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Love, M. I.

Publications and source records attributed to Love, M. I..

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Interrogation of noncoding schizophrenia risk variants using CRISPR-based functional genomics

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a highly heritable complex disorder influenced by coding and noncoding genetic variation. Its genetic causes, particularly those involving noncoding variation, are largely unknown. High-throughput CRISPR screens enable dissection of disease-associated loci and identification of noncoding regulatory elements and variants that modulate gene expression. We screened SCZ GWAS loci linked to genes that are also associated in whole-exome sequencing studies to identify regulatory elements and variants impacting expression of disease-relevant genes. We used CRISPRi paired with HCR-FlowFISH to epigenetically silence 333 putative regulatory elements and measure the downstream effects on gene expression of causal SCZ genes, FAM120A, SV2A, and STAG1, in iPSCs and iPSC-derived neurons (iNeurons). We identified 78 regulatory elements that significantly alter expression of a SCZ gene, including noncoding enhancers/silencers as well as promoters of genes and lncRNAs. Pooled prime editing screens interrogated noncoding variant influence on gene expression for SCZ-associated variants and uncharacterized common variants from diverse population studies. We find that a common variant in the promoter of SV2A, rs112851681:A>G (MAF = 3.56%, 1000 Genomes) enhances transcriptional activity in iPSCs and iNeurons. These findings show distinct noncoding mechanisms that map within GWAS signals, and provide a path forward for interrogating noncoding regulatory elements and variants in disease loci.

genomics↗

DetectGxT: detecting gene-by-treatment interactions on molecular count phenotypes accounting for allelic additivity

MotivationIdentifying the mechanisms by which genetic variants affect the molecular response to an applied treatment is important across multiple biological fields, and an effective approach to this end is interaction molecular QTL mapping. However, the statistical models commonly used to detect such gene-by-treatment interactions (GxT) are non-trivially misspecified, and this can lead to decreased power. ResultsWe developed an R software package, DetectGxT, that uses nonlinear regression to more accurately model the relationship between the genotype and the transformed molecular count phenotypes. It also optionally models donor or polygenic random effects. Simulations show that nonlinear regression can increase the power to detect interactions. In existing interaction expression QTL mapping data from primary human neural progenitor cells, nonlinear and linear regression approaches identified overlapping but distinct sets of gene-SNP pairs with significant GxT interactions. Overall, our results suggest an advantage of nonlinear regression over linear regression in detecting GxT interactions on molecular phenotypes. AvailabilityThe DetectGxT software is available at https://github.com/yharigaya/detectgxt. Contactmilove@email.unc.edu, william.valdar@unc.edu

genetics↗

Efficient and Tidy Manipulation of Annotated Matrix Data with plyxp

Manipulating high-dimensional omics data, such as bulk or single cell gene expression counts matrices, typically requires a bioinformatics analyst to learn domain-specific functions and syntax. These matrix-centric functions and syntax can be less intuitive than working with tidy data analytic principles, as exemplified by tools such as dplyr applied to tabular data. We propose an expressive grammar for manipulating annotated matrix data, with syntax to access, modify, and append matrix data and tabular row and column metadata, including row-wise or columnwise grouped operations. This grammar defines multiple contexts, and providing pronouns for specific recall and assignment within and across these contexts. The plyxp package is an implementation of this grammar for the R/Bioconductor ecosystem, with efficient abstractions for the SummarizedExperiment class. We demonstrate plyxps efficiency compared to alternative approaches on data manipulation tasks requiring computation across contexts.

