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Allen D Roses

Publications and source records attributed to Allen D Roses.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Disease-specific target selection: a critical first step down the right road.

Relevance of a drug target for a disease is often inferred with strong belief but fragile evidence. Here, a program for early identification of human disease-specific drug targets using high-throughput genetic associations is described. Large numbers of well-characterized patients (>1000) and matched controls are screened for genetic associations using several thousand (>7000) single nucleotide polymorphisms from more than 1500 genes. The genes were selected because they are members of target classes for which there are precedents for high-throughput chemical screening technology. This review summarizes the methods and intensive data analyses leading to target gene identification for type 2 diabetes mellitus, including the statistical permutation methodology used to correct for many variables.

Asthma↗

A single-nucleotide polymorphism tagging set for human drug metabolism and transport.

Interindividual variability in drug response, ranging from no therapeutic benefit to life-threatening adverse reactions, is influenced by variation in genes that control the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of drugs. We genotyped 904 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 55 such genes in two population samples (European and Japanese) and identified a set of tagging SNPs that represents the common variation in these genes, both known and unknown. Extensive empirical evaluations, including a direct assessment of association with candidate functional SNPs in a new, larger population sample, validated the performance of these tagging SNPs and confirmed their utility for linkage-disequilibrium mapping in pharmacogenetics. The analyses also suggest that rare variation is not amenable to tagging strategies.

Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System↗

Comprehensive association analysis of APOE regulatory region polymorphisms in Alzheimer disease.

Several recent case-control studies have examined the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter region of the apolipoprotein E gene (APOE) and risk of Alzheimer disease (AD), with conflicting results. We assessed the relation between five APOE region SNPs and risk of AD in both case-control and family-based analyses. We observed a statistically significant association with the +5361T allele in the overall case-control analysis (P value=0.04) after adjusting for the known effect of the APOE-4 allele. Further analysis revealed this association to be limited to carriers of the APOE-4 allele. Age-stratified analyses in the patients with age at onset of 80 years or greater and age-matched controls showed that the -219T allele (P value=0.009) and the +113C allele (P value=0.03) are associated with increased risk of AD. Despite these findings, haplotype and family-based association analyses were unable to provide evidence that the APOE region SNPs influenced risk of AD independent of the APOE-4 allele. In addition to risk, we tested for association between the SNPs and age at onset of AD, but found no association in the case-control or family based analyses. In conclusion, SNPs +5361, or a SNP in strong linkage disequilibrium, may confer some additional risk for developing AD beyond the risk due to APOE-4; however, the effect independent of APOE-4 is likely to be small.

Age of Onset↗

A genomewide scan for early-onset coronary artery disease in 438 families: the GENECARD Study.

A family history of coronary artery disease (CAD), especially when the disease occurs at a young age, is a potent risk factor for CAD. DNA collection in families in which two or more siblings are affected at an early age allows identification of genetic factors for CAD by linkage analysis. We performed a genomewide scan in 1,168 individuals from 438 families, including 493 affected sibling pairs with documented onset of CAD before 51 years of age in men and before 56 years of age in women. We prospectively defined three phenotypic subsets of families: (1) acute coronary syndrome in two or more siblings; (2) absence of type 2 diabetes in all affected siblings; and (3) atherogenic dyslipidemia in any one sibling. Genotypes were analyzed for 395 microsatellite markers. Regions were defined as providing evidence for linkage if they provided parametric two-point LOD scores >1.5, together with nonparametric multipoint LOD scores >1.0. Regions on chromosomes 3q13 (multipoint LOD = 3.3; empirical P value <.001) and 5q31 (multipoint LOD = 1.4; empirical P value <.081) met these criteria in the entire data set, and regions on chromosomes 1q25, 3q13, 7p14, and 19p13 met these criteria in one or more of the subsets. Two regions, 3q13 and 1q25, met the criteria for genomewide significance. We have identified a region on chromosome 3q13 that is linked to early-onset CAD, as well as additional regions of interest that will require further analysis. These data provide initial areas of the human genome where further investigation may reveal susceptibility genes for early-onset CAD.

Adult↗

Analysis of European mitochondrial haplogroups with Alzheimer disease risk.

