Authors
Raul Aguirre-Gamboa, Irma Joosten, Paulo CM Urbano, Renate G van der Molen, Esther van Rijssen, Bram van Cranenbroek, Marije Oosting, Sanne Smeekens, Martin Jaeger, Maria Zorro, Sebo Withoff, Antonius E van Herwaarden, Fred CGJ Sweep, Romana T Netea, Morris A Swertz, Lude Franke, Ramnik J Xavier, Leo AB Joosten, Mihai G Netea, Cisca Wijmenga, Vinod Kumar, Yang Li, Hans JPM Koenen
Publication date
2016/11/22
Journal
Cell reports
Volume
17
Issue
9
Pages
2474-2487
Publisher
Elsevier
Description
Effective immunity requires a complex network of cellular and humoral components that interact with each other and are influenced by different environmental and host factors. We used a systems biology approach to comprehensively assess the impact of environmental and genetic factors on immune cell populations in peripheral blood, including associations with immunoglobulin concentrations, from ∼500 healthy volunteers from the Human Functional Genomics Project. Genetic heritability estimation showed that variations in T cell numbers are more strongly driven by genetic factors, while B cell counts are more environmentally influenced. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping identified eight independent genomic loci associated with leukocyte count variation, including four associations with T and B cell subtypes. The QTLs identified were enriched among genome-wide association study (GWAS) SNPs reported …
Scholar articles
R Aguirre-Gamboa, I Joosten, PCM Urbano… - Cell reports, 2016