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Research article2016Peer reviewedOpen access

Multiple regulatory variants located in cell type-specific enhancers within the PKP2 locus form major risk and protective haplotypes for canine atopic dermatitis in German shepherd dogs

Tengvall, Katarina; Kozyrev, Sergey; Kierczak, Marcin; Bergvall, Kerstin; Farias, Fabiana H. G.; Ardesjo-Lundgren, Brita; Olsson, Mia; Muren, Eva; Hagman, Ragnvi; Leeb, Tosso; Pielberg, Gerli; Hedhammar, Ake; Andersson, Goran; Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin

Abstract

Background: Canine atopic dermatitis (CAD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease triggered by allergic reactions involving IgE antibodies directed towards environmental allergens. We previously identified a similar to 1.5 Mb locus on canine chromosome 27 associated with CAD in German shepherd dogs (GSDs). Fine-mapping indicated association closest to the PKP2 gene encoding plakophilin 2.Results: Additional genotyping and association analyses in GSDs combined with control dogs from five breeds with low-risk for CAD revealed the top SNP 27: 19,086,778 (p = 1.4 x 10(-7)) and a rare similar to 48 kb risk haplotype overlapping the PKP2 gene and shared only with other high-risk CAD breeds. We selected altogether nine SNPs (four top-associated in GSDs and five within the similar to 48 kb risk haplotype) that spanned similar to 280 kb forming one risk haplotype carried by 35 % of the GSD cases and 10 % of the GSD controls (OR = 5.1, p = 5.9 x 10(-5)), and another haplotype present in 85 % of the GSD cases and 98 % of the GSD controls and conferring a protective effect against CAD in GSDs (OR = 0.14, p = 0.0032). Eight of these SNPs were analyzed for transcriptional regulation using reporter assays where all tested regions exerted regulatory effects on transcription in epithelial and/or immune cell lines, and seven SNPs showed allelic differences. The DNA fragment with the top-associated SNP 27: 19,086,778 displayed the highest activity in keratinocytes with 11-fold induction of transcription by the risk allele versus 8-fold by the control allele (p(difference) = 0.003), and also mapped close (similar to 3 kb) to an ENCODE skin-specific enhancer region.Conclusions: Our experiments indicate that multiple CAD-associated genetic variants located in cell type-specific enhancers are involved in gene regulation in different cells and tissues. No single causative variant alone, but rather multiple variants combined in a risk haplotype likely contribute to an altered expression of the PKP2 gene, and possibly nearby genes, in immune and epithelial cells, and predispose GSDs to CAD.

Keywords

PKP2; Atopic dermatitis; Genetic association; Luciferase reporter assay; Cell type-specific enhancers; Dog; Plakophilin 2; Eczema

Published in

BMC Genetics
2016, Volume: 17, article number: 97
Publisher: BIOMED CENTRAL LTD