School of Medicine Publications and Presentations
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-2024
Abstract
Steady-state expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) explain only a fraction of disease-associated loci identified through genome-wide association studies (GWASs), while eQTLs involved in gene-by-environment (GxE) interactions have rarely been characterized in humans due to experimental challenges. Using a baboon model, we found hundreds of eQTLs that emerge in adipose, liver, and muscle after prolonged exposure to high dietary fat and cholesterol. Diet-responsive eQTLs exhibit genomic localization and genic features that are distinct from steady-state eQTLs. Furthermore, the human orthologs associated with diet-responsive eQTLs are enriched for GWAS genes associated with human metabolic traits, suggesting that context responsive eQTLs with more complex regulatory effects are likely to explain GWAS hits that do not seem to overlap with standard eQTLs. Our results highlight the complexity of genetic regulatory effects and the potential of eQTLs with disease-relevant GxE interactions in enhancing the understanding of GWAS signals for human complex disease using non-human primate models.
Recommended Citation
Lin, W., Wall, J. D., Li, G., Newman, D., Yang, Y., Abney, M., VandeBerg, J. L., Olivier, M., Gilad, Y., & Cox, L. A. (2024). Genetic regulatory effects in response to a high-cholesterol, high-fat diet in baboons. Cell Genomics, 4(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xgen.2024.100509
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Publication Title
Cell Genomics
DOI
10.1016/j.xgen.2024.100509
Academic Level
faculty
Mentor/PI Department
Office of Human Genetics
Comments
Copyright 2024 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).