bioinformatics↗

Reprogramming of neuronal genome function and phenotype by astrocytes

Heterotypic cell-cell interactions are critical to governing cellular physiology, disease progression, and responses to the environment and pharmacologic interventions. For example, neurons and astrocytes engage in intricate interactions that are essential for brain development and function1-3. However, the transformation of these extracellular signals into epigenomic regulation that governs cell function is poorly understood. Here, we report that weeks of co-culture between human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived neurons and mouse cortical astrocytes extensively reprograms gene expression and the chromatin accessibility landscape in neurons, affecting thousands of genes and putative gene regulatory elements (REs), including many transcription factors (TFs). These genes are enriched for functions implicated in neuronal differentiation and maturation, and tend to be impacted in schizophrenia, and autosomal dominant Alzheimers disease. Through complementary CRISPR interference and activation screens, we recapitulated hundreds of astrocyte-induced transcriptional and chromatin remodeling events in mono-cultured neurons at both promoters and distal regulatory elements (REs) of TF genes. We discovered functional REs for [~]50 astrocyte-responsive TF genes, providing a map of gene regulatory network control. Astrocyte-responsive TF genes fall into groups that exert independent or counter-balancing transcriptional effects, highlighting the complex coordination of the neuronal response to astrocytes. Functional effects of specific TFs, including POU3F2 and TFAP2E, on neurite morphology and neuronal electrophysiology are consistent with transcriptional effects, demonstrating the capacity of direct epigenetic control to mimic heterotypic cellular signals. This work illuminates the regulation of neurodevelopment-and disease-relevant gene modules by neuron-astrocyte interactions, and provides a blueprint for applying modern functional genomics to uncover the links between cell microenvironment and epigenomic programming. HighlightsO_LINeuronal gene expression and chromatin accessibility landscape are profoundly remodeled by astrocytes over weeks of co-culture C_LIO_LIAstrocyte-responsive neuronal gene modules and neuron-responsive astrocytic gene modules are enriched for genes associated with schizophrenia and familial Alzheimers Disease C_LIO_LISingle-cell CRISPR interference and activation screens of astrocyte-responsive gene regulatory elements identified dozens of functional regulatory elements of TF genes in neurons C_LIO_LISingle-cell CRISPR interference and activation screens of >200 astrocyte-responsive TF genes uncovered discrete functional clusters that promote neuronal maturity or stemness C_LIO_LIAstrocyte-responsive TF genes reprogram neuronal electrophysiology and neurite morphology C_LI

genomics↗

Functional Annotation of the Major Histocompatibility Complex Locus

The human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) locus has the greatest density of disease-associations in the human genome, including links to over 100 polygenic disorders. Its complex haplotype structure, rich gene density, and high degree of linkage disequilibrium combine to make deciphering the gene regulatory logic of the MHC locus extremely challenging. Employing complementary high-throughput CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) and activation (CRISPRa) epigenetic screens coupled with single-cell transcriptome profiling across three distinct human cell types, we identified hundreds of new connections between cis-regulatory elements (CREs) and their target genes in this locus. These CRE-gene links are largely cell type-specific and act as enhancers. Additionally, some CREs have complex features, including harboring both active and repressive histone marks, lacking chromatin accessibility, targeting multiple genes, or acting as silencers. Computational methods fail to predict a majority of these CRE-gene connections. These findings emphasize the potential for functional perturbation experiments to dissect complex loci and reveal shared and cell type-specific regulatory mechanisms relevant to genomics of complex diseases. Collectively, this study provides a unique resource for understanding the complex regulatory landscape within the MHC locus and supports the need for creating new models that encompass CRE-gene interactions, cell type-specific gene expression, and disease genetics in the noncoding genome.

genomics↗

Taming the reference genome jungle: the refget sequence collection standard

Reference genomes are foundational to genomics but suffer from widespread ambiguity and incompatibility due to inconsistent naming, undocumented differences, and lack of formal mechanisms for comparison. To address this, we introduce the GA4GH refget Sequence Collections (seqcol) standard. Refget seqcol is a framework for unambiguous representation, retrieval, and comparison of sequence collections such as reference genomes and transcriptomes. The seqcol standard comprises four components: a structured data schema, a canonical encoding algorithm that produces content-based, globally unique identifiers, a retrieval API, and a comparison protocol. This standard enables precise identification of sequence collections, even across decentralized or private systems, and allows compatibility assessments beyond exact identity, such as order-relaxed matches or shared coordinate systems. We applied the refget seqcol standard to 60 human and 36 mouse reference genomes sourced from major providers. Using digest-based comparisons, we quantified levels of similarity across attributes including sequence names, lengths, coordinate systems, and actual sequence content. Our analysis revealed some consistent subsets of sequences or coordinate systems, as well as substantial incompatibility among references and duplicate references under different names. To support adoption of refget seqcol, we provide a Python package implementing the full standard, a web API, and a comparison interface allowing users to assess local references against a curated database. This work offers a scalable, reproducible solution to the reference genome compatibility crisis, enabling improved transparency, reuse, and integration in genomic analyses. Refget seqcol enhances interoperability across tools and datasets, making genomic research more robust and reproducible.

