Exome Genotyping Identifies Pleiotropic Variants Associated with Red Blood Cell Traits.
Chami N., Chen M-H., Slater AJ., Eicher JD., Evangelou E., Tajuddin SM., Love-Gregory L., Kacprowski T., Schick UM., Nomura A., Giri A., Lessard S., Brody JA., Schurmann C., Pankratz N., Yanek LR., Manichaikul A., Pazoki R., Mihailov E., Hill WD., Raffield LM., Burt A., Bartz TM., Becker DM., Becker LC., Boerwinkle E., Bork-Jensen J., Bottinger EP., O'Donoghue ML., Crosslin DR., de Denus S., Dubé M-P., Elliott P., Engström G., Evans MK., Floyd JS., Fornage M., Gao H., Greinacher A., Gudnason V., Hansen T., Harris TB., Hayward C., Hernesniemi J., Highland HM., Hirschhorn JN., Hofman A., Irvin MR., Kähönen M., Lange E., Launer LJ., Lehtimäki T., Li J., Liewald DCM., Linneberg A., Liu Y., Lu Y., Lyytikäinen L-P., Mägi R., Mathias RA., Melander O., Metspalu A., Mononen N., Nalls MA., Nickerson DA., Nikus K., O'Donnell CJ., Orho-Melander M., Pedersen O., Petersmann A., Polfus L., Psaty BM., Raitakari OT., Raitoharju E., Richard M., Rice KM., Rivadeneira F., Rotter JI., Schmidt F., Smith AV., Starr JM., Taylor KD., Teumer A., Thuesen BH., Torstenson ES., Tracy RP., Tzoulaki I., Zakai NA., Vacchi-Suzzi C., van Duijn CM., van Rooij FJA., Cushman M., Deary IJ., Velez Edwards DR., Vergnaud A-C., Wallentin L., Waterworth DM., White HD., Wilson JG., Zonderman AB., Kathiresan S., Grarup N., Esko T., Loos RJF., Lange LA., Faraday N., Abumrad NA., Edwards TL., Ganesh SK., Auer PL., Johnson AD., Reiner AP., Lettre G.
Red blood cell (RBC) traits are important heritable clinical biomarkers and modifiers of disease severity. To identify coding genetic variants associated with these traits, we conducted meta-analyses of seven RBC phenotypes in 130,273 multi-ethnic individuals from studies genotyped on an exome array. After conditional analyses and replication in 27,480 independent individuals, we identified 16 new RBC variants. We found low-frequency missense variants in MAP1A (rs55707100, minor allele frequency [MAF] = 3.3%, p = 2 × 10(-10) for hemoglobin [HGB]) and HNF4A (rs1800961, MAF = 2.4%, p < 3 × 10(-8) for hematocrit [HCT] and HGB). In African Americans, we identified a nonsense variant in CD36 associated with higher RBC distribution width (rs3211938, MAF = 8.7%, p = 7 × 10(-11)) and showed that it is associated with lower CD36 expression and strong allelic imbalance in ex vivo differentiated human erythroblasts. We also identified a rare missense variant in ALAS2 (rs201062903, MAF = 0.2%) associated with lower mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (p < 8 × 10(-9)). Mendelian mutations in ALAS2 are a cause of sideroblastic anemia and erythropoietic protoporphyria. Gene-based testing highlighted three rare missense variants in PKLR, a gene mutated in Mendelian non-spherocytic hemolytic anemia, associated with HGB and HCT (SKAT p < 8 × 10(-7)). These rare, low-frequency, and common RBC variants showed pleiotropy, being also associated with platelet, white blood cell, and lipid traits. Our association results and functional annotation suggest the involvement of new genes in human erythropoiesis. We also confirm that rare and low-frequency variants play a role in the architecture of complex human traits, although their phenotypic effect is generally smaller than originally anticipated.