Genome-wide association studies of autoimmune vitiligo identify 23 new risk loci and highlight key pathways and regulatory variants
Ying Jin, Genevieve Andersen, Daniel Yorgov, Tracey M Ferrara, Songtao Ben, Kelly M Brownson, Paulene J Holland, Stanca A Birlea, Janet Siebert, Anke Hartmann, Anne Lienert, Nanja van Geel, Jo Lambert, Rosalie M Luiten, Albert Wolkerstorfer, J P Wietze van der Veen, Dorothy C Bennett, Alain Taïeb, Khaled Ezzedine, E Helen Kemp, David J Gawkrodger, Anthony P Weetman, Sulev Kõks, Ele Prans, Külli Kingo, Maire Karelson, Margaret R Wallace, Wayne T McCormack, Andreas Overbeck, Silvia Moretti, Roberta Colucci, Mauro Picardo, Nanette B Silverberg, Mats Olsson, Yan Valle, Igor Korobko, Markus Böhm, Henry W Lim, Iltefat Hamzavi, Li Zhou, Qing-Sheng Mi, Pamela R Fain, Stephanie A Santorico, Richard A Spritz, Ying Jin, Genevieve Andersen, Daniel Yorgov, Tracey M Ferrara, Songtao Ben, Kelly M Brownson, Paulene J Holland, Stanca A Birlea, Janet Siebert, Anke Hartmann, Anne Lienert, Nanja van Geel, Jo Lambert, Rosalie M Luiten, Albert Wolkerstorfer, J P Wietze van der Veen, Dorothy C Bennett, Alain Taïeb, Khaled Ezzedine, E Helen Kemp, David J Gawkrodger, Anthony P Weetman, Sulev Kõks, Ele Prans, Külli Kingo, Maire Karelson, Margaret R Wallace, Wayne T McCormack, Andreas Overbeck, Silvia Moretti, Roberta Colucci, Mauro Picardo, Nanette B Silverberg, Mats Olsson, Yan Valle, Igor Korobko, Markus Böhm, Henry W Lim, Iltefat Hamzavi, Li Zhou, Qing-Sheng Mi, Pamela R Fain, Stephanie A Santorico, Richard A Spritz
Abstract
Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease in which depigmented skin results from the destruction of melanocytes, with epidemiological association with other autoimmune diseases. In previous linkage and genome-wide association studies (GWAS1 and GWAS2), we identified 27 vitiligo susceptibility loci in patients of European ancestry. We carried out a third GWAS (GWAS3) in European-ancestry subjects, with augmented GWAS1 and GWAS2 controls, genome-wide imputation, and meta-analysis of all three GWAS, followed by an independent replication. The combined analyses, with 4,680 cases and 39,586 controls, identified 23 new significantly associated loci and 7 suggestive loci. Most encode immune and apoptotic regulators, with some also associated with other autoimmune diseases, as well as several melanocyte regulators. Bioinformatic analyses indicate a predominance of causal regulatory variation, some of which corresponds to expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) at these loci. Together, the identified genes provide a framework for the genetic architecture and pathobiology of vitiligo, highlight relationships with other autoimmune diseases and melanoma, and offer potential targets for treatment.
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References
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