Logo image
A systematic genetic analysis and visualization of phenotypic heterogeneity among orofacial cleft GWAS signals
Journal article   Peer reviewed

A systematic genetic analysis and visualization of phenotypic heterogeneity among orofacial cleft GWAS signals

Jenna C Carlson, Deepti Anand, Azeez Butali, Carmen J Buxo, Kaare Christensen, Frederic Deleyiannis, Jacqueline T Hecht, Lina M Moreno, Ieda M Orioli, Carmencita Padilla, …
Genetic epidemiology, Vol.43(6), pp.704-716
09/2019
DOI: 10.1002/gepi.22214
PMCID: PMC6687557
PMID: 31172578

View Online

Abstract

Phenotypic heterogeneity is a hallmark of complex traits, and genetic studies of such traits may focus on them as a single diagnostic entity or by analyzing specific components. For example, in orofacial clefting (OFC), three subtypes-cleft lip (CL), cleft lip and palate (CLP), and cleft palate (CP) have been studied separately and in combination. To further dissect the genetic architecture of OFCs and how a given associated locus may be contributing to distinct subtypes of a trait we developed a framework for quantifying and interpreting evidence of subtype-specific or shared genetic effects in complex traits. We applied this technique to create a "cleft map" of the association of 30 genetic loci with three OFC subtypes. In addition to new associations, we found loci with subtype-specific effects (e.g., GRHL3 [CP], WNT5A [CLP]), as well as loci associated with two or all three subtypes. We cross-referenced these results with mouse craniofacial gene expression datasets, which identified additional promising candidate genes. However, we found no strong correlation between OFC subtypes and expression patterns. In aggregate, the cleft map revealed that neither subtype-specific nor shared genetic effects operate in isolation in OFC architecture. Our approach can be easily applied to any complex trait with distinct phenotypic subgroups.
Genetic Markers Phenotype Brain - abnormalities Brain - pathology Cleft Lip - classification Cleft Lip - genetics Cleft Lip - pathology Cleft Palate - classification Cleft Palate - genetics Cleft Palate - pathology Genetic Loci Genetic Testing - methods Genome-Wide Association Study - methods Humans Transcriptome

Details

Logo image