Project description:This is a case-control study of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG). POAG is an intraocular pressure (IOP) related progressive optic neuropathy that ultimately leads to blindness. For this study we have formed a collaborative consortium contributing 2170 POAG cases and 2347 controls with a unified definition of POAG (the NEIGHBOR consortium: NEI Glaucoma Human genetic collaBORation). The case definition has also been harmonized with an additional 976 cases and 1140 controls from the NHGRI supported GENEVA (gene-environment) study of glaucoma (GLAUGEN) (NIH/NHGRI U01HG004728, Pasquale PI). Cases and controls were recruited from ophthalmology clinics and were examined by ophthalmologists. For cases, the clinical exam included intraocular pressure measurements, optic nerve assessment and visual field evaluation. Controls had no family history of glaucoma, normal intraocular pressure and normal optic nerves. Cases and controls were also drawn from two clinical trial populations: Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study (AGIS, NEI U10EY006827, D. Gaasterland PI) and Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study (CIGTS, NEI U10 EY009149, P. Lichter PI). The NEIGHBOR consortium has two Co-Principal Investigators: J. Wiggs (Harvard, MEEI), and M. Hauser (Duke). The consortium includes eleven different centers where data collection and analysis take place. The eleven sites and investigators are: Harvard Medical School (Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary) (J. Wiggs, L. Pasquale); Duke University Medical Center (M. Hauser, E. Hauser, R. Allingham, S. Schmidt); University of Michigan (J. Richards, S. Moroi, P. Lichter); University of Miami (M. Pericak-Vance, R. Lee, D. Budenz); Vanderbilt University (J. Haines); University of California San Diego (K. Zhang, R. Weinreb; T. Gaasterland); University of Pittsburgh (J. Schuman, G. Wollstein); University of West Virginia (A. Realini, J. Charlton, S. Zareparsi); Johns Hopkins University (D. Friedman, D. Zack); Stanford University (D. Vollrath, K. Singh), Eye Doctors of Washington (D. Gaasterland). Hemin Chin serves as the NEI Staff Collaborator. This national collaborative study is supported by multiple NIH grants: NEI R01 EY015543 (Allingham); NEI U10 EY006827 (D. Gaasterland); NHLBI R01 HL073389 (E. Hauser); NEI R01 EY13315 (M. Hauser); NEI U10 EY009149 (Lichter); NEI R01 EY015473 (Pasquale); NEI U10 EY012118 (Pericak-Vance); NEI R03 EY015682 (Realini); NEI R01 EY011671 (Richards); NEI R01 EY09580 (Richards); NEI R01 EY013178 (Schuman); NEI R01 EY015872 (Wiggs); NEI R01 EY009847 (Wiggs); NEI R01 EY010886 (Wiggs); NEI R01 EY144428 (Zhang); NEI R01 EY144448 (Zhang); NEI R01 EY18660 (Zhang). Funding support for genotyping, which was performed at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Inherited Disease Research, was provided by the National Eye Institute (X01HG005259).

Project description:This is a case-control study of Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG). POAG is a progressive optic neuropathy that eventually leads to blindness. More than 30 million people worldwide have Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG), of which greater than 3 million are blind. Gene expression changes in the retina have been observed for POAG. Several recent studies, including the NEIGHBOR consortium (NEI Glaucoma Human genetic collaboration) have used GWAS to identify correlative regions of the genome. Despite this, the genetic basis of Glaucoma is not well understood. Epigenetic variation may account for low heritability and environmental effects on human disease. Despite the significant advances being made in understanding the role of epigenetics in gene regulation in other fields, little is known about the relationship between DNA methylation patterns, retinal gene expression, and retinal disease. The goal of this study is to identify differentially methylated regions in the peripheral blood of patients with POAG. The case identification is as per the NEIGHBOR description: Cases and controls were recruited from ophthalmology clinics and were examined by ophthalmologists. For cases the clinical exam included intraocular pressure measurements, optic nerve assessment and visual field evaluation. Controls had no family history of glaucoma, normal intraocular pressure and normal optic nerves. POAG and control samples come from two sources: Duke University and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI). These samples were collected and genotyped as part of the NEIGHBOR study. From the 219 POAG cases contributed to NEIGHBOR by Duke, 75 samples were selected for exome sequencing by Dr. Terry Gaasterland (UCSD) as part of an ARRA grant. These samples were selected to mirror the distribution of the entire set of Duke patients for variables such as age, cup-to-disc ratio, CCT, and IOP. From these 75 patients, 43 were selected for our study and an additional seven patients chosen at random, for a total 50 patients from Duke. From the 219 Duke controls, 50 were selected to match the age (at the time of blood draw) and sex of the 50 Duke POAG patients. From the NEIGHBOR control samples from MEEI, 27 were selected who best matched the age (at blood draw), time since sample collection and sex of the POAG probands from GLAUGEN. Additional individual-level phenotype and genotype data may be obtained through the authorized access portal of <a href="./study.cgi?study_id=phs000238">phs000238</a> (Neighbor - Glaucoma GWAS Study).

