ORCID Profile
0000-0001-5751-9178
Current Organisation
The University of Edinburgh
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-05-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41588-019-0438-3
Abstract: An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-07-2018
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-07-2023
DOI: 10.1038/S42003-023-04869-0
Abstract: Skull bone mineral density (SK-BMD) provides a suitable trait for the discovery of key genes in bone biology, particularly to intramembranous ossification, not captured at other skeletal sites. We perform a genome-wide association meta-analysis ( n ~ 43,800) of SK-BMD, identifying 59 loci, collectively explaining 12.5% of the trait variance. Association signals cluster within gene-sets involved in skeletal development and osteoporosis. Among the four novel loci ( ZIC1 , PRKAR1A , AZIN1/ATP6V1C1 , GLRX3 ), there are factors implicated in intramembranous ossification and as we show, inherent to craniosynostosis processes. Functional follow-up in zebrafish confirms the importance of ZIC1 on cranial suture patterning. Likewise, we observe abnormal cranial bone initiation that culminates in ectopic sutures and reduced BMD in mosaic atp6v1c1 knockouts. Mosaic prkar1a knockouts present asymmetric bone growth and, conversely, elevated BMD. In light of this evidence linking SK-BMD loci to craniofacial abnormalities, our study provides new insight into the pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of skeletal diseases.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-06-2017
DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS15927
Abstract: The genetic features of isolated populations can boost power in complex-trait association studies, and an in-depth understanding of how their genetic variation has been shaped by their demographic history can help leverage these advantageous characteristics. Here, we perform a comprehensive investigation using 3,059 newly generated low-depth whole-genome sequences from eight European isolates and two matched general populations, together with published data from the 1000 Genomes Project and UK10K. Sequencing data give deeper and richer insights into population demography and genetic characteristics than genotype-chip data, distinguishing related populations more effectively and allowing their functional variants to be studied more fully. We demonstrate relaxation of purifying selection in the isolates, leading to enrichment of rare and low-frequency functional variants, using novel statistics, DVxy and SVxy . We also develop an isolation-index ( Isx ) that predicts the overall level of such key genetic characteristics and can thus help guide population choice in future complex-trait association studies.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 07-04-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.04.01.21254789
Abstract: Severe COVID-19 is characterised by immunopathology and epithelial injury. Proteomic studies have identified circulating proteins that are biomarkers of severe COVID-19, but cannot distinguish correlation from causation. To address this, we performed Mendelian randomisation (MR) to identify proteins that mediate severe COVID-19. Using protein quantitative trait loci (pQTL) data from the SCALLOP consortium, involving meta-analysis of up to 26,494 in iduals, and COVID-19 genome-wide association data from the Host Genetics Initiative, we performed MR for 157 COVID-19 severity protein biomarkers. We identified significant MR results for five proteins: FAS, TNFRSF10A, CCL2, EPHB4 and LGALS9. Further evaluation of these candidates using sensitivity analyses and colocalization testing provided strong evidence to implicate the apoptosis-associated cytokine receptor FAS as a causal mediator of severe COVID-19. This effect was specific to severe disease. Using RNA-seq data from 4,778 in iduals, we demonstrate that the pQTL at the FAS locus results from genetically influenced alternate splicing causing skipping of exon 6. We show that the risk allele for very severe COVID-19 increases the proportion of transcripts lacking exon 6, and thereby increases soluble FAS. Soluble FAS acts as a decoy receptor for FAS-ligand, inhibiting apoptosis induced through membrane-bound FAS. In summary, we demonstrate a novel genetic mechanism that contributes to risk of severe of COVID-19, highlighting a pathway that may be a promising therapeutic target.