genomics↗

Uniform processing and analysis of IGVF massively parallel reporter assay data with MPRAsnakeflow

As researchers and clinicians seek to identify human genomic alterations relevant to traits and disorders, identifying and aggregating evidence providing mechanistic support for associations between alterations and phenotypes remains challenging. In particular, the study of non-coding genomic variation remains a major challenge due to the lack of accurate functional annotation for activity in a given context and across alleles. Experimental evidence is critical for prioritizing and interpreting functional effects of genetic alterations. Massively Parallel Reporter Assays (MPRAs) have emerged as a powerful high-throughput approach, enabling quantification of regulatory element activity and allelic effects, and systematic dissection of gene regulatory logic and variant effects across different contexts. However, the diversity of MPRA designs, lack of standardized formats, and many potential processing parameters hamper data integration, reproducibility, and meta-analyses across studies. To address these challenges, the Impact of Genomic Variation on Function (IGVF) Consortium established an MPRA focus group to develop community standards, including harmonized file formats, and robust analysis pipelines for a wide range of library types and experimental designs. Here, we present these formats and comprehensive computational tools, MPRAlib and MPRAsnakeflow, for uniform processing from raw sequencing reads to counts, processing and visualization. Using diverse MPRA datasets, we characterize technical variability sources including barcode sequence bias, outlier barcodes, and delivery method (episomal vs. lentiviral). Our results establish best practices for MPRA data generation and analysis, facilitating robust, reproducible research and large-scale integration. The presented tools and standards are publicly available, providing a foundation for future collaborative efforts in regulatory genomics.

genomics↗

Higher eQTL power reveals signals that boost GWAS colocalization

Expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) studies in human cohorts typically detect at least one regulatory signal per gene, and have been proposed as a way to explain mechanisms of genetic liability for other traits, as discovered in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). In particular, eQTL signals may colocalize with GWAS signals, suggesting gene expression as a possible mediator. However, recent studies have noted colocalization occurs infrequently, even when expression is measured in biologically relevant tissues. Most eQTL studies to date include only hundreds of individuals, and are underpowered to discover distal regulatory signals explaining smaller fractions of gene expression variance. We integrate evidence from recent eQTL studies and demonstrate that limited statistical power due to sample size skews the detection of eQTL signals identified at various signal strengths. We estimate that a sample size of 500 detects <0.1 to 60% of eQTL for a range of signal strengths and that a sample size of 2,000 would detect 36.8% of all eQTL. We show that eQTL signals that can only be discovered in larger studies exhibit characteristics more similar to those of GWAS signals, including greater distance to the regulated gene and higher probability of loss intolerance. Finally, using results from recent eQTL studies and meta-analyses, we observe a large increase in detected colocalizations with GWAS signals compared to previous studies. These findings caution against overinterpreting the absence of colocalization in underpowered studies and provide guidance for designing future eQTL experiments, to improve power and complement perturbation-based approaches in characterizing gene-trait mechanisms.

genetics↗

Long-read transcriptome assembly reveals vast isoform diversity in the placenta associated with metabolic and endocrine function

The placenta is critical for fetal development and mediates the effects of pregnancy complications on offspring metabolic health, yet it is often poorly characterized in genomic studies. Existing transcriptomic analyses rely on adult tissue-based references, which overlook developmentally important isoform diversity. We used largest-in-class long-read RNA-seq (N=72) to create a comprehensive placental transcriptome reference, identifying 37,661 high-confidence isoforms (14,985 novel) across 12,302 genes (2,759 novel). Contrary to characterizations of the placenta as a "transcriptomic void," we found transcriptional breadth and complexity comparable to adult tissues, with extraordinary splicing diversity in genes controlling obesity, lactogen production and growth, including 108 distinct CSH1 (placental lactogen) isoforms. This improved reference offers two advantages: First, it reduced inferential uncertainty in isoform quantification by 30% and increased the yield of high-confidence transcripts. Applying this reference to short-read RNA-seq datasets (N=344) of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), we found that placental transcription mediated 36% of GDM effects on birth weight, with novel CSH1 isoforms identified as key mediators. We further uncovered ancestry-specific effects, with distinct CSH1 isoforms mediating larger effects in European (24.4%) than Asian (13.4%) populations. Our results establish that utilizing long-read-based, tissue-specific transcriptomic annotations is critical, enabling isoform-resolved analyses that provide greater sensitivity than conventional gene-level approaches for understanding placental function and context-specific variation across diverse biobanks.

