Affiliations: [a] The Translational Genomics Research Institute, Quantitative Medicine and Systems Biology, Phoenix, AZ, USA
| [b] Department of Psychiatry University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| [c] Center for Behavior Genetics of Aging, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
Correspondence:
[*]
Correspondence to: Jeremy A. Elman, PhD, UCSD Department of Psychiatry, 9500 Gilman Drive (MC 0738), La Jolla, CA 92093, USA. Tel.: +1 858 534 6842; Fax: +1 858 822 5856; E-mail: jaelman@health.ucsd.edu.
Note: [1] Data used in preparation of this article were obtained from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database (http://adni.loni.usc.edu). As such, the investigators within the ADNI contributed to the design and implementation of ADNI and/or provided data but did not participate in analysis or writing of this report. A complete listing of ADNI investigators can be found at: http://adni.loni.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/how_to_apply/ADNI_Acknowledgement_List.pdf
Abstract: Background:APOE is the largest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but there is a substantial polygenic component. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) can summarize small effects across the genome but may obscure differential risk across molecular processes and pathways that contribute to heterogeneity of disease presentation. Objective:We examined polygenic risk impacting specific AD-associated pathways and its relationship with clinical status and biomarkers of amyloid, tau, and neurodegeneration (A/T/N). Methods:We analyzed data from 1,411 participants from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). We applied pathway analysis and clustering to identify AD-associated “pathway clusters” and construct pathway-specific PRSs (excluding the APOE region). We tested associations with diagnostic status, abnormal levels of amyloid and ptau, and hippocampal volume. Results:Thirteen pathway clusters were identified, and eight pathway-specific PRSs were significantly associated with AD diagnosis. Amyloid-positivity was associated with endocytosis and fibril formation, response misfolded protein, and regulation protein tyrosine PRSs. Ptau positivity and hippocampal volume were both related to protein localization and mitophagy PRS, and ptau-positivity was also associated with an immune signaling PRS. A global AD PRS showed stronger associations with diagnosis and all biomarkers compared to pathway PRSs. Conclusions:Pathway PRS may contribute to understanding separable disease processes, but do not add significant power for predictive purposes. These findings demonstrate that AD-phenotypes may be preferentially associated with risk in specific pathways, and defining genetic risk along multiple dimensions may clarify etiological heterogeneity in AD. This approach to delineate pathway-specific PRS can be used to study other complex diseases.
