A variant in the 5′UTR of ERBB4 is associated with lifespan in Golden Retrievers

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in long-lived human populations have led to identification of variants associated with Alzheimer’s disease and cardiovascular disease, the latter being the most common cause of mortality in people worldwide. In contrast, naturally occurring cancer represents the leading cause of death in pet dogs, and specific breeds like the Golden Retriever (GR) carry up to a 65% cancer-related death rate. We hypothesized that GWAS of long-lived GRs might lead to the identification of genetic variants capable of modifying longevity within this cancer-predisposed breed. A GWAS was performed comparing GR dogs ≥ 14 years to dogs dying prior to age 12 which revealed a significant association to ERBB4, the only member of the epidermal growth factor receptor family capable of serving as both a tumor suppressor gene and an oncogene. No coding variants were identified, however, distinct haplotypes in the 5′UTR were associated with reduced lifespan in two separate po..., All samples were genotyped using the Illumina CanineHD 220k BeadChip (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA). Genotype calls in plink format (Bed, bim and fam) are submitted. , , # GWAS raw genotype files [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3j9kd51r2](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3j9kd51r2) A GWAS was performed comparing GR dogs ≥ 14 years to dogs dying prior to age 12 which revealed a significant association to ERBB4, the only member of the epidermal growth factor receptor family capable of serving as both a tumor suppressor gene and an oncogene. No coding variants were identified, however, distinct haplotypes in the 5′UTR were associated with reduced lifespan in two separate populations of GR dogs. Primary ARTICLE https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-023-00968-2 **Description of the data and file structure** All samples were genotyped using the Illumina CanineHD 220k BeadChip (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA). Genotype calls in plink format (Bed, bim and fam) are submitted. The files are labeled array1_1214.bed, array1_1214.bim, and array1_1214.fam. ## Sharing/Access information ## Code/Software https://www.cog-genomics.org/plink/ can be used to download PLINK which...,