2011-04-26
Genome-wide association and genetic functional studies identify autism susceptibility candidate 2 gene (AUTS2) in the regulation of alcohol consumption
Publication
Publication
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , Volume 108 - Issue 17 p. 7119- 7124
Alcohol consumption is a moderately heritable trait, but the genetic basis in humans is largely unknown, despite its clinical and societal importance. We report a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of ∼2.5 million directly genotyped or imputed SNPs with alcohol consumption (gram per day per kilogram body weight) among 12 population-based samples of European ancestry, comprising 26,316 individuals, with replication genotyping in an additional 21,185 individuals. SNP rs6943555 in autism susceptibility candidate 2 gene (AUTS2) was associated with alcohol consumption at genome-wide significance (P = 4 x 10-8to P = 4 x 10-9). We found a genotype-specific expression of AUTS2 in 96 human prefrontal cortex samples (P = 0.026) and significant (P < 0.017) differences in expression of AUTS2 in whole-brain extracts of mice selected for differences in voluntary alcohol consumption. Downregulation of an AUTS2 homolog caused reduced alcohol sensitivity in Drosophila (P < 0.001). Our finding of a regulator of alcohol consumption adds knowledge to our understanding of genetic mechanisms influencing alcohol drinking behavior.
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| doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1017288108, hdl.handle.net/1765/33466 | |
| Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | |
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| Organisation | Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam |
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Schumann, G., Coin, L., Lourdusamy, A., Charoen, P., Berger, K., Stacey, D., … Bakker, S. (2011). Genome-wide association and genetic functional studies identify autism susceptibility candidate 2 gene (AUTS2) in the regulation of alcohol consumption. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108(17), 7119–7124. doi:10.1073/pnas.1017288108 |
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