genomics↗

Genome-Wide Uncertainty-Moderated Extraction of Signal Annotations from Multi-Sample Functional Genomics Data

Multi-sample functional genomics experiments should reveal reproducible regulatory activity, but locus- and sample-specific noise can obscure biological signals in sequencing data. We introduce Consenrich for genome-wide estimation of epigenomic signals across multiple samples. To encourage robustness and sensitivity, the state-space model underlying Consenrich accounts for positional observation variances to determine shrinkage toward predictions from a smooth process model over genomic coordinates. We first apply Consenrich to ATAC-seq and ChIP-seq datasets and demonstrate its ability for robust signal recovery. We then utilize Consenrich upstream of a class-imbalanced differential accessibility analysis in an Alzheimer's cohort of twenty samples and show that it improves the breadth of relevant biological insights. Software is available at https://github.com/nolan-h-hamilton/Consenrich.

genomics↗

Early cell cycle genes in cortical organoid progenitors predict interindividual variability in infant brain growth trajectories

Human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived cortical organoids (hCOs) model neurogenesis on an individuals genetic background. The degree to which hCO phenotypes recapitulate the brain growth of the participants from which they were derived is not well established. We generated up to 3 iPSC clones from each of 18 participants in the Infant Brain Imaging Study, who have undergone longitudinal brain imaging during infancy. We identified consistent hCO morphology and cortical cell types across clones from the same participant. hCO cross-sectional area and production of cortical hem cells were associated with in vivo cortical growth rates. Cell cycle associated genes expression in early progenitors at the crux of fate decision trajectories were correlated with cortical growth rate from 6-12 months of age, and were enriched in microcephaly and neurodevelopmental disorder genes. Our data suggest the hCOs capture inter-individual variation in cortical cell types influencing infant cortical surface area expansion.

neuroscience↗

Probabilistic classification of gene-by-treatment interactions on molecular count phenotypes

Genetic variation can modulate response to treatment (GxT) or environmental stimuli (GxE), both of which may be highly consequential in biomedicine. An effective approach to identifying GxT signals and gaining insight into molecular mechanisms is mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL) of molecular count phenotypes, such as gene expression and chromatin accessibility, under multiple treatment conditions, which is termed response molecular QTL mapping. Although standard approaches evaluate the interaction between genetics and treatment conditions, they do not distinguish between meaningful interpretations such as whether a genetic effect is only observed in the treated condition or whether a genetic effect is observed but accentuated in the treated condition. To address this gap, we have developed a downstream method for classifying response molecular QTLs into subclasses with meaningful genetic interpretations. Our method uses Bayesian model selection and assigns posterior probabilities to different types of GxT interactions for a given feature-SNP pair. We compare linear and nonlinear regression of log-scale counts, noting that the latter accounts for an expected biological relationship between the genotype and the molecular count phenotype. Through simulation and application to existing datasets of molecular response QTLs, we show that our method provides an intuitive and well-powered framework to report and interpret GxT interactions. We provide a software package, ClassifyGxT, which is available at https://github.com/yharigaya/classifygxt. Author summaryResponses to treatment, such as drug, therapeutic intervention, and infection, can vary across individuals at least in part due to their genetic backgrounds. This phenomenon can be conceptualized as a manifestation of gene-by-treatment (GxT) or gene-by-environment (GxE) interactions, which refer to non-additive effects of genotype and treatment on traits and phenotypes. An understading of GxT or GxE interactions can potentially improve strategies for prevention and treatment of diseases, for example by selecting treatments for which a patient is most likely to respond given their genetic information, or enhanced screening for individuals most susceptible to environmental exposures. An effective approach to GxT discovery is response quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping, where the effect of the treatment on the association between the genotype and phenotype is examined using a linear regression model including the genotype, treatment, and GxT interaction terms. Despite its effectiveness in identifying a large number of associations, the response QTL mapping relies on hypothesis testing, which does not provide classification of different types of GxT interactions. Herein, we propose a use of Bayesian model selection to classify the GxT types of response QTLs and provide a software package for this method. In addition to standard linear regression, our package provides an option to use nonlinear regression that is suited for molecular count phenotypes, such as gene expression and chromatin accessibility, measured by sequencing-based techniques. It also provides an option to use mixed effect models to accommodate replicate measurements per donor, which are common in data generated in in-vitro cell systems.