Publisher: Research Square Platform LLC
Date: 16-12-2021
DOI: 10.21203/RS.3.RS-1129252/V1
Abstract: Even though physical activity and sedentary behavior are moderately heritable, little is known about the mechanisms that influence these traits. Here, we combine data for up to 674,980 in iduals from 51 studies in a trans-ancestry meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for self-reported moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity during leisure time (MVPA) leisure screen time (LST) sedentary commuting and sedentary behavior at work. We identify 99 loci that associate with at least one trait. Loci associated with LST are enriched for genes whose expression in skeletal muscle is altered by resistance training. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the Glu to Ala substitution encoded by rs2229456 (ACTN3) – associated with more MVPA – disrupts salt bridge interactions and makes the alpha actinin 3 filaments more flexible. In isolated type II A muscle fibers, the Ala-encoding allele is associated with lower maximal force and power during an isometric contraction, suggesting protection from exercise-induced muscle damage. Finally, Mendelian Randomization analyses show that the causal effect of LST on BMI is 2-3 times larger than the effect of body mass index (BMI) on LST, and that beneficial effects of LST and MVPA on several risk factors and diseases are mediated or confounded by BMI. Taken together, our results provide mechanistic insights into the regulation of MVPA and into the role of LST and MVPA in disease prevention. These insights may facilitate the development of tailored physical activity interventions.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-04-2016
DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS11008
Abstract: Myopia is the most common human eye disorder and it results from complex genetic and environmental causes. The rapidly increasing prevalence of myopia poses a major public health challenge. Here, the CREAM consortium performs a joint meta-analysis to test single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) main effects and SNP × education interaction effects on refractive error in 40,036 adults from 25 studies of European ancestry and 10,315 adults from 9 studies of Asian ancestry. In European ancestry in iduals, we identify six novel loci ( FAM150B-ACP1 , LINC00340 , FBN1 , DIS3L-MAP2K1 , ARID2-SNAT1 and SLC14A2 ) associated with refractive error. In Asian populations, three genome-wide significant loci AREG , GABRR1 and PDE10A also exhibit strong interactions with education ( P .5 × 10 −5 ), whereas the interactions are less evident in Europeans. The discovery of these loci represents an important advance in understanding how gene and environment interactions contribute to the heterogeneity of myopia.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 08-01-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-018-07819-1
Abstract: Emmanuelle Souzeau, who contributed to analysis of data, was inadvertently omitted from the author list in the originally published version of this Article. This has now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.
Publisher: Research Square Platform LLC
Date: 10-03-2022
DOI: 10.21203/RS.3.RS-1409164/V1
Abstract: Hypertension is a leading cause of premature death affecting more than a billion in iduals worldwide. Here we report on the genetic determinants of blood pressure (BP) traits (systolic, diastolic, and pulse pressure) in the largest single-stage genome-wide analysis to date (N = 1,028,980 European-descent in iduals). We identified 2,103 independent genetic signals (P 5x10 − 8 ) for BP traits, including 113 novel loci. These associations explain ~ 40% of common SNP heritability of systolic and diastolic BP. Comparison of top versus bottom deciles of polygenic risk scores (PRS) based on these results reveal clinically meaningful differences in BP (12.9 mm Hg for systolic BP, 95% CI 11.5–14.2 mm Hg, p = 9.08×10 − 73 ) and hypertension risk (OR 5.41 95% CI 4.12 to 7.10 P = 9.71×10 − 33 ) in an independent dataset. Compared with the area under the curve (AUC) for hypertension discrimination for a model with sex, age, BMI, and genetic ancestry, adding systolic and diastolic BP PRS increased discrimination from 0.791 (95% CI = 0.781–0.801) to 0.814 (95% CI = 0.805–0.824, ∆AUC = 0.023, P = 2.27x10 − 22 ). Our transcriptome-wide association study detected 2,793 BP colocalized associations with genetically-predicted expression of 1,070 genes in five cardiovascular tissues, of which 500 are previously unreported for BP traits. These findings represent an advance in our understanding of hypertension and highlight the role of increasingly large genomic studies for development of more accurate PRS, which may inform precision health research.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-08-2200
DOI: 10.1038/S41380-022-01710-8
Abstract: Understanding the genomic basis of memory processes may help in combating neurodegenerative disorders. Hence, we examined the associations of common genetic variants with verbal short-term memory and verbal learning in adults without dementia or stroke ( N = 53,637). We identified novel loci in the intronic region of CDH18 , and at 13q21 and 3p21.1, as well as an expected signal in the APOE/APOC1/TOMM40 region. These results replicated in an independent s le. Functional and bioinformatic analyses supported many of these loci and further implicated POC1 . We showed that polygenic score for verbal learning associated with brain activation in right parieto-occipital region during working memory task. Finally, we showed genetic correlations of these memory traits with several neurocognitive and health outcomes. Our findings suggest a role of several genomic loci in verbal memory processes.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-05-2018
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 05-08-2016
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 25-11-2019
