Danielsens Fond, Beckett-Fonden, Augustinus Fonden, Knud and Edith Eriksens Mindefond, Laege Sofus Carl Emil Friis and Hustru Olga Doris Friis’ Legat, the Psoriasis Forskningsfonden, the University of Aarhus, the Danish Rheumatism Association (R194-A6956, A1923, A3037 and A3570 – www. gigtforeningen.dk), Region of Southern Denmark’s PhD Fund, 12/7725 (www.regionsyddanmark.dk) and the Department of Rheumatology, Frederiksberg Hospital (www.frederiksberghospital. dk). MoBa Genetics has been funded by the Research Council of Norway (#229624, #223273), South East and Western Norway Health Authorities, ERC AdG project SELECTionPREDISPOSED, Stiftelsen Kristian Gerhard Jebsen, Trond Mohn Foundation, the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the University of Bergen. KB and SB acknowledge the Novo Nordisk Foundation (grant NNF14CC0001). Funding Information: competing financial interests as employees. OAA is a consultant to HealthLytix. The following coauthors report the following but unrelated to the current report: Karolinska Institutet, with JA as principal investigator, has entered into agreements with the following entities, mainly but not exclusively for safety monitoring of rheumatology immunomodulators: Abbvie, BMS, Eli Lilly, Janssen, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, Samsung Bioepis and Sanofi, unrelated to the present study. SB has ownerships in Intomics A/S, Hoba Therapeutics Aps, Novo Nordisk A/S, Lundbeck A/S and managing board memberships in Proscion A/S and Intomics A/S. BG has received research grants from AbbVie, Bristol Myers-Squibb and Pfizer; OH has received research grants from AbbVie, Novartis and Pfizer, DVJ has received speaker and consultation fees from AbbVie, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche and UCB, AGL has received speaking and/or consulting fees from AbbVie, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche and UCB; and CT has received consulting fees from Roche, speaker fees from Abbvie, Bristol Myers-Squibb, Nordic Drugs, Pfizer and Roche, and an unrestricted grant from Bristol Myers-Squibb. Publisher Copyright: © Funding Information: Funding The study was funded by NORDFORSK (grant agreement no. 90825, project NORA), the Swedish Research Council (2018-02803), the Swedish innovation Agency (Vinnova), Innovationsfonden and The Research Council of Norway, Region Stockholm-Karolinska Institutet and Region Västerbotten (ALF), the Danish Rheumatism Association (R194-A6956), the Swedish Brain Foundation, Nils and Bibbi Jensens Foundation, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Margaretha af Ugglas Foundation, the South-Eastern Heath Region of Norway, the Health Research Fund of Central Denmark Region, Region of Southern Denmark, the A.P. Moller Foundation for the Advancement of Medical Science, the Colitis-Crohn Foreningen, the Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF15OC0016932), Aase og Ejnar Danielsens Fond, Beckett-Fonden, Augustinus Fonden, Knud and Edith Eriksens Mindefond, Laege Sofus Carl Emil Friis and Hustru Olga Doris Friis’ Legat, the Psoriasis Forskningsfonden, the University of Aarhus, the Danish Rheumatism Association (R194-A6956, A1923, A3037 and A3570 – www. gigtforeningen.dk), Region of Southern Denmark’s PhD Fund, 12/7725 (www.regionsyddanmark.dk) and the Department of Rheumatology, Frederiksberg Hospital (www.frederiksberghospital. dk). MoBa Genetics has been funded by the Research Council of Norway (#229624, #223273), South East and Western Norway Health Authorities, ERC AdG project SELECTionPREDISPOSED, Stiftelsen Kristian Gerhard Jebsen, Trond Mohn Foundation, the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the University of Bergen. KB and SB acknowledge the Novo Nordisk Foundation (grant NNF14CC0001). Funding Information: competing financial interests as employees. OAA is a consultant to HealthLytix. The following coauthors report the following but unrelated to the current report: Karolinska Institutet, with JA as principal investigator, has entered into agreements with the following entities, mainly but not exclusively for safety monitoring of rheumatology immunomodulators: Abbvie, BMS, Eli Lilly, Janssen, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, Samsung Bioepis and Sanofi, unrelated to the present study. SB has ownerships in Intomics A/S, Hoba Therapeutics Aps, Novo Nordisk A/S, Lundbeck A/S and managing board memberships in Proscion A/S and Intomics A/S. BG has received research grants