genetics↗

Response eQTLs, chromatin accessibility, and 3D chromatin structure in chondrocytes provide mechanistic insight into osteoarthritis risk

Osteoarthritis (OA) poses a significant healthcare burden with limited treatment options. While genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified over 100 OA-associated loci, translating these findings into therapeutic targets remains challenging. Integrating expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL), 3D chromatin structure, and other genomic approaches with OA GWAS data offers a promising approach to elucidate disease mechanisms; however, comprehensive eQTL maps in OA-relevant tissues and conditions remain scarce. We mapped gene expression, chromatin accessibility, and 3D chromatin structure in primary human articular chondrocytes in both resting and OA-mimicking conditions. We identified thousands of differentially expressed genes, including those associated with differences in sex and age. RNA-seq in chondrocytes from 101 donors across two conditions uncovered 3782 unique eGenes, including 420 that exhibited strong and significant condition-specific effects. Colocalization with OA GWAS signals revealed 13 putative OA risk genes, 10 of which have not been previously identified. Chromatin accessibility and 3D chromatin structure provided insights into the mechanisms and conditional specificity of these variants. Our findings shed light on OA pathogenesis and highlight potential targets for therapeutic development. Highlights{circ} Comprehensive analysis of sex- and age-related global gene expression in human chondrocytes revealed differences that correlate with osteoarthritis {circ}First response eQTLs in chondrocytes treated with an OA-related stimulus {circ}Deeply sequenced Hi-C in resting and activated chondrocytes helps connect OA risk variants to their putative causal genes {circ}Colocalization analysis reveals 13 (including 10 novel) putative OA risk genes

genetics↗

Machine learning methods for predicting guide RNA effects in CRISPR epigenome editing experiments

CRISPR epigenomic editing technologies enable functional interrogation of non-coding elements. However, current computational methods for guide RNA (gRNA) design do not effectively predict the power potential, molecular and cellular impact to optimize for efficient gRNAs, which are crucial for successful applications of these technologies. We present "launch-dCas9" (machine LeArning based UNified CompreHensive framework for CRISPR-dCas9) to predict gRNA impact from multiple perspectives, including cell fitness, wild-type abundance (gauging power potential), and gene expression in single cells. Our launch-dCas9, built and evaluated using experiments involving >1 million gRNAs targeted across the human genome, demonstrates relatively high prediction accuracy (AUC up to 0.81) and generalizes across cell lines. Method-prioritized top gRNA(s) are 4.6-fold more likely to exert effects, compared to other gRNAs in the same cis-regulatory region. Furthermore, launch-dCas9 identifies the most critical sequence-related features and functional annotations from >40 features considered. Our results establish launch-dCas9 as a promising approach to design gRNAs for CRISPR epigenomic experiments.

