Common variants near TERC are associated with mean telomere length.
We conducted genome-wide association analyses of mean leukocyte telomere length in 2,917 individuals, with follow-up replication in 9,492 individuals. We identified an association with telomere length on 3q26 (rs12696304, combined P = 3.72 x 10(-14)) at a locus that includes TERC, which encodes the telomerase RNA component. Each copy of the minor allele of rs12696304 was associated with an approximately 75-base-pair reduction in mean telomere length, equivalent to approximately 3.6 years of age-related telomere-length attrition.
Codd
Veryan
V
Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Leicester, Glenfield Hospital, Leicester, UK.
Mangino
Massimo
M
van der Harst
Pim
P
Braund
Peter S
PS
Kaiser
Michael
M
Beveridge
Alan J
AJ
Rafelt
Suzanne
S
Moore
Jasbir
J
Nelson
Chris
C
Soranzo
Nicole
N
Zhai
Guangju
G
Valdes
Ana M
AM
Blackburn
Hannah
H
Mateo Leach
Irene
I
de Boer
Rudolf A
RA
Kimura
Masayuki
M
Aviv
Abraham
A
Goodall
Alison H
AH
Ouwehand
Willem
W
van Veldhuisen
Dirk J
DJ
van Gilst
Wiek H
WH
Navis
Gerjan
G
Burton
Paul R
PR
Tobin
Martin D
MD
Hall
Alistair S
AS
Thompson
John R
JR
Spector
Tim
T
Samani
Nilesh J
NJ
D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics; D002893:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 3; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005787:Gene Frequency; D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D006801:Humans; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000502:physiology; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D019098:Telomerase / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D013997:Time Factors
C422952:telomerase RNA; D012313:RNA; D019098:Telomerase