Project description:Background Information: Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is an age-related, intraocular pressure (IOP)-dependent progressive optic neuropathy that ultimately leads to irreversible blindness. Vision loss from POAG is a condition of public health significance. Current evidence suggests that POAG is a polygenetic disease modified by environmental influences. Despite the fact that a positive family history of disease is an important risk factor for POAG, conventional linkage and candidate gene approaches have revealed less than 5% of the genetic component of the disease. Furthermore, there is no consensus on environment risk factors for POAG. Elevated IOP is the only modifiable risk factor for POAG; yet, lowering IOP slows, but does not halt the disease process. Study Objectives: The overall goal of our research is to elucidate the pathogenesis of POAG so that cost-effective disease detection and primary prevention strategies can be implemented. The primary aim of the Glaucoma Gene Environment Initiative (GLAUGEN), funded by the Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), is to discover genetic loci associated with POAG. The secondary aim of GLAUGEN, funded by NHGRI and the National Eye Institute, is to discover gene environment interactions in POAG. Methods and study populations: For this study, we have assembled cases and controls from three studies: the Nurses' Health Study (NHS), the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS) and the Genetic Etiologies of POAG (GEP) project based at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI). This case-control group includes 1057 unrelated cases and 1272 controls. Members of the NHS and HPFS also have repeated environmental exposure data collected prior to a diagnosis of POAG. NHS - The Nurses Health Study started in 1976 under the direction of Dr. Frank E. Speizer. With funding from the NIH, registered nurses from 11 US states were invited to complete a detailed questionnaire regarding lifestyle and health biennially. Initially, 121,000 women responded to the baseline questionnaire. Currently, Dr. Susan Hankinson serves as the program director for the NHS. HPFS - The Health Professionals Follow-up Study began in 1986 under the direction of Drs. Walter Willett and Meir Stampfer. Under the auspices of the NIH, they enlisted 51,529 male health professionals from throughout the US to complete similarly designed biennial questionnaires. Beginning in 1990, questions regarding ocular health were added to biennial questionaires completed by health professionals participating in the NHS and HPFS. This allowed us to formulate (PI: S. Hankinson; NEI) and maintain (PI: L. Pasquale; NEI) a cohort at risk for POAG derived from the respective general cohorts who were under ophthalmic care. We then developed a definition of POAG that allowed us to identify cases from a population that was geographically dispersed. The centerpiece of this definition is the presence of reproducible visual field loss consistent with nerve fiber layer (NFL) dropout (the NFL contains the axons that comprise the optic nerve) on reliable tests. Reproducible visual field loss occurred in the context of anterior segment findings that did not suggest a secondary cause of elevated IOP and posterior segment findings that did not suggest a secondary cause of visual field loss. We selected controls from the cohort at risk for POAG on the basis of age, gender and time period when cases were identified. GEP - The Genetic Etiologies of POAG was initiated in 1996 with funding from the National Eye Institute under the direction of Dr. Janey Wiggs. The purpose of this work was to discover novel genetic loci associated with POAG. In the GEP, cases were derived predominantly from the Glaucoma Service at MEEI. The majority of cases had an examination by a glaucoma specialist and met the definition for POAG used in NHS and HPFS. Cases with only one reliable visual field consistent with NFL dropout were included if there was a cup-disc ratio of 0.7 or more. The majority of controls were patients who presented to the MEEI comprehensive ophthalmology service for routine eye examination or from spouses of MEEI patients with secondary forms of glaucoma. Other controls were identified from regional glaucoma screenings held throughout Massachusetts. Members of GEP have detailed ocular phenotype data but limited information on environmental exposures. This study is part of the Gene Environment Association Studies initiative (GENEVA, <a href="http://www.genevastudy.org" target="_blank">http://www.genevastudy.org</a>) funded by the trans-NIH Genes, Environment, and Health Initiative (GEI). The overarching goal is to identify novel genetic factors that contribute to primary open-angle glaucoma through large-scale genome-wide association studies of three well-characterized cohorts of cases and controls, some in matched pairs. Genotyping was performed at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, a GENEVA genotyping center. Data cleaning and harmonization were performed at the GEI-funded GENEVA Coordinating Center at the University of Washington.

