How body size is regulated: International study discovers ten new genes related to human growthMay 12, 2008Scientists are beginning to unravel the question why people distinctly vary in size. In cooperation with scientists of the HelmholtzZentrum München, an international genome-wide study has discovered ten new genes that influence body height and thus provides new insights into biological pathways that are important for human growth. This meta-analysis, published in the latest issue of Nature Genetics, is based on data from more than 26,000 study participants. It verifies two already known genes, but also discovered ten new genes. Altogether they explain a difference in body size of about 3.5 centimeters. The analysis produced some biologically insightful findings. Several of the identified genes are targeted by the microRNA let-7, which affects the regulation of other genes. This connection was completely unknown until now. Several other SNPs may affect the structure of chromatin, the chromosome-surrounding proteins. Moreover, the results could have relevance for patients with inherited growth problems, or with problems in bone development, because some of the newly discovered genes have rare mutations, known to be associated with anomalous skeletal growth. Further functional studies are necessary to completely elucidate the biological mechanisms behind this growing list of genes related to height.
As German contribution to the meta-analysis, data from about 5,600 participants of the KORA study were analyzed by the HelmholtzZentrum scientists, Dr. Christian Gieger, Dr. Susana Eyheramendy, PD Dr. Thomas Illig, Dr. Iris M. Heid and Prof. Dr. Dr. H.-Erich Wichmann. In order to genotype 500,000 of the most frequent variants in the human genome, DNA chips were analyzed at the Institute for Human Genetics and the Institute of Epidemiology of the HelmholtzZentrum München under the direction of Prof. Dr. Thomas Meitinger. The coordinator of the study was Dr. Guillaume Lettre; Prof. Joel Hirschhorn acted as the principal investigator. Both scientists work at the Broad Institute of the MIT and the Harvard University, Cambridge. All investigators are part of the recently formed international consortium to study height and obesity-related traits (GIANT, Genetic Investigation of ANthropometric Traits). Along with the results of a British study that was published simultaneously in Nature Genetics, the total number of known "height genes" now amounts to 26. Literature: Lettre G et al. Identification of ten loci associated with height and previously unknown biological pathways in human growth. Nature Genetics; 2008, 40(5): pp 584 - 591 Weedon MN et al. Genome-wide association analysis identified 20 loci that influence adult height. Nature Genetics; 2008, 40(5): pp 575 - 583 Helmholtz Zentrum München | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Related Genetics News Articles Blood-related genetic mechanisms found important in Parkinson's disease What does the genetics of blood cells have to do with brain cells related to Parkinson's disease? From an unusual collaboration of neurologists and a pharmacologist comes the surprising answer: Genetic mechanisms at play in blood cells also control a gene and protein that cause Parkinson's disease. Gene panel predicts lung cancer survival, study finds Researchers from four leading cancer centers have confirmed that an analysis involving a panel of genes can be used to predict which lung cancer patients will have the worst survival. The finding could one day lead to a test that would help determine who needs more aggressive treatment. Stem cell chicken and egg debate moves to unlikely arena: the testes Logic says it has to be the niche. As air and water preceded life, so the niche, that hospitable environment that shelters adult stem cells in many tissues and provides factors necessary to keep them young and vital, must have emerged before its stem cell dependents. Class of antibiotics can enhance gene-silencing tool A way to turn off one gene at a time has earned acceptance in biology laboratories over the last decade. Doctors envision the technique, called RNA interference, as a tool to treat a variety of diseases if it can be adapted to humans. Can you be born a couch potato? The key to good health is to be physically active. The key to being active is- to be born that way? Genetic variation increases HIV risk in Africans A genetic variation which evolved to protect people of African descent against malaria has now been shown to increase their susceptibility to HIV infection by up to 40 per cent, according to new research. Conversely, the same variation also appears to prolong survival of those infected with HIV by approximately two years. Bees go 'off-color' when they are sickly Bumble-bees go 'off colour' and can't remember which flowers have the most nectar when they are feeling under the weather, a new study from the University of Leicester reveals. Dartmouth researchers discover gene signatures for scleroderma Distinct genetic profiles can discern different groups of patients with scleroderma, a vexing autoimmune disease in which the body turns against itself, Dartmouth Medical School researchers report. UGA researchers discover mechanism that explains how cancer enzyme winds up on ends of chromosomes Human cancer cells divide and conquer. Unless physicians can control that division with surgery, chemotherapy or radiation, the wildly dividing cells will eventually destroy a person's life. Mayo Clinic spearheads research to discover unsuspected gene for atrial fibrillation Mayo Clinic researchers have found a gene mutation linked to one family's hereditary form of atrial fibrillation. Researchers hope this discovery will lead to better understanding of the disease and, eventually, better ways to predict, prevent and treat the heart rhythm problem. More Genetics News Articles |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||