Xiong, Z;
Dankova, G;
Howe, LJ;
Lee, MK;
Hysi, PG;
de Jong, MA;
Zhu, G;
... Kayser, M; + view all
(2019)
Novel genetic loci affecting facial shape variation in humans.
eLife
, 8
, Article e49898. 10.7554/eLife.49898.
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Abstract
The human face represents a combined set of highly heritable phenotypes, but knowledge on its genetic architecture remains limited, despite the relevance for various fields. A series of genome-wide association studies on 78 facial shape phenotypes quantified from 3-dimensional facial images of 10,115 Europeans identified 24 genetic loci reaching study-wide suggestive association (p < 5 × 10−8), among which 17 were previously unreported. A follow-up multi-ethnic study in additional 7917 individuals confirmed 10 loci including six unreported ones (padjusted < 2.1 × 10−3). A global map of derived polygenic face scores assembled facial features in major continental groups consistent with anthropological knowledge. Analyses of epigenomic datasets from cranial neural crest cells revealed abundant cis-regulatory activities at the face-associated genetic loci. Luciferase reporter assays in neural crest progenitor cells highlighted enhancer activities of several face-associated DNA variants. These results substantially advance our understanding of the genetic basis underlying human facial variation and provide candidates for future in-vivo functional studies.
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