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Updated: Aug 20, 2026

Mapping Alzheimer's Disease Variants to Their Target Genes Using Computational Analysis of Chromatin Configuration
Published on: January 9, 2020
Haplotype-based analysis of alpha 2A, 2B, and 2C adrenergic receptor genes captures information on common functional
Inna Belfer1,2,3, Beata Buzas4,5, Heather Hipp4,5
1Pain and Neurosensory Mechanisms Branch, National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, Bethesda, 20892, MD, USA. ibelfer@mail.nih.gov.
Abstract:
The alpha 2-adrenergic receptors (alpha2-AR) mediate physiological effects of epinephrine and norepinephrine. Three genes encode alpha2-AR subtypes carrying common functional polymorphisms (ADRA2A Asn251Lys, ADRA2B Ins/Del301-303 and ADRA2C Ins/Del322-325). We genotyped these functional markers plus a panel of single nucleotide polymorphisms evenly spaced over the gene regions to identify gene haplotype block structure. A total of 24 markers were genotyped in 96 Caucasians and 96 African Americans. ADRA2A and ADRA2B each had a single haplotype block at least 11 and 16 kb in size, respectively, in both populations. ADRA2C had one haplotype block of 10 kb in Caucasians only. For the three genes, haplotype diversity and the number of common haplotypes were highest in African Americans, but a similar number of markers (3-6) per block was sufficient to capture maximum diversity in either population. For each of the three genes, the haplotype was capable of capturing the information content of the known functional locus even when that locus was not genotyped. The alpha2-AR haplotype maps and marker panels are useful tools for genetic linkage studies to detect effects of known and unknown alpha2-AR functional loci.
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