Project description:Behcet’s disease (BD) is a complex, multifactorial rare disease, which is poorly understood. Genetic and environmental factors contribute to BD, but the process of diagnosis is challenging with inconsistent clinical manifestations. A recent survey of individuals living with rare disease(s) in Northern Ireland revealed ~50% of individuals receive ?1 misdiagnosis with 1/20 seeing >10 doctors. Individuals with BD report a range of symptoms, which are variable in onset, severity, and frequency for this systemic vasculitis. Patients describe prolonged journeys to diagnosis with multiple healthcare professionals and medical specialties; there is no BD specialist in Northern Ireland. Using invitations via social media, voluntary groups, and direct contact we are using surveys incorporating micro-narratives, one-to-one semi-structured interviews, and focus groups to collect detailed family histories and stressor information to help characterise recurrent features in patients living with BD and their relatives in Northern Ireland. BD is most often reported in populations along the Silk Road. The highest prevalence is reported in Turkey at 20-420/100,000, compared 1.5/100,000 individuals in the UK. Mapping through general practitioners revealed a much higher than expected prevalence of 12.6/100,000 in the Northern Ireland population. Clusters were observed in Co. Down and Co. Antrim and plotted with social-demographic information. This high ‘UK’ prevalence and the identification of several families with multiple members diagnosed makes NI ideal to explore genetic and epigenetic risk factors for BD. This project involves deep phenotyping and strategies to improve recognition of Behcet’s disease, build collaborative partnerships, improve data collection, enhance training, and information sharing.
Project description:Myocyte enhancer factor 2 C (MEF2C) is a transcription factor that plays a central role regulating cell differentiation, proliferation, survival and apoptosis. MEF2C has been implicated in each of the most recent GWAS of cognitive ability (CA) and educational attainment (EA). Animal studies have indicated that knockout of Mef2c interferes with healthy development of brain regions associated with cognitive function, e.g. hippocampal dentate gyrus, neocortex. Furthermore, mutation/deletion of MEF2C can cause severe intellectual and developmental disability. We therefore hypothesised that genes regulated by MEF2C would be associated with cognitive function. We created a set of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) based on an RNA-seq study that captured the transcriptional changes in mouse adult brain that result from early embryonic deletion of Mef2c in cortical and hippocampal excitatory neurons. This mouse DEG list was converted to human orthologues (n=1052) and tested for enrichment of genes associated with 1) CA, and 2) EA, using MAGMA and recent GWAS summary statistics for each phenotype. We also performed hypergeometric tests to investigate if the DEGs were enriched for current primary intellectual disability (ID), autism, and loss-of-function (LoF) intolerant (i.e. highly constrained) genes. We then used Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) to explore functional pathways implicated by the MEF2C DEGs. The DEGs were significantly enriched for CA (p=1.08e-07) and EA (p=9.88e-09) genes; along with ID (p=0.008), autism (p=0.001) and LoF intolerant (p=5.55e-21) genes. The top functions IPA predicted to be decreased from these DEGs are ‘development of neurons’ (p=5.41e-38, z-score=-2.0) and ‘formation of cellular protrusions’ (p=1.02e-28, z-score=-2.1). These findings indicate that genes influenced by MEF2C are highly constrained and contribute to cognitive function and neurodevelopmental disorders with severe cognitive deficits.
Project description:Aims The Irish DNA Atlas is a DNA collection being assembled with the aim of describing the fine-scale population structure in Ireland. Understanding such structure can inform on optimal design of clinical genetic studies as well as the history of the Irish population. We will present an overview of and the preliminary findings from the study. Methods We are recruiting individuals with all eight greatgrandparents born in Ireland, within 30 kilometres of each other. Participants are asked to complete a detailed birth-brief, which records place and date of birth of three generations of ancestors. We also collect some basic health-related details. DNA is extracted from a saliva sample. We have genotyped using an Illumina OmniExpressdense SNP genotyping platform. We present a number of analyses designed to visualise genetic structure, including; Principle Component, ADMIXTURE, and Runs of Homozygosity analysis. Results To date we have recruited 162 participants. The mean great-grandparental area is 32 kilometres, with an average greatgrandparental date of birth of 1850. Therefore the individuals in the Atlas provide insight to the genetic landscape of Ireland before significant movement of people from the 20th century onwards. An analysis of dense genotyping data from 142participants shows that the Atlas participants cluster closely with British individuals in a Europe wide PCA, but present different ancestral population components when compared with British, and other European populations. Irish individuals also present slightly higher levels of homozygosity relative to mainland European levels. PCA targeted at specific areas of interest within Ireland also hint at fine-scale substructure. Conclusion Ireland shows typical features of a homogenous population, well suited to the study of rare variation in disease risk.
Project description:Neurofibromatosis (NF1) affects 1/2500 people throughout the world. Children with NF1 require a multidisciplinary service ideally, delivered on a single site. NF1 is a very variable condition with children requiring the expertise of genetics, paediatricians, ophthalmologists, dermatologists, neurologists and other specialities as required. Building such a service concentrates expertise, facilitates coordination of care and fosters ideal opportunities for research. Aims: 1) To develop a service ensuring children had access to a multidisciplinary clinic on an annual basis. 2) Hold monthly clinics offering ophthalmology, medical, developmental and dermatology follow up. 3) To create a registry of patients which captures the incidence and prevalence of NF1 in Ireland. To offer best possible care for the children attending the service by following international consensus guidelines. 4) To liaise with NF1 Association, families and research authorities. Methods: 1) Appointment of a CNS/CNM2 in Neurofibromatosis as funded by the NCH Foundation. 2) Visit to the complex NF1 Clinic in Manchester’s Children’s Hospital and learn from their service, MDT and guidelines. 3) Establish links with genetics, oncology, radiology and orthopaedic depts. in OLCHC. 4) Create a referral pathway for HCPs to ensure children with NF1 are referred to most appropriate service in a timely fashion. 5) To register the service on Orphanet and gain entry into an ERN as a multi-site service in conjunction with OLCHC. Results/Conclusion: To date, the service has been running for 9 months. The CNM2 provides telephone service and coordinates clinics. The Clinic has been registered in Orphanet and the process has begun to create a patient registry and enter the service in the ERN.