Publisher: F1000 Research Ltd
Date: 06-2020
DOI: 10.12688/WELLCOMEOPENRES.15846.1
Abstract: Background: Lung function is highly heritable and differs between the sexes throughout life. However, little is known about sex-differential genetic effects on lung function. We aimed to conduct the first genome-wide genotype-by-sex interaction study on lung function to identify genetic effects that differ between males and females. Methods: We tested for interactions between 7,745,864 variants and sex on spirometry-based measures of lung function in UK Biobank (N=303,612), and sought replication in 75,696 independent in iduals from the SpiroMeta consortium. Results: Five independent single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) showed genome-wide significant (P x10 -8 ) interactions with sex on lung function, and 21 showed suggestive interactions (P x10 -6 ). The strongest signal, from rs7697189 (chr4:145436894) on forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV 1 ) (P=3.15x10 -15 ), was replicated (P=0.016) in SpiroMeta. The C allele increased FEV 1 more in males (untransformed FEV 1 β=0.028 [SE 0.0022] litres) than females (β=0.009 [SE 0.0014] litres), and this effect was not accounted for by differential effects on height, smoking or pubertal age. rs7697189 resides upstream of the hedgehog-interacting protein ( HHIP ) gene and was previously associated with lung function and HHIP lung expression. We found HHIP expression was significantly different between the sexes (P=6.90x10 -6 ), but we could not detect sex differential effects of rs7697189 on expression. Conclusions: We identified a novel genotype-by-sex interaction at a putative enhancer region upstream of the HHIP gene. Establishing the mechanism by which HHIP SNPs have different effects on lung function in males and females will be important for our understanding of lung health and diseases in both sexes.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-06-2010
DOI: 10.1038/NG.609
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-2009
DOI: 10.1002/ANA.21780
Publisher: F1000 Research Ltd
Date: 24-05-2021
DOI: 10.12688/WELLCOMEOPENRES.15846.2
Abstract: Background: Lung function is highly heritable and differs between the sexes throughout life. However, little is known about sex-differential genetic effects on lung function. We aimed to conduct the first genome-wide genotype-by-sex interaction study on lung function to identify genetic effects that differ between males and females. Methods: We tested for interactions between 7,745,864 variants and sex on spirometry-based measures of lung function in UK Biobank (N=303,612), and sought replication in 75,696 independent in iduals from the SpiroMeta consortium. Results: Five independent single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) showed genome-wide significant (P x10 -8 ) interactions with sex on lung function, and 21 showed suggestive interactions (P x10 -6 ). The strongest signal, from rs7697189 (chr4:145436894) on forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV 1 ) (P=3.15x10 -15 ), was replicated (P=0.016) in SpiroMeta. The C allele increased FEV 1 more in males (untransformed FEV 1 β=0.028 [SE 0.0022] litres) than females (β=0.009 [SE 0.0014] litres), and this effect was not accounted for by differential effects on height, smoking or pubertal age. rs7697189 resides upstream of the hedgehog-interacting protein ( HHIP ) gene and was previously associated with lung function and HHIP lung expression. We found HHIP expression was significantly different between the sexes (P=6.90x10 -6 ), but we could not detect sex differential effects of rs7697189 on expression. Conclusions: We identified a novel genotype-by-sex interaction at a putative enhancer region upstream of the HHIP gene. Establishing the mechanism by which HHIP SNPs have different effects on lung function in males and females will be important for our understanding of lung health and diseases in both sexes.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 25-09-2020
DOI: 10.1101/2020.09.24.20200048
Abstract: The subset of patients who develop critical illness in Covid-19 have extensive inflammation affecting the lungs 1 and are strikingly different from other patients: immunosuppressive therapy benefits critically-ill patients, but may harm some non-critical cases. 2 Since susceptibility to life-threatening infections and immune-mediated diseases are both strongly heritable traits, we reasoned that host genetic variation may identify mechanistic targets for therapeutic development in Covid-19. 3 GenOMICC (Genetics Of Mortality In Critical Care, genomicc.org ) is a global collaborative study to understand the genetic basis of critical illness. Here we report the results of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in 2244 critically-ill Covid-19 patients from 208 UK intensive care units (ICUs), representing % of all ICU beds. Ancestry-matched controls were drawn from the UK Biobank population study and results were confirmed in GWAS comparisons with two other population control groups: the 100,000 genomes project and Generation Scotland. We identify and replicate three novel genome-wide significant associations, at chr19p13.3 (rs2109069, p = 3.98 × 10 −12 ), within the gene encoding dipeptidyl peptidase 9 ( DPP9 ), at chr12q24.13 (rs10735079, p =1.65 × 10 −8 ) in a gene cluster encoding antiviral restriction enzyme activators ( OAS1, OAS2, OAS3 ), and at chr21q22.1 (rs2236757, p = 4.99 × 10 −8 ) in the interferon receptor gene IFNAR2 . Consistent with our focus on extreme disease in younger patients with less comorbidity, we detect a stronger signal at the known 3p21.31 locus than previous studies (rs73064425, p = 4.77 × 10 −30 ). We identify potential targets for repurposing of licensed medications. Using Mendelian randomisation we found evidence in support of a causal link from low expression of IFNAR2 , and high expression of TYK2 , to life-threatening disease. Transcriptome-wide association in lung tissue revealed that high expression of the monocyte/macrophage chemotactic receptor CCR2 is associated with severe Covid-19. Our results identify robust genetic signals relating to key host antiviral defence mechanisms, and mediators of inflammatory organ damage in Covid-19. Both mechanisms may be amenable to targeted treatment with existing drugs. Large-scale randomised clinical trials will be essential before any change to clinical practice.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 05-06-2009
