Clonal hematopoiesis is driven by aberrant activation of TCL1A

Weinstock, J. S.; Gopakumar, J.; Burugula, B. B.; Uddin, M. M.; Jahn, N.; Belk, J. A.; Daniel, B.; Ly, N.; Mack, T. M.; Laurie, C. A.; Broome, J. G.; Taylor, K. D.; Guo, X.; Sinner, M. F.; von Falkenhausen, A. S.; Kaab, S.; Shuldiner, A. R.; O'Connell, J. R.; Lewis, J. P.; Boerwinkle, E.; Barnes, K. C.; Chami, N.; Kenny, E. E.; Loos, R. J. F.; Fornage, M.; Hou, L.; Lloyd-Jones, D. M.; Redline, S.; Cade, B. E.; Psaty, B. M.; Bis, J. C.; Brody, J. A.; Silverman, E. K.; Yun, J. H.; Qiao, D.; Palmer, N. D.; Freedman, B. I.; Bowden, D. W.; Cho, M. H.; DeMeo, D. L.; Vasan, R. S.; Johnson, A. D.; Mat

doi:10.1101/2021.12.10.471810

Home/Archive/bioRxiv

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.12.10.471810

Clonal hematopoiesis is driven by aberrant activation of TCL1A

View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

A diverse set of driver genes, such as regulators of DNA methylation, RNA splicing, and chromatin remodeling, have been associated with pre-malignant clonal expansion of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). The factors mediating expansion of these mutant clones remain largely unknown, partially due to a paucity of large cohorts with longitudinal blood sampling. To circumvent this limitation, we developed and validated a method to infer clonal expansion rate from single timepoint data called PACER (passenger-approximated clonal expansion rate). Applying PACER to 5,071 persons with clonal hematopoiesis accurately recapitulated the known fitness effects due to different driver mutations. A genome-wide association study of PACER revealed that a common inherited polymorphism in the TCL1A promoter was associated with slower clonal expansion. Those carrying two copies of this protective allele had up to 80% reduced odds of having driver mutations in TET2, ASXL1, SF3B1, SRSF2, and JAK2, but not DNMT3A. TCL1A was not expressed in normal or DNMT3A-mutated HSCs, but the introduction of mutations in TET2 or ASXL1 by CRISPR editing led to aberrant expression of TCL1A and expansion of HSCs in vitro. These effects were abrogated in HSCs from donors carrying the protective TCL1A allele. Our results indicate that the fitness advantage of multiple common driver genes in clonal hematopoiesis is mediated through TCL1A activation. PACER is an approach that can be widely applied to uncover genetic and environmental determinants of pre-malignant clonal expansion in blood and other tissues.

Source connections

Published article ↗

Explore related subjects

genetics Preprint

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

Weinstock, J. S., Gopakumar, J., Burugula, B. B., Uddin, M. M., Jahn, N., Belk, J. A., Daniel, B., Ly, N., Mack, T. M., Laurie, C. A., Broome, J. G., Taylor, K. D., Guo, X., Sinner, M. F., von Falkenhausen, A. S., Kaab, S., Shuldiner, A. R., O'Connell, J. R., Lewis, J. P., Boerwinkle, E., Barnes, K. C., Chami, N., Kenny, E. E., Loos, R. J. F., Fornage, M., Hou, L., Lloyd-Jones, D. M., Redline, S., Cade, B. E., Psaty, B. M., Bis, J. C., Brody, J. A., Silverman, E. K., Yun, J. H., Qiao, D., Palmer, N. D., Freedman, B. I., Bowden, D. W., Cho, M. H., DeMeo, D. L., Vasan, R. S., Johnson, A. D., Mat. 2021-12-13. Clonal hematopoiesis is driven by aberrant activation of TCL1A. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.12.10.471810

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related preprints

bioRxiv2026

Host control and regulation of human anellovirus persistence

Anelloviruses are the most abundant and diverse eukaryotic viruses known to infect humans and can persist throughout our lifetimes. Despite their ubiquity, the host factors governing their physiologic distribution and abundance remain poorly understood. Here, we construct a viral pangenome of 2,023 strains to quantify anellovirus DNA in >1.1 million participants spanning three genetic biobanks. Genome-wide association studies identify 121 loci linked to viral persistence, predominantly via immune regulation by NF-kB signaling. Further, we associate variable anellovirus detection with conditions characterized by immune dysfunction, including lymphoid malignancies. By screening 3.2 petabases of human single-cell sequencing data, we identify myeloid progenitors in the bone marrow as a prominent site of anellovirus transcription in vivo. Finally, Perturb-seq of anellovirus proteins reveals that anellovirus ORF2, particularly from Alphatorquevirus, attenuates TNF-a-induced NF-kB signaling, connecting host genetic variation, cellular context, and viral immunomodulation to characterize the persistence of the eukaryotic human virome's most abundant component.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2026

SARDINE unlocks EWAS summary statistics for large-scale epigenetic biomarker analysis

Epigenetic clocks are increasingly used to study biological aging, yet their interpretation and utility remain uncertain. Meanwhile, the growing wealth of epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) summary statistics remains largely untapped for evaluating these biomarkers. Here, we introduce SARDINE, a statistical framework that estimates epigenetic clock-phenotype associations using EWAS summary statistics, clock weights, and reference methylation covariance, without individual-level data. SARDINE accurately reproduced individual-level association estimates across 38 epigenetic biomarkers and four phenotypes in 15,677 individuals. Applying SARDINE to diverse EWAS datasets revealed substantial heterogeneity in biomarker associations with aging, diseases, and lifestyle factors. By transforming CpG-level EWAS results into interpretable biomarker-level associations, SARDINE unlocks a largely underutilized data resource and establishes a scalable paradigm for systematic biomarker evaluation and discovery in aging research.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2026

Deep transcriptomic analysis of molecular mediators of complex traits in heterogeneous stock (HS) rats

Rats are a powerful model organism for genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of physiological and behavioral traits. Heterogeneous Stock (HS) rats, which were created by intercrossing 8 inbred rat strains, are heavily used for this purpose because of their genetic diversity and accumulated recombinations due to over 100 generations of outbreeding, which improves mapping precision. However, functional genomics resources for post-GWAS interpretation of genomic findings have been limited. We processed 3,160 RNA-seq samples, 1,932 of which were previously unpublished, from 13 tissues as part of RatGTEx. We used Pantry to quantify six modalities of transcriptome regulation (expression, isoform ratio, intron excision ratio, alternative transcription start site (TSS), alternative poly(A), and RNA stability) in each sample, which allowed us to identify 144,876 independent quantitative trait loci (QTL) for 22,599 genes. We performed a transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS) with 19,796 unique genes across tissues and transcriptional modalities and 308 traits collected from 14 studies using FUSION, which identified 7,473 significant gene-trait associations. This work presents a significant expansion of the RatGTEx resource in terms of samples, modes of transcriptome regulation, and genetic analyses. Our findings provide molecular evidence for the involvement of specific genes in mediating GWAS signals through a range of transcriptome regulatory mechanisms. These gene-to-phenotype relationships can be easily applied to genetic analyses in humans and other species. Further experiments can use this evidence to confirm these molecular mediators and target them for the treatment of behavioral and physiological traits and disorders. To facilitate use of these results, we have updated results on RatGTEx.org and provided a new interactive TWAS web portal (twas.ratgtex.org).

genetics↗