Sex-specific genetic architecture of asthma-associated quantitative trait loci in a founder population.
Identifying genes that influence susceptibility to asthma-related and atopy-related phenotypes has been challenging, owing to clinical heterogeneity and a complex underlying genetic architecture that includes both gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. In this article, we report the results of genome-wide linkage and association studies of eight asthma-associated quantitative traits in the Hutterites, a founder population of European descent. Our study revealed significant sex-specific genetic architecture for at least five of these traits, and identified 13 genome-wide significant quantitative trait loci (QTL) by linkage or association that are present in only one of the sexes (nine in males, four in females).
Department of Human Genetics, The University of Chicago, 920 E. 58th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. c-ober@genetics.uchicago.edu
Carole
C
Ober
Lin
L
Pan
Natasha
N
Phillips
Rodney
R
Parry
Lianne M
LM
Kurina
D001249:Asthma / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044382:Population Groups / Q000235:genetics*; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D012426:Russia; D012737:Sex Factors