Neurodegenerative disease risk associated with gene expression in peripheral monocytes across ancestries
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: It is hypothesised that peripheral immune states responding to regional environmental triggers contribute to central neurodegeneration. Region-specific genetic selection pressures require this hypothesis to be assessed in an ancestry-specific manner. Here, we utilise genome-wide association studies and expression quantitative trait loci from African, East Asian and European ancestries to show that genes causally-implicated in neurodegeneration are preferentially expressed in innate rather than adaptive immune cells. Using colocalisation and Mendelian randomisation analyses, we show that in addition to known colocalising signals in microglia, genetic variants associated with neurodegenerative disease risk also regulate the expression of these genes in peripheral monocytes across ancestries.
Source: Communications Biology
Institutions: National Institutes of Health, The Francis Crick Institute, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute on Aging, Aligning Science Across Parkinson's, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, Nanyang Technological University, Montreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, University of Cambridge, MRC Biostatistics Unit
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,190
OpenAlex ID: W7215906133
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