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Whole-genome sequencing reveals that variants in the Interleukin 18 Receptor Accessory Protein 3'UTR protect against ALS

Eitan, Chen
Werneburg, Sebastian
Schafer, Dorothy P
Brown, Robert H. Jr.
Hornstein, Eran
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Abstract

The noncoding genome is substantially larger than the protein-coding genome but has been largely unexplored by genetic association studies. Here, we performed region-based rare variant association analysis of > 25,000 variants in untranslated regions of 6,139 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) whole genomes and the whole genomes of 70,403 non-ALS controls. We identified interleukin-18 receptor accessory protein (IL18RAP) 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) variants as significantly enriched in non-ALS genomes and associated with a fivefold reduced risk of developing ALS, and this was replicated in an independent cohort. These variants in the IL18RAP 3'UTR reduce mRNA stability and the binding of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-binding proteins. Finally, the variants of the IL18RAP 3'UTR confer a survival advantage for motor neurons because they dampen neurotoxicity of human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived microglia bearing an ALS-associated expansion in C9orf72, and this depends on NF-kappaB signaling. This study reveals genetic variants that protect against ALS by reducing neuroinflammation and emphasizes the importance of noncoding genetic association studies.

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Eitan C, Siany A, Barkan E, Olender T, van Eijk KR, Moisse M, Farhan SMK, Danino YM, Yanowski E, Marmor-Kollet H, Rivkin N, Yacovzada NS, Hung ST, Cooper-Knock J, Yu CH, Louis C, Masters SL, Kenna KP, van der Spek RAA, Sproviero W, Al Khleifat A, Iacoangeli A, Shatunov A, Jones AR, Elbaz-Alon Y, Cohen Y, Chapnik E, Rothschild D, Weissbrod O, Beck G, Ainbinder E, Ben-Dor S, Werneburg S, Schafer DP, Brown RH Jr, Shaw PJ, Van Damme P, van den Berg LH, Phatnani H, Segal E, Ichida JK, Al-Chalabi A, Veldink JH; Project MinE ALS Sequencing Consortium; NYGC ALS Consortium, Hornstein E. Whole-genome sequencing reveals that variants in the Interleukin 18 Receptor Accessory Protein 3'UTR protect against ALS. Nat Neurosci. 2022 Apr;25(4):433-445. doi: 10.1038/s41593-022-01040-6. Epub 2022 Mar 31. PMID: 35361972. Link to article on publisher's site

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10.1038/s41593-022-01040-6
PubMed ID
35361972
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Full author list omitted for brevity. For the full list of authors, see article.

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