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-12-2008
DOI: 10.1038/NG.269
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-05-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-018-03646-6
Abstract: Central corneal thickness (CCT) is a highly heritable trait associated with complex eye diseases such as keratoconus and glaucoma. We perform a genome-wide association meta-analysis of CCT and identify 19 novel regions. In addition to adding support for known connective tissue-related pathways, pathway analyses uncover previously unreported gene sets. Remarkably, % of the CCT-loci are near or within Mendelian disorder genes. These included FBN1 , ADAMTS2 and TGFB2 which associate with connective tissue disorders (Marfan, Ehlers-Danlos and Loeys-Dietz syndromes), and the LUM-DCN-KERA gene complex involved in myopia, corneal dystrophies and cornea plana. Using index CCT-increasing variants, we find a significant inverse correlation in effect sizes between CCT and keratoconus ( r = −0.62, P = 5.30 × 10 −5 ) but not between CCT and primary open-angle glaucoma ( r = −0.17, P = 0.2). Our findings provide evidence for shared genetic influences between CCT and keratoconus, and implicate candidate genes acting in collagen and extracellular matrix regulation.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-04-2010
DOI: 10.1038/NG.567
Publisher: Research Square Platform LLC
Date: 31-03-2023
DOI: 10.21203/RS.3.RS-2720355/V1
Abstract: Understanding the genetic basis of neuro-related proteins is essential for dissecting the molecular basis of human behavioral traits and the disease etiology of neuropsychiatric disorders. Here, the SCALLOP Consortium conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of over 12,500 in iduals for 184 neuro-related proteins in human plasma. The analysis identified 117 cis-regulatory protein quantitative trait loci (cis-pQTL) and 166 trans-pQTL. The mapped pQTL capture on average 50% of each protein's heritability. Mendelian randomization analyses revealed multiple proteins showing potential causal effects on neuro-related traits such as sleeping, smoking, feelings, alcohol intake, mental health, and psychiatric disorders. Integrating with established drug information, we validated 13 out of 13 matched combinations of protein targets and diseases or side effects with available drugs, while suggesting hundreds of re-purposing and new therapeutic targets. This consortium effort provides a large-scale proteogenomic resource for biomedical research on human behaviors and other neuro-related phenotypes.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 05-08-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.08.03.21261494
Abstract: We performed the largest genome-wide meta-analysis (GWAMA) (Max N=26,494) of the levels of 184 cardiovascular-related plasma protein levels to date and reported 592 independent loci (pQTL) associated with the level of at least one protein (1308 significant associations, median 6 per protein). We estimated that only between 8-37% of testable pQTL overlap with established expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) using multiple methods, while 132 out of 1064 lead variants show evidence for transcription factor binding, and found that 75% of our pQTL are known DNA methylation QTL. We highlight the variation in genetic architecture between proteins and that proteins share genetic architecture with cardiometabolic complex traits. Using cis -instrument Mendelian randomisation (MR), we infer causal relationships for 11 proteins, recapitulating the previously reported relationship between PCSK9 and LDL cholesterol, replicating previous pQTL MR findings and discovering 16 causal relationships between protein levels and disease. Our MR results highlight IL2-RA as a candidate for drug repurposing for Crohn’s Disease as well as 2 novel therapeutic targets: IL-27 (Crohn’s disease) and TNFRSF14 (Inflammatory bowel disease, Multiple sclerosis and Ulcerative colitis). We have demonstrated the discoveries possible using our pQTL and highlight the potential of this work as a resource for genetic epidemiology.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-05-2020
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-020-15706-X
Abstract: The electrocardiographic PR interval reflects atrioventricular conduction, and is associated with conduction abnormalities, pacemaker implantation, atrial fibrillation (AF), and cardiovascular mortality. Here we report a multi-ancestry ( N = 293,051) genome-wide association meta-analysis for the PR interval, discovering 202 loci of which 141 have not previously been reported. Variants at identified loci increase the percentage of heritability explained, from 33.5% to 62.6%. We observe enrichment for cardiac muscle developmental/contractile and cytoskeletal genes, highlighting key regulation processes for atrioventricular conduction. Additionally, 8 loci not previously reported harbor genes underlying inherited arrhythmic syndromes and/or cardiomyopathies suggesting a role for these genes in cardiovascular pathology in the general population. We show that polygenic predisposition to PR interval duration is an endophenotype for cardiovascular disease, including distal conduction disease, AF, and atrioventricular pre-excitation. These findings advance our understanding of the polygenic basis of cardiac conduction, and the genetic relationship between PR interval duration and cardiovascular disease.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-12-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41586-020-03065-Y
