Featured Publications
Genome-wide meta-analysis of insomnia prioritizes genes associated with metabolic and psychiatric pathways
Watanabe K, Jansen PR, Savage JE, Nandakumar P, Wang X, Hinds D, Gelernter J, Levey D, Polimanti R, Stein M, Van Someren E, Smit A, Posthuma D. Genome-wide meta-analysis of insomnia prioritizes genes associated with metabolic and psychiatric pathways. Nature Genetics 2022, 54: 1125-1132. PMID: 35835914, DOI: 10.1038/s41588-022-01124-w.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsRisk lociGenome-wide association studiesSpecific gene setsPrevious genome-wide association studyGene prioritization strategyExternal biological resourcesExtreme polygenicityExpression specificityAssociated lociSignaling functionsGene setsAssociation studiesNeuronal differentiationFunctional interactionGenesLociBiological resourcesPolygenicityNovel strategyPrioritization strategiesSpecific hypothesesDifferentiationPathwayStatistical powerLarge number
2024
Association between cannabis use and brain structure and function: an observational and Mendelian randomisation study
Ishrat S, Levey D, Gelernter J, Ebmeier K, Topiwala A. Association between cannabis use and brain structure and function: an observational and Mendelian randomisation study. BMJ Mental Health 2024, 27: e301065. PMID: 39477366, PMCID: PMC11529520, DOI: 10.1136/bmjment-2024-301065.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsCannabis useBrain structuresFunctional connectivityHistory of cannabis useResting-state functional connectivityMeasures of brain structureLifetime cannabis useCentral executive networkLifetime cannabis usersWhite matter integrityGenu of the corpus callosumMendelian randomisation analysisAssociated with multiple measuresPoorer white matter integrityInvestigate potential causal relationshipsCannabis usersExecutive networkBrain regionsImaging-derived phenotypesBrain healthCannabisRandomisation analysesTwo-sample Mendelian randomisation analysisFractional anisotropyYoung adulthood
2022
Associations between moderate alcohol consumption, brain iron, and cognition in UK Biobank participants: Observational and mendelian randomization analyses
Topiwala A, Wang C, Ebmeier KP, Burgess S, Bell S, Levey DF, Zhou H, McCracken C, Roca-Fernández A, Petersen SE, Raman B, Husain M, Gelernter J, Miller KL, Smith SM, Nichols TE. Associations between moderate alcohol consumption, brain iron, and cognition in UK Biobank participants: Observational and mendelian randomization analyses. PLOS Medicine 2022, 19: e1004039. PMID: 35834561, PMCID: PMC9282660, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1004039.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsAlcohol use disorderHigh brain ironModerate alcohol consumptionBrain ironAlcohol consumptionAlcohol intakeUse disordersSubstantia nigraAlcohol-related cognitive declineIron depositionBrain regionsSusceptibility-weighted magnetic resonanceIron accumulationIron levelsBrain iron depositionBrain iron levelsSystemic iron levelsSystemic iron storesAlcohol-related cognitive deficitsBasal ganglia ironElevated liver ironMendelian randomizationWeekly alcohol consumptionUK Biobank participantsExecutive functionIntegrating human brain proteomes with genome-wide association data implicates novel proteins in post-traumatic stress disorder
Wingo TS, Gerasimov ES, Liu Y, Duong DM, Vattathil SM, Lori A, Gockley J, Breen MS, Maihofer AX, Nievergelt CM, Koenen KC, Levey DF, Gelernter J, Stein MB, Ressler KJ, Bennett DA, Levey AI, Seyfried NT, Wingo AP. Integrating human brain proteomes with genome-wide association data implicates novel proteins in post-traumatic stress disorder. Molecular Psychiatry 2022, 27: 3075-3084. PMID: 35449297, PMCID: PMC9233006, DOI: 10.1038/s41380-022-01544-4.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsProteome-wide association studyTranscriptome-wide association studyGenome-wide association studiesBrain protein abundanceHuman brain proteomeBrain proteomeAssociation studiesProtein abundanceGenome-wide association dataHuman brain transcriptomePost-traumatic stress disorderGWAS resultsNovel proteinBrain transcriptomeRisk lociProteomeGenesAssociation dataPrecursor cellsPTSD pathogenesisBrain mRNA levelsMRNA levelsOligodendrocyte precursor cellsPromising targetNew insights
2021
Pleiotropic effects of telomere length loci with brain morphology and brain tissue expression
Pathak GA, Wendt FR, Levey DF, Mecca AP, van Dyck CH, Gelernter J, Polimanti R. Pleiotropic effects of telomere length loci with brain morphology and brain tissue expression. Human Molecular Genetics 2021, 30: 1360-1370. PMID: 33831179, PMCID: PMC8255129, DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddab102.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchConceptsMethylation expressionGenetic variantsMapping gene functionTelomere lengthChromatin associationChromatin profilesGene functionGenetic colocalizationGene mappingGenomic relationshipsNeuropsychiatric traitsPleiotropic rolesDrug-gene interactionsCertain lociBrain tissue expressionGenesLociPleiotropic effectsBrain morphology measuresNucleotide polymorphismsAncestry populationsTissue expressionPhenotypic associationsPleiotropyAncestry groups