No abstract

We recently identified a novel non-synonymous variant, rs1143679, at exon 3 of the ITGAM gene associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) susceptibility in European-Americans (EAs) and African-Americans. Using genome-wide association approach, three other studies also independently reported an association between SLE susceptibility and ITGAM or ITGAM-ITGAX region. The primary objectives of this study are to assess whether single or multiple causal variants from the same gene or any nearby gene(s) are involved in SLE susceptibility and to confirm a robust ITGAM association across nine independent data sets (n = 8211). First, we confirmed our previously reported association of rs1143679 (risk allele 'A') with SLE in EAs (P = 1.0 x 10(-8)) and Hispanic-Americans (P = 2.9 x 10(-5)). Secondly, using a comprehensive imputation-based association test, we found that ITGAM is one of the major non-human leukocyte antigen susceptibility genes for SLE, and the strongest association for EA is the same coding variant rs1143679 (log(10)Bayes factor=20, P = 6.17 x 10(-24)). Thirdly, we determined the robustness of rs1143679 association with SLE across three additional case-control samples, including UK (P = 6.2 x 10(-8)), Colombian (P = 3.6 x 10(-7)), Mexican (P = 0.002), as well as two independent sets of trios from UK (P(TDT) = 1.4 x 10(-5)) and Mexico (P(TDT) = 0.015). A meta-analysis combing all independent data sets greatly reinforces the association (P(meta) = 7.1 x 10(-50), odds ratio = 1.83, 95% confidence interval = 1.69-1.98, n = 10 046). However, this ITGAM association was not observed in the Korean or Japanese samples, in which rs1143679 is monomorphic for the non-risk allele (G). Taken together along with our earlier findings, these results demonstrate that the coding variant, rs1143679, best explains the ITGAM-SLE association, especially in European- and African-derived populations, but not in Asian populations.

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 4 (HER4) is a member of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor subfamily of receptor tyrosine kinases that is activated by neuregulins (NRG), betacellulin (BTC), and heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor. Sequencing of full-length human HER4 cDNAs revealed the existence of two HER4 isoforms that differed by insertion of either 23 or 13 alternative amino acids in the extracellular juxtamembrane (JM) region. The 23-amino acid form (HER4 JM-a) and the 13-amino acid form (HER4 JM-b) were expressed in a tissue-specific manner, as demonstrated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis of mouse and human tissues. Both isoforms were expressed in neural tissues such as cerebellum, whereas kidney expressed HER4 JM-a only and heart HER4 JM-b only. In situ hybridization using specific oligonucleotides demonstrated transcription of both JM-a and JM-b isoforms in the mouse cerebellum. Tyrosine phosphorylation analysis indicated that both receptor isoforms were activated to the same extent by NRG-␤1 and BTC, and to a lesser extent by NRG-␣1 and heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor. A functional difference was found, however, in response to phorbol ester treatment. Stimulation of cells with phorbol ester resulted in a loss of 125 I-NRG-␤1 binding and in a reduction of total cell-associated HER4 protein in HER4 JM-a transfectants but not in HER4 JM-b transfectants. It was concluded that novel alternatively spliced isoforms of HER4 exist, that they are distributed differentially in vivo in mouse and human tissues, that they are both activated by HER4 ligands, and that they may represent cleavable and noncleavable forms of HER4.