We examined the association of mtDNA variation with Alzheimer disease (AD) risk in Caucasians (989 cases and 328 controls) testing the effect of individual haplogroups and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Logistic regression analyses were used to assess risk of haplogroups and SNPs with AD in both main effects and interaction models. Males classified as haplogroup U showed an increase in risk (OR = 2.30; 95% CI, 1.03-5.11; P = 0.04) of AD relative to the most common haplogroup H, while females demonstrated a significant decrease in risk with haplogroup U (OR = 0.44 ; 95% CI, 0.24-0.80; P = 0.007). Our results were independent of APOE genotype, demonstrating that the effect of mt variation is not confounded by APOE4 carrier status. We suggest that variations within haplogroup U may be involved in AD expression in combination with environmental exposures or nuclear proteins other than APOE.

Aged↗

The knockout mouse project.

Mouse knockout technology provides a powerful means of elucidating gene function in vivo, and a publicly available genome-wide collection of mouse knockouts would be significantly enabling for biomedical discovery. To date, published knockouts exist for only about 10% of mouse genes. Furthermore, many of these are limited in utility because they have not been made or phenotyped in standardized ways, and many are not freely available to researchers. It is time to harness new technologies and efficiencies of production to mount a high-throughput international effort to produce and phenotype knockouts for all mouse genes, and place these resources into the public domain.

Alleles↗

Pharmacogenetics and drug development: the path to safer and more effective drugs.

Pharmacogenetics provides opportunities for informed decision-making along the pharmaceutical pipeline. There is a growing literature of retrospective studies of marketed medicines that describe efficacy or safety on the basis of patient genotypes. These studies emphasize the potential prospective use of genome information to enhance success in finding new medicines. An example of a prospective efficacy pharmacogenetic Phase-IIA proof-of-concept study is described. Inserting a rapidly performed efficacy pharmacogenetic step after initial clinical data are obtained can provide confidence for a commitment to full drug development. The rapid identification of adverse events during and after drug development using genomic mapping tools is also reviewed.

Animals↗

Association of genetic variations in HLA-B region with hypersensitivity to abacavir in some, but not all, populations.

Abacavir is an effective antiretroviral drug used to treat HIV-1 infection. Approximately 5% of patients treated with abacavir develop a hypersensitivity reaction that requires discontinuation of the drug. In an initial pharmacogenetic study conducted in a predominantly White male population, multiple markers in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B chromosomal region were associated with hypersensitivity to abacavir. The HLA-B*5701 association has now been confirmed in White males in a subsequent, larger study (n=293, p=4.7 x 10(-18)) and is also observed in White females (n=56, p=6.8 x 10(-6)) and Hispanics (n=104, p=2.1 x 10(-4)). HLA-B*5701 was not associated with hypersensitivity in Blacks (n=78, p=0.27). HLA-B*5701 alone lacks sufficient predictive value to identify patients at risk for hypersensitivity to abacavir across diverse patient populations. Efforts are ongoing to identify markers with sufficient sensitivity and specificity to be clinically useful. Even after a marker set is identified, appropriate clinical identification and management of hypersensitivity to abacavir must remain the cornerstone of clinical practice.

Anti-HIV Agents↗

Glutathione S-transferase omega-1 modifies age-at-onset of Alzheimer disease and Parkinson disease.

We previously reported genetic linkage of loci controlling age-at-onset in Alzheimer disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) to a 15 cM region on chromosome 10q. Given the large number of genes in this initial starting region, we applied the process of 'genomic convergence' to prioritize and reduce the number of candidate genes for further analysis. As our second convergence factor we performed gene expression studies on hippocampus obtained from AD patients and controls. Analysis revealed that four of the genes [stearoyl-CoA desaturase; NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase 1 beta subcomplex 8; protease, serine 11; and glutathione S-transferase, omega-1 (GSTO1)] were significantly different in their expression between AD and controls and mapped to the 10q age-at-onset linkage region, the first convergence factor. Using 2814 samples from our AD dataset (1773 AD patients) and 1362 samples from our PD dataset (635 PD patients), allelic association studies for age-at-onset effects in AD and PD revealed no association for three of the candidates, but a significant association was found for GSTO1 (P=0.007) and a second transcribed member of the GST omega class, GSTO2 (P=0.005), located next to GSTO1. The functions of GSTO1 and GSTO2 are not well understood, but recent data suggest that GSTO1 maybe involved in the post-translational modification of the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1beta. This is provocative given reports of the possible role of inflammation in these two neurodegenerative disorders.

Age of Onset↗

Ordered-subsets linkage analysis detects novel Alzheimer disease loci on chromosomes 2q34 and 15q22.