bioinformatics↗

Tree-based differential testing using inferentialuncertainty for RNA-Seq

Identifying differentially expressed transcripts poses a crucial yet challenging problem in transcriptomics. Substantial uncertainty is associated with the abundance estimates of certain transcripts which, if ignored, can lead to the exaggeration of false positives and, if included, may lead to reduced power. Given a set of RNA-Seq samples, TreeTerminus arranges transcripts in a hierarchical tree structure that encodes different layers of resolution for interpretation of the abundance of transcriptional groups, with uncertainty generally decreasing as one ascends the tree from the leaves. We introduce mehenDi, which utilizes the tree structure from TreeTerminus for differential testing. The nodes output by mehenDi, called the selected nodes are determined in a data-driven manner to maximize the signal that can be extracted from the data while controlling for the uncertainty associated with estimating the transcript abundances. The identified selected nodes can include transcripts and inner nodes, with no two nodes having an ancestor/descendant relationship. We evaluated our method on both simulated and experimental datasets, comparing its performance with other tree-based differential methods as well as with uncertainty-aware differential transcript/gene expression methods. Our method detects inner nodes that show a strong signal for differential expression, which would have been overlooked when analyzing the transcripts alone.

bioinformatics↗

Adipose tissue eQTL meta-analysis reveals the contribution of allelic heterogeneity to gene expression regulation and cardiometabolic traits

Complete characterization of the genetic effects on gene expression is needed to elucidate tissue biology and the etiology of complex traits. Here, we analyzed 2,344 subcutaneous adipose tissue samples and identified 34K conditionally distinct expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) signals in 18K genes. Over half of eQTL genes exhibited at least two eQTL signals. Compared to primary signals, non-primary signals had lower effect sizes, lower minor allele frequencies, and less promoter enrichment; they corresponded to genes with higher heritability and higher tolerance for loss of function. Colocalization of eQTL with conditionally distinct genome-wide association study signals for 28 cardiometabolic traits identified 3,605 eQTL signals for 1,861 genes. Inclusion of non-primary eQTL signals increased colocalized signals by 46%. Among 30 genes with [&ge;]2 pairs of colocalized signals, 21 showed a mediating gene dosage effect on the trait. Thus, expanded eQTL identification reveals more mechanisms underlying complex traits and improves understanding of the complexity of gene expression regulation.

genomics↗

Extensive co-regulation of neighbouring genes complicates the use of eQTLs in target gene prioritisation

Identifying causal genes underlying genome-wide association studies (GWAS) is a fundamental problem in human genetics. Although colocalisation with gene expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) is often used to prioritise GWAS target genes, systematic benchmarking has been limited due to unavailability of large ground truth datasets. Here, we re-analysed plasma protein QTL data from 3,301 individuals of the INTERVAL cohort together with 131 eQTL Catalogue datasets. Focusing on variants located within or close to the affected protein identified 793 proteins with at least one cis-pQTL where we could assume that the most likely causal gene was the gene coding for the protein. We then benchmarked the ability of cis-eQTLs to recover these causal genes by comparing three Bayesian colocalisation methods (coloc.susie, coloc.abf and CLPP) and five Mendelian randomisation (MR) approaches (three varieties of inverse-variance weighted MR, MR-RAPS, and MRLocus). We found that assigning fine-mapped pQTLs to their closest protein coding genes outperformed all colocalisation methods regarding both precision (71.9%) and recall (76.9%). Furthermore, the colocalisation method with the highest recall (coloc.susie - 46.3%) also had the lowest precision (45.1%). Combining evidence from multiple conditionally distinct colocalising QTLs with MR increased precision to 81%, but this was accompanied by a large reduction in recall to 7.1%. Furthermore, the choice of the MR method greatly affected performance, with the standard inverse-variance weighted MR often producing many false positives. Our results highlight that linking GWAS variants to target genes remains challenging with eQTL evidence alone, and prioritising novel targets requires triangulation of evidence from multiple sources.

genetics↗

The tidyomics ecosystem: Enhancing omic data analyses

The growth of omic data presents evolving challenges in data manipulation, analysis, and integration. Addressing these challenges, Bioconductor1 provides an extensive community-driven biological data analysis platform. Meanwhile, tidy R programming2 offers a revolutionary standard for data organisation and manipulation. Here, we present the tidyomics software ecosystem, bridging Bioconductor to the tidy R paradigm. This ecosystem aims to streamline omic analysis, ease learning, and encourage cross-disciplinary collaborations. We demonstrate the effectiveness of tidyomics by analysing 7.5 million peripheral blood mononuclear cells from the Human Cell Atlas3, spanning six data frameworks and ten analysis tools.

bioinformatics↗