from AbbVie, Bristol Myers-Squibb and Pfizer; OH has received research grants from AbbVie, Novartis and Pfizer, DVJ has received speaker and consultation fees from AbbVie, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche and UCB, AGL has received speaking and/or consulting fees from AbbVie, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche and UCB; and CT has received consulting fees from Roche, speaker fees from Abbvie, Bristol Myers-Squibb, Nordic Drugs, Pfizer and Roche, and an unrestricted grant from Bristol Myers-Squibb. Publisher Copyright: ©Objectives To find causal genes for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and its seropositive (RF and/or ACPA positive) and seronegative subsets. Methods We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 31 313 RA cases (68% seropositive) and ∼1 million controls from Northwestern Europe. We searched for causal genes outside the HLA-locus through effect on coding, mRNA expression in several tissues and/or levels of plasma proteins (SomaScan) and did network analysis (Qiagen). Results We found 25 sequence variants for RA overall, 33 for seropositive and 2 for seronegative RA, altogether 37 sequence variants at 34 non-HLA loci, of which 15 are novel. Genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic analysis of these yielded 25 causal genes in seropositive RA and additional two overall. Most encode proteins in the network of interferon-Alpha/beta and IL-12/23 that signal through the JAK/STAT-pathway. Highlighting those with largest effect on seropositive RA, a rare missense variant in STAT4 (rs140675301-A) that is independent of reported non-coding STAT4-variants, increases the risk of seropositive RA 2.27-fold (p=2.1×10-9), more than the rs2476601-A missense variant in PTPN22 (OR=1.59, p=1.3×10-160). STAT4 rs140675301-A replaces hydrophilic glutamic acid with hydrophobic valine (Glu128Val) in a conserved, surface-exposed loop. A stop-mutation (rs76428106-C) in FLT3 increases seropositive RA risk (OR=1.35, p=6.6×10-11). Independent missense variants in TYK2 (rs34536443-C, rs12720356-C, rs35018800-A, latter two novel) associate with decreased risk of seropositive RA (ORs=0.63-0.87, p=10-9-10-27) and decreased plasma levels of interferon-Alpha/beta receptor 1 that signals through TYK2/JAK1/STAT4. Conclusion Sequence variants pointing to causal genes in the JAK/STAT pathway have largest effect on seropositive RA, while associations with seronegative RA remain scarce.Peer reviewe

Humoral Immune Response to SARS-CoV-2 in Iceland.

To access publisher's full text version of this article click on the hyperlink belowBackground: Little is known about the nature and durability of the humoral immune response to infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Methods: We measured antibodies in serum samples from 30,576 persons in Iceland, using six assays (including two pan-immunoglobulin [pan-Ig] assays), and we determined that the appropriate measure of seropositivity was a positive result with both pan-Ig assays. We tested 2102 samples collected from 1237 persons up to 4 months after diagnosis by a quantitative polymerase-chain-reaction (qPCR) assay. We measured antibodies in 4222 quarantined persons who had been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 and in 23,452 persons not known to have been exposed. Results: Of the 1797 persons who had recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection, 1107 of the 1215 who were tested (91.1%) were seropositive; antiviral antibody titers assayed by two pan-Ig assays increased during 2 months after diagnosis by qPCR and remained on a plateau for the remainder of the study. Of quarantined persons, 2.3% were seropositive; of those with unknown exposure, 0.3% were positive. We estimate that 0.9% of Icelanders were infected with SARS-CoV-2 and that the infection was fatal in 0.3%. We also estimate that 56% of all SARS-CoV-2 infections in Iceland had been diagnosed with qPCR, 14% had occurred in quarantined persons who had not been tested with qPCR (or who had not received a positive result, if tested), and 30% had occurred in persons outside quarantine and not tested with qPCR. Conclusions: Our results indicate that antiviral antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 did not decline within 4 months after diagnosis. We estimate that the risk of death from infection was 0.3% and that 44% of persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 in Iceland were not diagnosed by qPCR