The X chromosome, with its unique mode of inheritance, contributes to differences between the sexes at a molecular level, including sex-specific gene expression and sex-specific impact of genetic variation. We have conducted an analysis of the impact of both sex and the X chromosome on patterns of gene expression identified through transcriptome sequencing of whole blood from 922 individuals. We identified that genes on the X chromosome are more likely to have sex-specific expression compared to the autosomal genes. Furthermore, we identified a depletion of regulatory variants on the X chromosome, especially among genes under high selective constraint. In contrast, we discovered an enrichment of sex-specific regulatory variants on the X chromosome. To resolve the molecular mechanisms underlying such effects, we generated and connected sex-specific chromatin accessibility to sex-specific expression and regulatory variation. As sex-specific regulatory variants can inform sex differences in genetic disease prevalence, we have integrated our data with genome-wide association study data for multiple immune traits and to identify traits with significant sex biases. Together, our study provides genome-wide insight into how the X chromosome and sex shape human gene regulation and disease.
Impact of the X Chromosome and sex on regulatory variation
Kimberly R. Kukurba,P. Parsana,Brunilda Balliu,Kevin S. Smith,Zachary Zappala,David A. Knowles,M. Favé,Joe R. Davis,Xin Li,Xiaowei Zhu,J. Potash,M. Weissman,Jianxin Shi,Anshul B Kundaje,D. Levinson,P. Awadalla,S. Mostafavi,A. Battle,S. Montgomery
Published 2015 in bioRxiv
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- Publication year
2015
- Venue
bioRxiv
- Publication date
2015-08-07
- Fields of study
Biology, Medicine
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Semantic Scholar, PubMed
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