Rare copy number variants in over 100,000 European ancestry subjects reveal multiple disease associations

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-2020

Abstract

Copy number variants (CNVs) are suggested to have a widespread impact on the human genome and phenotypes. To understand the role of CNVs across human diseases, we examine the CNV genomic landscape of 100,028 unrelated individuals of European ancestry, using SNP and CGH array datasets. We observe an average CNV burden of ~650 kb, identifying a total of 11,314 deletion, 5625 duplication, and 2746 homozygous deletion CNV regions (CNVRs). In all, 13.7% are unreported, 58.6% overlap with at least one gene, and 32.8% interrupt coding exons. These CNVRs are significantly more likely to overlap OMIM genes (2.94-fold), GWAS loci (1.52-fold), and non-coding RNAs (1.44-fold), compared with random distribution (P < 1 × 10−3). We uncover CNV associations with four major disease categories, including autoimmune, cardio-metabolic, oncologic, and neurological/psychiatric diseases, and identify several drug-repurposing opportunities. Our results demonstrate robust frequency definition for large-scale rare variant association studies, identify CNVs associated with major disease categories, and illustrate the pleiotropic impact of CNVs in human disease.

Identifier

85077872254 (Scopus)

Publication Title

Nature Communications

External Full Text Location

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13624-1

e-ISSN

20411723

PubMed ID

31937769

Issue

1

Volume

11

Grant

U01-HG006830

Fund Ref

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

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