Abstract: Host-mediated lung inflammation is present
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-02-2019
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-11-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41588-018-0297-3
Abstract: In the version of this article originally published, the name of author Martin H. de Borst was coded incorrectly in the XML. The error has now been corrected in the HTML version of the paper.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 08-2010
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE09270
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 02-09-2021
DOI: 10.1101/2021.09.02.21262965
Abstract: Critical illness in COVID-19 is caused by inflammatory lung injury, mediated by the host immune system. We and others have shown that host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care 1 or hospitalisation 2 4 following SARS-Co-V2 infection. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study recruits critically-ill cases and compares their genomes with population controls in order to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here, we use whole genome sequencing and statistical fine mapping in 7,491 critically-ill cases compared with 48,400 population controls to discover and replicate 22 independent variants that significantly predispose to life-threatening COVID-19. We identify 15 new independent associations with critical COVID-19, including variants within genes involved in interferon signalling ( IL10RB, PLSCR1 ), leucocyte differentiation ( BCL11A ), and blood type antigen secretor status ( FUT2 ). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalisation to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence implicating expression of multiple genes, including reduced expression of a membrane flippase ( ATP11A ), and increased mucin expression ( MUC1 ), in critical disease. We show that comparison between critically-ill cases and population controls is highly efficient for genetic association analysis and enables detection of therapeutically-relevant mechanisms of disease. Therapeutic predictions arising from these findings require testing in clinical trials.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-08-2023
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-07-2019
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-01-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-017-02662-2
Abstract: Vitamin D is a steroid hormone precursor that is associated with a range of human traits and diseases. Previous GWAS of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations have identified four genome-wide significant loci ( GC, NADSYN1/DHCR7, CYP2R1, CYP24A1 ). In this study, we expand the previous SUNLIGHT Consortium GWAS discovery s le size from 16,125 to 79,366 (all European descent). This larger GWAS yields two additional loci harboring genome-wide significant variants ( P = 4.7×10 −9 at rs8018720 in SEC23A , and P = 1.9×10 −14 at rs10745742 in AMDHD1 ). The overall estimate of heritability of 25-hydroxyvitamin D serum concentrations attributable to GWAS common SNPs is 7.5%, with statistically significant loci explaining 38% of this total. Further investigation identifies signal enrichment in immune and hematopoietic tissues, and clustering with autoimmune diseases in cell-type-specific analysis. Larger studies are required to identify additional common SNPs, and to explore the role of rare or structural variants and gene–gene interactions in the heritability of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-01-2019
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-11-2010
DOI: 10.1038/NG.714
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-03-2023
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-02-2017
DOI: 10.1038/NG.3787
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-05-2016
DOI: 10.1038/ICB.2016.41
Abstract: Immunological memory is characterized by the rapid reactivation of memory B cells that produce large quantities of high-affinity antigen-specific antibodies. This contrasts the response of naïve B cells, and the primary immune response, which is much slower and of lower affinity. Memory responses are critical for protection against infectious diseases and form the basis of most currently available vaccines. Although we have known about the phenomenon of long-lived memory for centuries, the biochemical differences underlying these erse responses of naïve and memory B cells is incompletely resolved. Here we investigated the nature of B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling in human splenic naïve, IgM(+) memory and isotype-switched memory B cells following multivalent BCR crosslinking. We observed comparable rapid and transient phosphorylation kinetics for proximal (phosphotyrosine and spleen tyrosine kinase) and propagation (B-cell linker, phospholipase Cγ2) signaling components in these different B-cell subsets. However, the magnitude of activation of downstream components of the BCR signaling pathway were greater in memory compared with naïve cells. Although no differences were observed in the magnitude of Ca(2+) mobilization between subsets, IgM(+) memory B cells exhibited a more rapid Ca(2+) mobilization and a greater depletion of the Ca(2+) endoplasmic reticulum stores, while IgG(+) memory B cells had a prolonged Ca(2+) uptake. Collectively, our findings show that intrinsic signaling features of B-cell subsets contribute to the robust response of human memory B cells over naïve B cells. This has implications for our understanding of memory B-cell responses and provides a framework to modulate these responses in the setting of vaccination and immunopathologies, such as immunodeficiency and autoimmunity.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for James F Wilson.