Project description:This is a case-control study of Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG). POAG is a progressive optic neuropathy that eventually leads to blindness. More than 30 million people worldwide have Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG), of which greater than 3 million are blind. Gene expression changes in the retina have been observed for POAG. Several recent studies, including the GLAUGEN (Glaucoma Gene Environment) initiative have used GWAS to identify correlative regions of the genome. Despite this, the genetic basis of Glaucoma is not well understood. Epigenetic variation may account for low heritability and environmental effects on human disease. Despite the significant advances being made in understanding the role of epigenetics in gene regulation in other fields, little is known about the relationship between DNA methylation patterns, retinal gene expression, and retinal disease. The goal of this study is to identify differentially methylated regions in the peripheral blood of patients with POAG. The case identification is as per the GLAUGEN description: Cases and controls were recruited from ophthalmology clinics and were examined by ophthalmologists. For cases the clinical exam included intraocular pressure measurements, optic nerve assessment and visual field evaluation. Controls had no family history of glaucoma, normal intraocular pressure and normal optic nerves. POAG and control samples come from Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI). These samples were collected and genotyped as part of the GLAUGEN study. From the MEEI, 50 patients were selected from POAG pedigrees, to include all the probands genotyped by CIDR and are currently undergoing exome sequencing, and to include additional genotyped probands who belong to pedigrees of sufficient size and structure that parent of origin effects could be evaluated. Additional individual-level phenotype and genotype data may be obtained through the authorized access portal of <a href="./study.cgi?study_id=phs000308">phs000308</a> (Geneva - Glaugen GWAS Study).

Project description:Purpose: The optic nerve head (ONH) is the likely site of initial damage in the glaucomatous eye. Despite the recognition of elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) as a leading risk factor for the development of glaucoma, ocular hypertension (OHT) eyes displaying consistently elevated IOP do not experience ONH damage. This study aims to identify global gene expression variations in glaucomatous ONHs and their relationship to those identified in OHT derived ONHs in order to improve our understanding of IOP-induced ONH damage. Methods: (N=6) ONHs were collected from clinically confirmed glaucoma, OHT and age-matched control donor eyes. Total RNA extracted from ONHs was reverse transcribed and assayed using the Affymetrix Human Exon 1.0 ST array. Differentially expressed genes in glaucoma versus control and OHT derived ONHs were identified using an ANOVA analysis with a 1.25 fold change limit and P-value < 0.05. Quantitative RT-PCR was performed to validate selected differentially expressed genes. Results: Microarray analysis revealed 149 under under-expressed genes in POAG versus control ONHs, many of which are involved in ion transport, axonogenesis and macromolecule catabolic processes. 297 genes were over expressed in OHT versus glaucoma derived ONHs. Mediators of oxidation-reduction and chemical homeostasis were among the most prominent gene groups identified. The over expression of prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2, integrin, beta-like 1 and fibulin 5 in glaucomatous ONHs was confirmed by qRT-PCR. Conclusions: Our data demonstrates marked alteration in global gene expression patterns in the glaucomatous ONH, likely due to extensive tissue injury. The observed overlapping of several differentially expressed genes in glaucoma and OHT derived ONHs suggests the induction of common mechanisms in response to elevated IOP. Preferential over-expression of certain gene groups in OHT but not glaucoma derived ONHs may confer possible protection against IOP-induced ONH damage, which remains to be investigated in future studies. (N=6) Glaucoma, ocular hypertension and age-matched control ONHs were assayed to investigate and compare global gene expression patterns in each sample group.

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Glaucoma Exome Sequencing

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