Linkage disequilibrium and haplotype studies of chromosome 8p 11.1-21.1 markers and Werner syndrome

Werner syndrome (WS) is an autosomal recessive disorder, characterized as a progeroid syndrome, previously mapped to the 8p 11.1-21.1 region. Because WS is so rare, and because many patients are from consanguineous marriages, fine localization of the gene by traditional meiotic mapping methods is unlikely to succeed. Here we present the results of a search for a region that exhibits linkage disequilibrium with the disorder, under the assumption that identification of such a region may provide an alternative method of narrowing down the location of WRN, the gene responsible for WS. We present allele frequencies in Japanese and Caucasian cases and controls for D8S137, D8S131, D8S87, D8S278, D8S259, D8S283, fibroblast growth factor receptor 1, ankyrin 1, D8S339, and two polymorphisms in glutathione reductase (GSR), covering approximately 16.5 cM in total. We show that three of the markers examined--D8S339 and both polymorphisms in the GSR locus--show strong statistically significant evidence of disequilibrium with WRN in the Japanese population but not in the Caucasian population. In addition, we show that a limited number of haplotypes are associated with the disease in both populations and that these haplotypes define clusters of apparently related haplotypes that may identify as many as eight or nine independent WRN mutations in these two populations.