A genome-wide expression quantitative trait loci analysis of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin enzymes identifies a novel regulatory gene variant for XXXX expression and blood pressure.

@entity1 @entity71282 @entity1007 @entity13379 @entity52678 @entity11399 @entity16553
UNASSIGNED: Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin (PCSK) enzymes cleave and convert their immature substrates into biologically active forms. Polymorphisms in the PCSK genes have been reported to associate with @entity1 diseases and phenotypes, including @entity1007 and blood pressure (BP), and targeting PCSKs is considered a promising future form of drug therapy. PCSK processing is readily induced upon upregulation of the enzyme, but the genetic factors contributing to PCSK expression have not been thoroughly characterized. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the genetic regulation of PCSK expression, we performed, for the first time, a genome-wide expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis using mRNA expression in >1400 @entity1 peripheral blood samples from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study and ca. ten million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The expression data showed clear expression for @entity13379 , @entity11399 , @entity16553 and @entity52678 (membrane-bound transcription factor peptidase, site 1) mRNAs in virtually all tested samples. A discovery analysis demonstrated a genome-wide significant (p  <  5  *  10(-8)) association with the selected PCSK probes for 1024 variants, which were located at ten independent loci. Of these loci, 5/10 could be confirmed to regulate PCSK expression in two additional and independent sample sets. Finally, a phenotypic analysis demonstrated that a novel cis-eQTL SNP @entity71282 for @entity13379 is strongly associated with both diastolic (p  =  0.012) and systolic (p  =  0.035) BP levels, as well as peripheral vascular resistance (p  =  0.003). These findings indicate that the expression of the PCSK enzymes is regulated by genetic factors, which have biological roles in health and disease.
