ALBERT

Description: Key PointsSeveral common and rare VWF missense variants contribute to phenotypic differences in VWF and FVIII among African Americans. Next-generation sequencing technology and improved genotype imputation can contribute to molecular genetics of VWD-related phenotypes.

Description: Sickle cell disease (SCD) affects 〉100,000 Americans and millions more worldwide. Symptoms and sequelae of SCD can be ameliorated by increasing fetal hemoglobin (HbF, α2γ2) levels. Unfortunately, up to 50% of adult SCD patients treated with hydroxyurea, the only FDA-approved and widely used HbF inducer, do not have a clinically meaningful response to the drug. Additional oral HbF inducing agents, especially those that require less intense laboratory monitoring, are urgently needed. Development of such drugs has been stymied by an incomplete understanding of γ-globin regulation. We hypothesized that natural human genetic variation can be used to identify genes that may be drug targets for HbF induction. To test this hypothesis, we performed whole exome sequencing on 171 pediatric SCD patients to identify variants associated with endogenous HbF levels. Gene-based analysis identified seven unique non-synonymous variations in a Forkhead box O transcription factor, FOXO3, as significantly associated with lower HbF (p=5.6x10-4, β-value of log transformed (ln) HbF= -0.66). Two variants in the α2 subunit of AMPK, a FOXO3 activator, were also associated with reduced HbF (p=1.56x10-4, β-value ln%HbF=-1.5). We then performed functional studies to verify the association between FOXO3 and endogenous HbF levels in an ex vivo model of erythroid differentiation from CD34+ cells isolated from peripheral blood of normal human blood donors. Lentiviral short hairpin RNA (shRNA) knockdown of FOXO3 reduced γ-globin expression from 1 to 0.4, p= 0.0005. While γ-globin expression and protein levels were reduced by FOXO3 knockdown, β-globin levels remained unchanged. These results suggest that FOXO3 is a positive regulator of γ-globin. Morphologic and flow cytometry analysis of primary erythroid culture with and without FOXO3 knockdown indicates that knockdown of FOXO3 delays erythroid maturation, while reducing γ-globin production. We therefore conclude that FOXO3 appears to regulate γ-globin through a specific mechanism rather than through alteration of erythroid maturation kinetics. FOXO3 is a viable therapeutic target for the treatment of individuals with SCD as well as those with quantitative hemoglobinopathies like β-thalassemia, who do not benefit from hydroxyurea due to its delay of erythropoiesis. FOXO3 expression is known to be increased by three drugs, metformin, phenformin, and resveratrol. We found that these drugs also cause FOXO3 to accumulate in the nucleus, where it is active, rather than in the cytoplasm, where FOXO3 is degraded. We have investigated the effects of these agents on FOXO3 and γ-globin expression in K562 cells. Metformin, phenformin and resveratrol increased FOXO3 and γ-globin transcription levels in a dose-dependent manner. We then treated primary erythroid culture cells with a range of metformin doses (20-200µM), with and without a stable dose of 30 µM hydroxyurea. Alone, metformin had a modest effect (1.5 fold) on γ-globin induction at all concentrations. In combination with hydroxyurea, 50 µM metformin increased γ-globin expression 3.7-fold compared to 2.5-fold with hydroxyurea alone when analyzed by RT-qPCR. β-globin levels were unchanged by hydroxyurea or metformin. γ-globin induction persisted through terminal maturation of the culture when measured serially every 5 days. Taken together, our results indicate that not only is FOXO3 is a positive regulator of γ-globin expression, but it is an excellent therapeutic target for HbF induction. Metformin, a well-studied, well tolerated oral agent, will be investigated in combination with hydroxyurea in a phase II trial as an adjunctive agent to increase HbF induction. Disclosures Off Label Use: This presentation will discuss off-label use of metformin as a possible HbF inducing agent..

