Mechanism-centered target discovery across glomerulonephritis phenotypes: an integrative multi-omics study

Glomerulonephritis (GN) comprises a heterogeneous group of immune-mediated kidney disorders with substantial biological and clinical diversity. Current treatment still relies largely on broad immunosuppression, underscoring the need for mechanism-informed target discovery across GN phenotypes.

We performed a program-guided integrative multi-omics study by combining cis-expression quantitative trait loci and cis-protein quantitative trait loci with GN genome-wide association datasets from UK Biobank, the GWAS Catalog, and FinnGen. Candidate genes were organized into four predefined mechanistic programs: cytokine/TNF signaling, cell-cycle/senescence-repair balance, complement/innate immune activation, and regulated cell-death/redox stress. Six GN-related outcomes were analyzed. Bayesian colocalization, cross-dataset meta-analysis, mouse knockout annotation, drug-repurposing assessment, network pharmacology, and rule-based evidence scoring were used to refine target prioritization.

Integrative screening identified 42 transcriptomic and 12 proteomic putative targets, with the strongest enrichment in non-proliferative glomerulonephritis and primary membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. Bayesian colocalization supported PPP2R1B in non-proliferative glomerulonephritis, SOD1 in IgA nephropathy, and CDK4 in primary membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis. Among 42 transcriptomic gene-outcome pairs taken forward, 11 were supported by cross-dataset meta-analysis. Proteomic meta-analysis supported several cross-dataset signals, including protective associations of ANXA5, GSR, and TNFRSF1B with glomerulonephritis. Across outcomes, complement/innate immunity and cytokine/TNF signaling formed the dominant shared backbone. After separating MHC-region signals for cautious interpretation, 31 non-MHC targets were retained for primary prioritization, with PPP2R1B, CDK4, and SOD1 comprising the top tier.

This mechanism-centered integrative multi-omics study delineates shared and phenotype-enriched biological programs across the GN spectrum and identifies a prioritized set of candidate targets for future validation and therapeutic development.