Alzheimer disease (AD) is a complex disorder characterized by a wide range, within and between families, of ages at onset of symptoms. Consideration of age at onset as a covariate in genetic-linkage studies may reduce genetic heterogeneity and increase statistical power. Ordered-subsets analysis includes continuous covariates in linkage analysis by rank ordering families by a covariate and summing LOD scores to find a subset giving a significantly increased LOD score relative to the overall sample. We have analyzed data from 336 markers in 437 multiplex (>/=2 sampled individuals with AD) families included in a recent genomic screen for AD loci. To identify genetic heterogeneity by age at onset, families were ordered by increasing and decreasing mean and minimum ages at onset. Chromosomewide significance of increases in the LOD score in subsets relative to the overall sample was assessed by permutation. A statistically significant increase in the nonparametric multipoint LOD score was observed on chromosome 2q34, with a peak LOD score of 3.2 at D2S2944 (P=.008) in 31 families with a minimum age at onset between 50 and 60 years. The LOD score in the chromosome 9p region previously linked to AD increased to 4.6 at D9S741 (P=.01) in 334 families with minimum age at onset between 60 and 75 years. LOD scores were also significantly increased on chromosome 15q22: a peak LOD score of 2.8 (P=.0004) was detected at D15S1507 (60 cM) in 38 families with minimum age at onset >/=79 years, and a peak LOD score of 3.1 (P=.0006) was obtained at D15S153 (62 cM) in 43 families with mean age at onset >80 years. Thirty-one families were contained in both 15q22 subsets, indicating that these results are likely detecting the same locus. There is little overlap in these subsets, underscoring the utility of age at onset as a marker of genetic heterogeneity. These results indicate that linkage to chromosome 9p is strongest in late-onset AD and that regions on chromosome 2q34 and 15q22 are linked to early-onset AD and very-late-onset AD, respectively.

Age of Onset↗

The Q7R Saitohin gene polymorphism is not associated with Alzheimer disease.

Previous studies have reported conflicting results regarding the association of the Q7R polymorphism in the Saitohin gene with late-onset Alzheimer disease (AD). Given that AD is a tauopathy but no mutations or polymorphisms in Tau have been consistently associated with AD, and that Saitohin is nested in intron 9 of Tau and shares a similar expression pattern, we tested this association in 690 multiplex AD families and in a case-control sample (903 patients and 320 controls). We found no evidence of significant association of this polymorphism with risk of AD using family-based and case-control tests of association.

Alzheimer Disease↗

Pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics: recent developments, their clinical relevance and some ethical, social, and legal implications.

In recent debates on novel procedures of molecular medicine pharmacogenomics is attracting more and more attention as a genotype-based approach for improving safety and efficacy of the use of therapeutic substances. Promoted by basic knowledge generated in the field of medical genomics, facilitated by novel technological tools for mapping genetic variation in individuals, and supported by results of initial clinical studies linking specific genotypes to metabolic characteristics of individuals important for assessing drug response, procedures of pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics now are starting to impact significantly on clinical research and development and medical practice. In this situation assessing the goals, risk, and benefits of pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics is essential for the medically successful, ethically justifiable, and socially acceptable implementation of genotype-based diagnosis and pharmacotherapy. We discuss the current state of the art in pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics and introduce a model for evidence based assessment of its goals, risk, and benefits. We differentiate here between pragmatic and normative issues in the development of pharmacogenomics in order to contrast prevailing, insufficiently interest-based modes of public technology assessment with the evidence-based mode that can be established as part of clinical study design. Finally, we provide a framework for the analysis of social accountability that can be used for technology development and technology assessment with regard to pharmacogenomics in particular and molecular medicine in general.

Clinical Medicine↗

ApoE4 impairs hippocampal plasticity isoform-specifically and blocks the environmental stimulation of synaptogenesis and memory.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with genetic risk factors, of which the allele E4 of apolipoprotein E (apoE4) is the most prevalent, and is affected by environmental factors that include education early in life and socioeconomic background. The extent to which environmental factors affect the phenotypic expression of the AD genetic risk factors is not known. Here we show that the neuronal and cognitive stimulations, which are elicited by environmental enrichment at a young age, are markedly affected by the apoE genotype. Accordingly, exposure to an enriched environment of young mice transgenic for human apoE3, which is the benign AD apoE allele, resulted in improved learning and memory, whereas mice transgenic for human apoE4 were unaffected by the enriched environment and their learning and memory were similar to those of the nonenriched apoE3 transgenic mice. These cognitive effects were associated with higher hippocampal levels of the presynaptic protein synaptophysin and of NGF in apoE3 but not apoE4 transgenic mice. In contrast, cortical synaptophysin and NGF levels of the apoE3 and apoE4 transgenic mice were similarly elevated by environmental enrichment. These findings show that apoE4 impairs hippocampal plasticity and isoform-specifically blocks the environmental stimulation of synaptogenesis and memory. This provides a novel mechanism by which environmental factors can modulate the function and phenotypic expression of the apoE genotype.

