Author
Murray J. Cairns
Other affiliations: Harvard University, Johnson & Johnson, Duke University ...read more
Bio: Murray J. Cairns is an academic researcher from University of Newcastle. The author has contributed to research in topics: microRNA & Gene silencing. The author has an hindex of 45, co-authored 175 publications receiving 10172 citations. Previous affiliations of Murray J. Cairns include Harvard University & Johnson & Johnson.
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
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Verneri Anttila1, Verneri Anttila2, Brendan Bulik-Sullivan2, Brendan Bulik-Sullivan1 +717 more•Institutions (270)
TL;DR: It is demonstrated that, in the general population, the personality trait neuroticism is significantly correlated with almost every psychiatric disorder and migraine, and it is shown that both psychiatric and neurological disorders have robust correlations with cognitive and personality measures.
Abstract: Disorders of the brain can exhibit considerable epidemiological comorbidity and often share symptoms, provoking debate about their etiologic overlap. We quantified the genetic sharing of 25 brain disorders from genome-wide association studies of 265,218 patients and 784,643 control participants and assessed their relationship to 17 phenotypes from 1,191,588 individuals. Psychiatric disorders share common variant risk, whereas neurological disorders appear more distinct from one another and from the psychiatric disorders. We also identified significant sharing between disorders and a number of brain phenotypes, including cognitive measures. Further, we conducted simulations to explore how statistical power, diagnostic misclassification, and phenotypic heterogeneity affect genetic correlations. These results highlight the importance of common genetic variation as a risk factor for brain disorders and the value of heritability-based methods in understanding their etiology.
1,357 citations
TL;DR: Genetic influences on psychiatric disorders transcend diagnostic boundaries, suggesting substantial pleiotropy of contributing loci within genes that show heightened expression in the brain throughout the lifespan, beginning prenatally in the second trimester, and play prominent roles in neurodevelopmental processes.
781 citations
Christian R. Marshall, Daniel P. Howrigan1, Daniel P. Howrigan2, Daniele Merico +326 more•Institutions (98)
TL;DR: In this article, a centralized analysis pipeline was applied to a SCZ cohort of 21,094 cases and 20,227 controls, and a global enrichment of copy number variants (CNVs) was observed in cases (odds ratio (OR) = 1.11, P = 5.7 × 10-15), which persisted after excluding loci implicated in previous studies.
Abstract: Copy number variants (CNVs) have been strongly implicated in the genetic etiology of schizophrenia (SCZ). However, genome-wide investigation of the contribution of CNV to risk has been hampered by limited sample sizes. We sought to address this obstacle by applying a centralized analysis pipeline to a SCZ cohort of 21,094 cases and 20,227 controls. A global enrichment of CNV burden was observed in cases (odds ratio (OR) = 1.11, P = 5.7 × 10-15), which persisted after excluding loci implicated in previous studies (OR = 1.07, P = 1.7 × 10-6). CNV burden was enriched for genes associated with synaptic function (OR = 1.68, P = 2.8 × 10-11) and neurobehavioral phenotypes in mouse (OR = 1.18, P = 7.3 × 10-5). Genome-wide significant evidence was obtained for eight loci, including 1q21.1, 2p16.3 (NRXN1), 3q29, 7q11.2, 15q13.3, distal 16p11.2, proximal 16p11.2 and 22q11.2. Suggestive support was found for eight additional candidate susceptibility and protective loci, which consisted predominantly of CNVs mediated by nonallelic homologous recombination.
774 citations
Christian R. Marshall1, Daniel P. Howrigan2, Daniele Merico1, Bhooma Thiruvahindrapuram1 +252 more•Institutions (87)
TL;DR: A collaborative effort in which a centralized analysis pipeline is applied to a SCZ cohort, finding support at a suggestive level for nine additional candidate susceptibility and protective loci, which consist predominantly of CNVs mediated by non-allelic homologous recombination (NAHR).
Abstract: Genomic copy number variants (CNVs) have been strongly implicated in the etiology of schizophrenia (SCZ). However, apart from a small number of risk variants, elucidation of the CNV contribution to risk has been difficult due to the rarity of risk alleles, all occurring in less than 1% of cases. We sought to address this obstacle through a collaborative effort in which we applied a centralized analysis pipeline to a SCZ cohort of 21,094 cases and 20,227 controls. We observed a global enrichment of CNV burden in cases (OR=1.11, P=5.7e-15), which persisted after excluding loci implicated in previous studies (OR=1.07, P=1.7e-6). CNV burden is also enriched for genes associated with synaptic function (OR = 1.68, P = 2.8e-11) and neurobehavioral phenotypes in mouse (OR = 1.18, P= 7.3e-5). We identified genome-wide significant support for eight loci, including 1q21.1, 2p16.3 (NRXN1), 3q29, 7q11.2, 15q13.3, distal 16p11.2, proximal 16p11.2 and 22q11.2. We find support at a suggestive level for nine additional candidate susceptibility and protective loci, which consist predominantly of CNVs mediated by non-allelic homologous recombination (NAHR).
