Title
NEK1 variants confer susceptibility to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Neurology
Publication Date
2016-07-25
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Genetics | Genomics | Nervous System Diseases | Neurology | Neuroscience and Neurobiology
Abstract
To identify genetic factors contributing to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), we conducted whole-exome analyses of 1,022 index familial ALS (FALS) cases and 7,315 controls. In a new screening strategy, we performed gene-burden analyses trained with established ALS genes and identified a significant association between loss-of-function (LOF) NEK1 variants and FALS risk. Independently, autozygosity mapping for an isolated community in the Netherlands identified a NEK1 p.Arg261His variant as a candidate risk factor. Replication analyses of sporadic ALS (SALS) cases and independent control cohorts confirmed significant disease association for both p.Arg261His (10,589 samples analyzed) and NEK1 LOF variants (3,362 samples analyzed). In total, we observed NEK1 risk variants in nearly 3% of ALS cases. NEK1 has been linked to several cellular functions, including cilia formation, DNA-damage response, microtubule stability, neuronal morphology and axonal polarity. Our results provide new and important insights into ALS etiopathogenesis and genetic etiology.
DOI of Published Version
10.1038/ng.3626.
Source
Nat Genet. 2016 Jul 25. doi: 10.1038/ng.3626. [Epub ahead of print]
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Nature genetics
Related Resources
PubMed ID
27455347
Repository Citation
Kenna, Kevin P.; van Doormaal, Perry T. C.; Dekker, Annelot M.; Ticozzi, Nicola; Kenna, Brendan J.; Keagle, Pamela J.; Kenna, Aoife; Fallini, Claudia; Sapp, Peter C.; McKenna-Yasek, Diane; Brown, Robert H. Jr.; Silani, Vincenzo; Shaw, Christopher E.; van den Berg, Leonard H.; Veldink, Jan H.; and Landers, John E., "NEK1 variants confer susceptibility to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis" (2016). Neurology Publications and Presentations. 454.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/neuro_pp/454
Comments
Full author list omitted for brevity. For the full list of authors, see article.