Identification and functional characterization of G6PC2 coding variants influencing glycemic traits define an effector transcript at the G6PC2-ABCB11 locus.

PLoS Genet
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

Genome wide association studies (GWAS) for fasting glucose (FG) and insulin (FI) have identified common variant signals which explain 4.8% and 1.2% of trait variance, respectively. It is hypothesized that low-frequency and rare variants could contribute substantially to unexplained genetic variance. To test this, we analyzed exome-array data from up to 33,231 non-diabetic individuals of European ancestry. We found exome-wide significant (P5×10-7) evidence for two loci not previously highlighted by common variant GWAS: GLP1R (p.Ala316Thr, minor allele frequency (MAF)=1.5%) influencing FG levels, and URB2 (p.Glu594Val, MAF = 0.1%) influencing FI levels. Coding variant associations can highlight potential effector genes at (non-coding) GWAS signals. At the G6PC2/ABCB11 locus, we identified multiple coding variants in G6PC2 (p.Val219Leu, p.His177Tyr, and p.Tyr207Ser) influencing FG levels, conditionally independent of each other and the non-coding GWAS signal. In vitro assays demonstrate that these associated coding alleles result in reduced protein abundance via proteasomal degradation, establishing G6PC2 as an effector gene at this locus. Reconciliation of single-variant associations and functional effects was only possible when haplotype phase was considered. In contrast to earlier reports suggesting that, paradoxically, glucose-raising alleles at this locus are protective against type 2 diabetes (T2D), the p.Val219Leu G6PC2 variant displayed a modest but directionally consistent association with T2D risk. Coding variant associations for glycemic traits in GWAS signals highlight PCSK1, RREB1, and ZHX3 as likely effector transcripts. These coding variant association signals do not have a major impact on the trait variance explained, but they do provide valuable biological insights.

Year of Publication
2015
Journal
PLoS Genet
Volume
11
Issue
1
Pages
e1004876
Date Published
2015 Jan
ISSN
1553-7404
URL
DOI
10.1371/journal.pgen.1004876
PubMed ID
25625282
PubMed Central ID
PMC4307976
Links
Grant list
R01 DK093757 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
R01 DK078616 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
UL1 TR000430 / TR / NCATS NIH HHS / United States
098017 / Wellcome Trust / United Kingdom
DK085524 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
R01 DK098032 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
R01 DK072193 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
WT098381 / Wellcome Trust / United Kingdom
095010/Z/10/Z / Wellcome Trust / United Kingdom
K24 DK080140 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
090532 / Wellcome Trust / United Kingdom
DK085584 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
DK085545 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
U01 DK078616 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
DK085526 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
U01 DK062370 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
DK085501 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
WT090532 / Wellcome Trust / United Kingdom
P30 DK020572 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States
WT098017 / Wellcome Trust / United Kingdom
095101 / Wellcome Trust / United Kingdom
098381 / Wellcome Trust / United Kingdom
086596/Z/08/Z / Wellcome Trust / United Kingdom
WT064890 / Wellcome Trust / United Kingdom
G0601261 / Medical Research Council / United Kingdom
P30 DK020595 / DK / NIDDK NIH HHS / United States