764 citations
TL;DR: For the first time, specific loci that distinguish between BD and SCZ are discovered and polygenic components underlying multiple symptom dimensions are identified that point to the utility of genetics to inform symptomology and potential treatment.
569 citations
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01 Feb 2015
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the integrative analysis of 111 reference human epigenomes generated as part of the NIH Roadmap Epigenomics Consortium, profiled for histone modification patterns, DNA accessibility, DNA methylation and RNA expression.
Abstract: The reference human genome sequence set the stage for studies of genetic variation and its association with human disease, but epigenomic studies lack a similar reference. To address this need, the NIH Roadmap Epigenomics Consortium generated the largest collection so far of human epigenomes for primary cells and tissues. Here we describe the integrative analysis of 111 reference human epigenomes generated as part of the programme, profiled for histone modification patterns, DNA accessibility, DNA methylation and RNA expression. We establish global maps of regulatory elements, define regulatory modules of coordinated activity, and their likely activators and repressors. We show that disease- and trait-associated genetic variants are enriched in tissue-specific epigenomic marks, revealing biologically relevant cell types for diverse human traits, and providing a resource for interpreting the molecular basis of human disease. Our results demonstrate the central role of epigenomic information for understanding gene regulation, cellular differentiation and human disease.
4,409 citations
TL;DR: Dysregulation of these ncRNAs is being found to have relevance not only to tumorigenesis, but also to neurological, cardiovascular, developmental and other diseases, and there is great interest in therapeutic strategies to counteract these perturbations.
Abstract: The role of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in disease is best understood for microRNAs in cancer. However, there is increasing interest in the disease-related roles of other ncRNAs — including piRNAs, snoRNAs, T-UCRs and lncRNAs — and in using this knowledge for therapy.
4,016 citations
University of Helsinki1, Semmelweis University2, University of Szeged3, Hungarian Academy of Sciences4, University of Palermo5, University of Porto6, Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto7, Autonomous University of Barcelona8, Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular9, Ikerbasque10, Harvard University11, University of Duisburg-Essen12, Paracelsus Private Medical University of Salzburg13, Salk Institute for Biological Studies14, University of Colorado Denver15, Bilkent University16, Middle East Technical University17, University of Southern Denmark18, Statens Serum Institut19, Ghent University Hospital20, Oslo University Hospital21, University of Belgrade22, University of Ljubljana23, University of Mainz24, Finnish Red Cross25, University of Gothenburg26, Latvian Biomedical Research and Study centre27, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland FHNW28, University of Valencia29, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares30, University of Freiburg31, Utrecht University32, Trinity College, Dublin33, Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies34, University of Barcelona35, International University Of Catalonia36, Aarhus University Hospital37
TL;DR: A comprehensive overview of the current understanding of the physiological roles of EVs is provided, drawing on the unique EV expertise of academia-based scientists, clinicians and industry based in 27 European countries, the United States and Australia.
Abstract: In the past decade, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been recognized as potent vehicles of intercellular communication, both in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. This is due to their capacity to transfer proteins, lipids and nucleic acids, thereby influencing various physiological and pathological functions of both recipient and parent cells. While intensive investigation has targeted the role of EVs in different pathological processes, for example, in cancer and autoimmune diseases, the EV-mediated maintenance of homeostasis and the regulation of physiological functions have remained less explored. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of the current understanding of the physiological roles of EVs, which has been written by crowd-sourcing, drawing on the unique EV expertise of academia-based scientists, clinicians and industry based in 27 European countries, the United States and Australia. This review is intended to be of relevance to both researchers already working on EV biology and to newcomers who will encounter this universal cell biological system. Therefore, here we address the molecular contents and functions of EVs in various tissues and body fluids from cell systems to organs. We also review the physiological mechanisms of EVs in bacteria, lower eukaryotes and plants to highlight the functional uniformity of this emerging communication system.
3,690 citations
TL;DR: The remarkable range of discoveriesGWASs has facilitated in population and complex-trait genetics, the biology of diseases, and translation toward new therapeutics are reviewed.
Abstract: Application of the experimental design of genome-wide association studies (GWASs) is now 10 years old (young), and here we review the remarkable range of discoveries it has facilitated in population and complex-trait genetics, the biology of diseases, and translation toward new therapeutics. We predict the likely discoveries in the next 10 years, when GWASs will be based on millions of samples with array data imputed to a large fully sequenced reference panel and on hundreds of thousands of samples with whole-genome sequencing data.
2,669 citations
TL;DR: It is proposed that gene regulatory networks are sufficiently interconnected such that all genes expressed in disease-relevant cells are liable to affect the functions of core disease-related genes and that most heritability can be explained by effects on genes outside core pathways.
2,257 citations