GIGYF1 loss of function is associated with clonal mosaicism and adverse metabolic health.
Nature communications 2021 ; 12: 4178.
Zhao Y, Stankovic S, Koprulu M, Wheeler E, Day FR, Lango Allen H, Kerrison ND, Pietzner M, Loh PR, Wareham NJ, Langenberg C, Ong KK, Perry JRB
DOI : 10.1038/s41467-021-24504-y
PubMed ID : 34234147
PMCID : PMC8263756
URL : https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-24504-y
Abstract
Mosaic loss of chromosome Y (LOY) in leukocytes is the most common form of clonal mosaicism, caused by dysregulation in cell-cycle and DNA damage response pathways. Previous genetic studies have focussed on identifying common variants associated with LOY, which we now extend to rarer, protein-coding variation using exome sequences from 82,277 male UK Biobank participants. We find that loss of function of two genes-CHEK2 and GIGYF1-reach exome-wide significance. Rare alleles in GIGYF1 have not previously been implicated in any complex trait, but here loss-of-function carriers exhibit six-fold higher susceptibility to LOY (OR = 5.99 [3.04-11.81], p = 1.3 × 10). These same alleles are also associated with adverse metabolic health, including higher susceptibility to Type 2 Diabetes (OR = 6.10 [3.51-10.61], p = 1.8 × 10), 4 kg higher fat mass (p = 1.3 × 10), 2.32 nmol/L lower serum IGF1 levels (p = 1.5 × 10) and 4.5 kg lower handgrip strength (p = 4.7 × 10) consistent with proposed GIGYF1 enhancement of insulin and IGF-1 receptor signalling. These associations are mirrored by a common variant nearby associated with the expression of GIGYF1. Our observations highlight a potential direct connection between clonal mosaicism and metabolic health.