Description: Abstract 4310 Background and Objectives: Von Willebrand factor (VWF) is an essential component of hemostasis. It is known that multimer size and the amount of circulating VWF impact its hemostatic function. Genetic factors play a major role in regulating VWF synthesis and clearance and are reported to contribute to 66% of the variation in plasma VWF antigen level. We have analyzed 78 SNPs distributed throughout the VWF gene and haplotypes constructed from those SNPs for an association with VWF antigen level in 7,856 subjects of European descent in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities cohort. Methods and Results: Blood was drawn after an 8 hour fasting period and VWF antigen level was determined by a commercial ELISA kit. All subjects underwent analysis for 78 SNPs available from Affymetrix 6.0 chip in the region encompassing the VWF gene. We used the fastPHASE 1.2 program to resolve haplotypes from the unphased SNP genotype data. Using Haploview we determined SNPs in strong linkage disequilibrium (LD), their co-segregation rates and underlying haplotypes. Linear models were used to evaluate the association of actual or log VWF antigen levels with each SNP and haplotypes derived from those SNPs. Eighteen (16 are intronic) of the 78 SNPs were found to significantly associate with levels of VWF antigen (Table 1). All are clustered in a 50 kb region of the VWF gene in spite of the fact that the 78 SNPs studied are distributed throughout the VWF gene without apparent clusters. All 78 SNPs are co-segregated in 9 LD haplotype blocks, but a majority of positive SNPs (88.9%) are located in Block 5 and 6, which significantly correlate with VWF antigen level. The O blood type contributes to ∼ 15% of variation in VWF antigen levels. The association for SNPs and Haplotypes grows stronger after ABO effects are removed. Among non-genomic factors, age and BMI are the most significant factors and contribute to 4.8% and 1.4% of variation in VWF antigen level. Conclusions: We have found a strongly positive association between VWF level and SNPs and haplotypes from a strikingly concentrated region of the VWF gene. This region encodes the D2, D' and D3 domains of VWF, including the propeptide and multimerization and Factor VIII binding sites. The physiological significance of these clustered SNPs on VWF synthesis or clearance remains to be further investigated. Our data suggest that this region plays an important role in regulating VWF antigen level and support the idea that combinations of SNPs in LD can provide additive affects. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Description: Abstract 241 Although they ostensibly have a monogenetic disease, individuals with sickle cell anemia exhibit wide variability in their laboratory and clinical phenotype, suggesting additional genetic modifiers exist beyond the sickle mutation. One of the most powerful and reproducible disease modifiers is fetal hemoglobin (HbF) level. The most widely used and safest method for increasing innate fetal hemoglobin levels in patients with sickle cell anemia is hydroxyurea. While hydroxyurea has disease modulating effects outside of HbF induction, the majority of its benefit is directly related to the %HbF produced in response to the drug. Unfortunately, the amount of the HbF produced in response to hydroxyurea is highly variable between individuals, with induced HbF levels ranging from 5 to 〉30% even for compliant patients on similar dosing regimens at the maximum tolerated dose (MTD). Hydroxyurea is an ideal target for pharmacogenomics investigation, since there is strong concordance of HbF response to hydroxyurea within sibling pairs, and amount of HbF produced at MTD is a quantifiable and objective phenotype. To address the hypothesis that genetic modifiers influence pharmacological induction of HbF, we investigated pediatric patients treated prospectively with hydroxyurea. We analyzed patients enrolled in the HUSTLE (NCT NCT00305175) and SWiTCH (NCT 00122980) studies (n=183); all patients received an identical dose escalation regimen to MTD and had the most reliable HbF phenotypes available. To best identify genetic modifiers of hydroxyurea induction of HbF, we categorized study subjects according to their HbF response. Of a total cohort of 183 treated subjects, we identified 55 pediatric patients who represented the extreme ends of HbF response to hydroxyurea: 30 high responders (final HbF 〉30% and 〉25% change from %HbF at baseline) and 25 low responders (final HbF

Description: Factor VIII (FVIII) functions as a cofactor for factor IXa in the contact coagulation pathway and circulates in a protective complex with von Willebrand factor (VWF). Plasma FVIII activity is strongly influenced by environmental and genetic factors through VWF-dependent and -independent mechanisms. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the coding and promoter sequence in the FVIII gene have been extensively studied for effects on FVIII synthesis, secretion, and activity, but impacts of non–disease-causing intronic SNPs remain largely unknown. We analyzed FVIII SNPs and FVIII activity in 10 434 healthy Americans of European (EA) or African (AA) descent in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. Among covariates, age, race, diabetes, and ABO contributed 2.2%, 3.5%, 4%, and 10.7% to FVIII intersubject variation, respectively. Four intronic FVIII SNPs associated with FVIII activity and 8 with FVIII-VWF ratio in a sex- and race-dependent manner. The FVIII haplotypes AT and GCTTTT also associated with FVIII activity. Seven VWF SNPs were associated with FVIII activity in EA subjects, but no FVIII SNPs were associated with VWF Ag. These data demonstrate that intronic SNPs could directly or indirectly influence intersubject variation of FVIII activity. Further investigation may reveal novel mechanisms of regulating FVIII expression and activity.

