A genome-wide scan for common alleles affecting risk for autism

• Published in: Human molecular genetics 2010-10, Vol.19 (20), p.4072-4082
• Main Authors: Pinto, Dalila, Regan, Regina, Magalhaes, Tiago R., Abrahams, Brett S., Pagnamenta, Alistair T., Almeida, Joana, Bailey, Anthony J., Baird, Gillian, Battaglia, Agatino, Bolshakova, Nadia, Bölte, Sven, Bolton, Patrick F., Brennan, Sean, Carson, Andrew R., Casallo, Guillermo, Chu, Su H., Cochrane, Lynne, Dawson, Geraldine, de Jonge, Maretha, Delorme, Richard, Duketis, Eftichia, Duque, Frederico, Estes, Annette, Fernandez, Bridget A., Fombonne, Eric, Freitag, Christine M., Glessner, Joseph T., Goldberg, Jeremy, Green, Jonathan, Heron, Elizabeth A., Holt, Richard, Hughes, Gillian, Hus, Vanessa, Kim, Cecilia, Korvatska, Olena, Kustanovich, Vlad, Lajonchere, Clara M., Leboyer, Marion, Leventhal, Bennett L., Liu, Xiao-Qing, Lord, Catherine, Lotspeich, Linda, Marshall, Christian R., McConachie, Helen, McMahon, William M., Melhem, Nadine M., Merikangas, Alison, Migita, Ohsuke, Munson, Jeff, Nelson, Stanley F., Noakes, Carolyn, Noor, Abdul, Nygren, Gudrun, Papanikolaou, Katerina, Parr, Jeremy R., Poustka, Annemarie, Poustka, Fritz, Prasad, Aparna, Renshaw, Katy, Rickaby, Jessica, Roberts, Wendy, Roge, Bernadette, Bierut, Laura J., Rice, John P., Salt, Jeff, Sansom, Katherine, Sato, Daisuke, Segurado, Ricardo, Shah, Naisha, Sheffield, Val C., Soorya, Latha, Stoppioni, Vera, Tancredi, Raffaella, Thompson, Ann P., Thomson, Susanne, Tryfon, Ana, Van Engeland, Herman, Wang, Kai, Wang, Zhouzhi, Wassink, Thomas H., Wittemeyer, Kerstin, Wood, Shawn, Yaspan, Brian L., Zurawiecki, Danielle, Buxbaum, Joseph D., Cantor, Rita M., Cook, Edwin H., Coon, Hilary, Cuccaro, Michael L., Gallagher, Louise, Geschwind, Daniel H., Gill, Michael, Haines, Jonathan L., Paterson, Andrew D., Sutcliffe, James S., Szatmari, Peter, Vicente, Astrid M., Wijsman, Ellen M., Devlin, Bernie, Hallmayer, Joachim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alleles; Association Studies; Autistic Disorder; Autistic Disorder - genetics; Biological and medical sciences; Child clinical studies; Databases, Genetic; Developmental disorders; DNA Copy Number Variations; European Continental Ancestry Group; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetic; Genetic Predisposition to Disease; Genetic Variation; Genetics; Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution; Genome; Genome, Human; Genome-Wide Association Study; Genotype; Human; Humans; Infantile autism; Life Sciences; Medical sciences; Molecular and cellular biology; Polymorphism; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psykiatri; Risk Factors; Single Nucleotide; Whites - genetics
• ISSN: 0964-6906; 1460-2083
• DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddq307

Although autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have a substantial genetic basis, most of the known genetic risk has been traced to rare variants, principally copy number variants (CNVs). To identify common risk variation, the Autism Genome Project (AGP) Consortium genotyped 1558 rigorously defined ASD families for 1 million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and analyzed these SNP genotypes for association with ASD. In one of four primary association analyses, the association signal for marker rs4141463, located within MACROD2, crossed the genome-wide association significance threshold of P < 5 × 10−8. When a smaller replication sample was analyzed, the risk allele at rs4141463 was again over-transmitted; yet, consistent with the winner's curse, its effect size in the replication sample was much smaller; and, for the combined samples, the association signal barely fell below the P < 5 × 10−8 threshold. Exploratory analyses of phenotypic subtypes yielded no significant associations after correction for multiple testing. They did, however, yield strong signals within several genes, KIAA0564, PLD5, POU6F2, ST8SIA2 and TAF1C.