Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 27, 2025

Large-Scale Multi-Omics Genome-Wide Association Studies Mo-GWAS: Guidelines for Sample Preparation and Normalization
Published on: July 27, 2021
Identifying pleiotropic genes for major psychiatric disorders with GWAS summary statistics using multivariate
Yuping Wang1, Yongli Yang1, Xiaocan Jia1
1Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, Henan, China.
Background:
Genome wide association studies (GWAS) have discovered a few of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to major psychiatric disorders. However, it is not completely clear which genes play a pleiotropic role in multiple disorders. The study aimed to identify the pleiotropic genes across five psychiatric disorders using multivariate adaptive association tests.
Methods:
Summary statistics of five psychiatric disorders were downloaded from Psychiatric Genomics Consortium. We applied linkage disequilibrium score regression (LDSC) to estimate genetic correlation and conducted tissue and cell type specificity analyses based on Multi-marker Analysis of GenoMic Annotation (MAGMA). Then, we identified the pleiotropic genes using MTaSPUsSet and aSPUs tests. We ultimately performed the functional analysis for pleiotropic genes.
Results:
We confirmed the significant genetic correlation and brain tissue and neuron specificity among five disorders. 100 pleiotropic genes were detected to be significantly associated with five psychiatric disorders, of which 55 were novel genes. These genes were functionally enriched in neuron differentiation and synaptic transmission.
Limitations:
The effect direction of pleiotropic genes couldn't be distinguished due to without individual-level data.
Conclusion:
We identified pleiotropic genes using multivariate adaptive association tests and explored their biological function. The findings may provide novel insight into the development and implementation of prevention and treatment as well as targeted drug discovery in practice.
Related Concept Videos
Genome-wide Association Studies-GWAS
GWAS does not require the identification of the target gene involved in...
Human Genetics
The complex relationship between genetics and psychology is observable through common biological components such...
Behavioral Genetics and Its Designs
The primary methodologies used in behavior genetics include family studies, twin studies, and adoption studies, each providing unique...
Polygenic Traits
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms-SNPs
Pleiotropy

