Gene expression and genotype in normal heart. Homo sapiens

Genome-wide association studies have identified a small region at chromosome 9p21.3 strongly associated with coronary heart disease risk. The region contains no protein-coding genes and the mechanism underlying its association with heart disease is unknown. We investigated associations between rs1333049, a single nucleotide polymorphism representing the 9p21.3 locus, and levels of cardiac gene expression in myocardial tissue from donors with no documented history of heart disease. Overall design: Individual myocardial gene expression profiles were generated with Affymetrix Human Gene 1.0 ST arrays (n=108). DNA genotyping was performed with Taqman assays. Associations between genotype and gene expression were analyzed assuming a recessive effect.