Alzheimer Disease↗

Design of the Genetics of Early Onset Cardiovascular Disease (GENECARD) study.

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the developed world. Early onset (premature) coronary artery disease (EOCAD) is known to have a particularly strong genetic component. However, the actual genes leading to this increased risk of CAD remain obscure. METHODS: The primary goal of the Genetics of Early Onset Cardiovascular Disease (GENECARD) study is to perform a genetic linkage study in 920 families with at least 1 sibling pair having EOCAD. The study sites include a US network of 15 cardiology practices and 5 additional sites located in Europe and the United States. We propose to identify chromosomal regions associated with increased susceptibility to EOCAD in this large sample of affected sibling pairs and nuclear families, where EOCAD is defined on the basis of having acute coronary syndrome (unstable angina or myocardial infarction), a revascularization procedure, or a positive functional imaging study at or before the age of 50 years in men or 55 years in women. To identify which genomic regions and genes are associated with increased susceptibility to EOCAD, we will use a comprehensive strategy comprising genomic screening, fine mapping, candidate gene analysis, and family-based association studies. RESULTS: Herein we describe the clinical characteristics, family history, and risk factor profiles of the 1168 members from 438 nuclear families included in the first, exploratory analysis. Analysis of the study population revealed a strong concordance of known cardiac risk factors among affected sibling pairs. There was significant concordance (P <. 01) among siblings with EOCAD for presence of diabetes (78% concordance), dyslipoproteinemia (67%), obesity (63%), and hypertension (56%). This level of concordance of risk factors among siblings might be expected, given the significant genetic components demonstrated for these metabolic susceptibility traits. However, there was also substantial sibling pair concordance (P <.01) for smoking history (74%), regular alcohol consumption (81%), and sedentary lifestyle (63%), environmental traits without known inherited predisposition. CONCLUSIONS: Analyses such as these will have implications for stratifying populations for the statistical analysis of the genome scan and on the choice of covariates for the follow-up studies of the initial genome screen analysis.

Adult↗

Genetic variations in HLA-B region and hypersensitivity reactions to abacavir.

Hypersensitivity to abacavir affects about 4% of patients who receive the drug for HIV-1 infection. We did a retrospective, case-control study to identify multiple markers in the vicinity of HLA-B associated with hypersensitivity reactions. HLA-B57 was present in 39 (46%) of 84 patients versus four (4%) of 113 controls (p<0 small middle dot0001). However, because of low numbers of women and other ethnic groups enrolled, these findings relate largely to white men. The lower sensitivity of HLA-B57 for predicting hypersensitivity to abacavir identified in this study compared with a previous report highlights that predictive values for markers will vary across populations. Clinical monitoring and management of hypersensitivity reactions among patients receiving abacavir must remain unchanged.

Adult↗

Age at onset in two common neurodegenerative diseases is genetically controlled.

To identify genes influencing age at onset (AAO) in two common neurodegenerative diseases, a genomic screen was performed for AAO in families with Alzheimer disease (AD; n=449) and Parkinson disease (PD; n=174). Heritabilities between 40%--60% were found in both the AD and PD data sets. For PD, significant evidence for linkage to AAO was found on chromosome 1p (LOD = 3.41). For AD, the AAO effect of APOE (LOD = 3.28) was confirmed. In addition, evidence for AAO linkage on chromosomes 6 and 10 was identified independently in both the AD and PD data sets. Subsequent unified analyses of these regions identified a single peak on chromosome 10q between D10S1239 and D10S1237, with a maximum LOD score of 2.62. These data suggest that a common gene affects AAO in these two common complex neurodegenerative diseases.

Age of Onset↗

Pharmacogenetics place in modern medical science and practice.

Pharmacogenetic evidence-based treatment strategies will have major implications for all aspects of the product pipeline, including drug discovery, high throughput target screening protocols, lead optimization, and drug formulation to produce series of medicines for a particular disease which will meet the efficacy needs of the majority of patients. The initial proof of principle experiments involves whole genome screening for DNA variants and determination of specific patterns of variants associated with adverse events of marketed products [SNP Print(sm)]. Pharmacogenetics has the potential of changing the pipeline model of drug discovery, clinical development, and mass customization marketing.

Drug Therapy↗