Description: Fibrinogen is a key component of the coagulation cascade, and variation in its circulating levels may contribute to thrombotic diseases, such as venous thromboembolism (VTE) and ischemic stroke. Gamma prime (γ') fibrinogen is an isoform of fibrinogen that has anticoagulant properties. We applied two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to estimate the causal effect of total circulating fibrinogen and its isoform, γ' fibrinogen, on risk of VTE and ischemic stroke subtypes using summary statistics from genome-wide association studies. Genetic instruments for γ' fibrinogen and total fibrinogen were selected and the inverse-variance weighted MR approach was used to estimate causal effects in the main analysis, complemented by sensitivity analyses that are more robust to the inclusion of pleiotropic variants, including MR-Egger, weighted median MR, and weighted mode MR. The main inverse-variance weighted MR estimates based on a combination of 16 genetic instruments for γ' fibrinogen and 75 genetic instruments for total fibrinogen indicated a protective effect of higher γ′ fibrinogen and higher total fibrinogen on VTE risk. There was also a protective effect of higher γ' fibrinogen levels on cardioembolic and large artery stroke risk. Effect estimates were consistent across sensitivity analyses. Our results provide evidence to support effects of genetically determined γ' fibrinogen on VTE and ischemic stroke risk. Further research is needed to explore mechanisms underlying these effects, and their clinical applications.

Description: Background: The prevalence of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) and its associated complication of cognitive decline is significantly higher amongst African Americans than non-Hispanic Whites. Sickle cell anemia or sickle cell disease has been associated with a 30-45% increased prevalence of CSVD which presents as silent cerebral infarcts and impaired cognitive function. However, the association between sickle cell trait (heterozygosity for the sickle cell mutation) and cognitive decline or dementia has not been reported. Hypothesis: African Americans with SCT will have a significantly higher incidence and prevalence of cognitive impairment and dementia compared to those without SCT. Methods: We studied African Americans participants enrolled in the community-based prospective Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. SCT genotype status was determined using Taqman® genotyping from blood samples collected at baseline. Data from cognitive assessments at visits 2, 4 and 5, and an MRI performed at visit 5 were used for analysis. Using linear regression models for visit 2 cognitive measures and visit 5 brain MRI outcomes, a generalized estimating equation (GEE) for cognitive change, and Cox models for the incidence of dementia, we determined whether SCT was associated with a higher risk for cognitive dysfunction, global and regional brain volumes, and dementia. Results: Distribution of traditional risk factors for cognitive decline were not significantly different between participants with SCT (N = 176) and those without SCT (N = 2,532). In multivariable, cross-sectional analyses of 2,708 participants, those participants with SCT compared to those without SCT did not show a statistically significant difference in the global or domain-specific cognitive function scores at baseline. Participants with SCT did not experience a faster 20-year cognitive decline compared to participants without SCT. Also, participants with SCT had larger parietal cortical volume (100.5 cm3 vs. 97.9 cm3, diff. = 2.67 (0.24, 5.11) cm3, p = 0.03), and lower incidence of dementia (HR = 0.63 95% CI = 0.38, 1.05) compared to those without SCT. Participants with a co-inheritance of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 risk allele and SCT (N = 63) had worse scores on the digit symbol substitution test (DSST) at baseline (z-score = -0.08 (-0.26, 0.09), Pinteraction = 0.05) and over time (z-score = -0.12 (-0.38, 0.14), Pinteraction = 0.04), compared to those with the APOE ε4 risk allele who do not have SCT (N = 113). SCT was associated with 2-fold increased risk of dementia among participants with diabetes mellitus and a 55% reduction in risk of dementia among those without diabetes mellitus (Pinteraction = 0.01). Conclusions: SCT was not an independent risk factor for prevalent or incident cognitive decline, but it could potentially interact with and modify other risk factors for dementia and cognitive dysfunction. Disclosures Key: UniQure BV: Research Funding.

Description: Factor VII (FVII) is an important component of the coagulation cascade. Few genetic loci regulating FVII activity and/or levels have been discovered to date. We conducted a meta-analysis of 9 genome-wide association studies of plasma FVII levels (7 FVII activity and 2 FVII antigen) among 27 495 participants of European and African ancestry. Each study performed ancestry-specific association analyses. Inverse variance weighted meta-analysis was performed within each ancestry group and then combined for a trans-ancestry meta-analysis. Our primary analysis included the 7 studies that measured FVII activity, and a secondary analysis included all 9 studies. We provided functional genomic validation for newly identified significant loci by silencing candidate genes in a human liver cell line (HuH7) using small-interfering RNA and then measuring F7 messenger RNA and FVII protein expression. Lastly, we used meta-analysis results to perform Mendelian randomization analysis to estimate the causal effect of FVII activity on coronary artery disease, ischemic stroke (IS), and venous thromboembolism. We identified 2 novel (REEP3 and JAZF1-AS1) and 6 known loci associated with FVII activity, explaining 19.0% of the phenotypic variance. Adding FVII antigen data to the meta-analysis did not result in the discovery of further loci. Silencing REEP3 in HuH7 cells upregulated FVII, whereas silencing JAZF1 downregulated FVII. Mendelian randomization analyses suggest that FVII activity has a positive causal effect on the risk of IS. Variants at REEP3 and JAZF1 contribute to FVII activity by regulating F7 expression levels. FVII activity appears to contribute to the etiology of IS in the general population.