Special Article |
From the Robarts Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada.
Correspondence to Robert A. Hegele, MD, FRCPC, FACP, FAHA, 406-100 Perth Dr, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5K8. E-mail hegele{at}robarts.ca
| Introduction |
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900 individual entries were returned. And this likely underestimates the number of monogenic diseases for which the molecular genetic basis was solved by linkage analysis. | Applying Linkage Analysis to Complex Traits |
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However, the impediments to the genetic mapping of complex disease traits have been formidable. The goal of a mapping study is a significant linkage signal or "peak" (roughly a logarithm of odds [LOD] score of 3.0 [P=0.05] plotted on the ordinate when position along the chromosome is plotted on the abscissa). But susceptibility to complex traits is heterogeneous, involving multiple genetic and environmental risk factors, acting either independently or in concert. This complexity flattens and widens the linkage "peaks." Other confounding mechanisms, including variable penetrance, genomic imprinting, the effects of genetic background and parental allele origin, genegene and geneenvironment interactions, and more recently, large-scale copy variations, further thwart the detection of genetic signals over background biological noise. The effects of such difficulties can be seen in the variable outcomes of genome-wide screens for cardiovascular disease susceptibility genes, from the discovery of no regions of significant linkage4 to suggestive broad linkage peaks5,6 to significant linkage (although usually with no identification of the true genetic cause).7,8
Many strategies have been proposed to circumvent the roadblocks to the mapping of complex traits. For instance, some complex disease phenotypes, such as familial combined hyperlipidemia (FCHL), are defined by threshold values applied to quantitative traits, such as serum concentrations of triglycerides, together with total or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Modified linkage strategies can be used to evaluate relationships between genetic markers and either the means or variances of quantitative traits, rather than the related discrete traits.9,10 In these analyses, the statistically linked chromosomal regions are called quantitative trait loci (QTLs). Attempts to map QTLs using genome-wide linkage analysis have been referred to as "casting a wide-mesh net across the entire sea of genetic information."11 And although you cannot catch fish without casting a net, has the catch been worth the effort?
| Determining the Yield From Linkage Analysis |
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1200 references, mostly from within the last 5 years. But the significant linkage peak is merely an initial step in the process; it specifies positional candidates for functional DNA changes that should ultimately explain the linkage. How often have significant QTLs led to discovery of a causative molecular genetic basis? A recent search of the OMIM human genetic disease database using the keywords "linkage analysis" AND "complex trait" returned only
20 individual entries. Has the time perhaps come to critically re-evaluate the utility and efficacy of this broad-based, resource-intensive approach for finding disease genes in atherosclerosis? | FCHL: A Case Report |
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24 additional regions on
13 different chromosomes (Table). As with the chromosome 11 loci, most of these have not yielded candidate mutations or variants that would mechanistically explain the linkage. One important exception might be the chromosome 1 FCHL locus, with variants in TNFRSF1B having been reported,15 and recently variants in USF gene.16
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| Complex Trait Mapping: How to Judge Success? |
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Yet, even with evidence for causation, success is not necessarily assured, as shown in the search for a gene underlying coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction.22 Here, the researchers appeared to follow all the right steps: the identification of a region with a significant LOD score; the discovery of a 21-bp deletion in exon 11 of MEF2A; a strong candidate gene within the region, which cosegregated with affected family members; and finally, the demonstration of functional in vitro evidence of altered transactivation ability for the MEF2A mutant protein.23 Yet, despite all this evidence, the validity of this claim has been brought recently into question because the 21-bp deletion has been also observed in multiple unaffected individuals.24 This example underscores the difficulties of complex gene discovery, stressing the importance of replication and multiplicity of mutations, samples, model systems, and methods to validate preliminary observations.
| Conclusions |
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Perhaps the results of genome-wide linkage analyses for complex traits could be accompanied more routinely at an earlier stage by complementary evidence to increase confidence that a molecular etiology will be disclosed ultimately. Concurrent reporting of replications in independent samples would increase the interest in and importance of an individual suggestive or even significant QTL. Also, linkage research should build on existing cooperative efforts between labs, as has been done for the Family Blood Pressure Program, will which allow for earlier meta-analyses with larger sample sizes and increased power. New online tools will aid in these endeavors for multicenter trial database development26 and analysis.27 Furthermore, the wide availability of complete human genome data should enable immediate prioritization among all positional candidate genes through the routine use of in silico methods. Linkage data could be interpreted in light of corroborative complementary experimental data from different technologies, such as expression evidence from microarrays,28 databases, or experiments in cell lines or animal models.29 Genomic DNA sequences within the linked region could be screened for markers or potential mutations and the results (positive and negative) reported together with the initial linkage data, along with a detailed description of the population studied. Or alternatively, genome-wide association studies using high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism maps may be a realistic alternative approach to complex trait gene discovery.30 New approaches, attitudes and tools, together with time to reflect and converse, might help to improve the yield of lasting, replicable molecular etiologies for complex diseases that can be found by casting genome-wide nets into the genetic ocean.
| Acknowledgments |
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Received February 3, 2005; accepted May 27, 2005.
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