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Updated: Sep 2, 2025

Mapping Alzheimer's Disease Variants to Their Target Genes Using Computational Analysis of Chromatin Configuration
Published on: January 9, 2020
A cross-disorder dosage sensitivity map of the human genome
Ryan L Collins1, Joseph T Glessner2, Eleonora Porcu3
1Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Division of Medical Sciences and Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Abstract:
Rare copy-number variants (rCNVs) include deletions and duplications that occur infrequently in the global human population and can confer substantial risk for disease. In this study, we aimed to quantify the properties of haploinsufficiency (i.e., deletion intolerance) and triplosensitivity (i.e., duplication intolerance) throughout the human genome. We harmonized and meta-analyzed rCNVs from nearly one million individuals to construct a genome-wide catalog of dosage sensitivity across 54 disorders, which defined 163 dosage sensitive segments associated with at least one disorder. These segments were typically gene dense and often harbored dominant dosage sensitive driver genes, which we were able to prioritize using statistical fine-mapping. Finally, we designed an ensemble machine-learning model to predict probabilities of dosage sensitivity (pHaplo & pTriplo) for all autosomal genes, which identified 2,987 haploinsufficient and 1,559 triplosensitive genes, including 648 that were uniquely triplosensitive. This dosage sensitivity resource will provide broad utility for human disease research and clinical genetics.
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