Glycosylation of Immunoglobulin G: Role of Genetic and Epigenetic Influences

ObjectiveTo determine the extent to which genetic and epigenetic factors contribute to variations in glycosylation of immunoglobulin G (IgG) in humans. Methods76  N-glycan traits in circulating IgG were analyzed by UPLC in 220 monozygotic and 310 dizygotic twin pairs from TwinsUK. A classical twin study design was used to derive the additive genetic, common and unique environmental components defining the variance in these traits. Epigenome-wide association analysis was performed using the Illumina 27k chip. Results51 of the 76 glycan traits studied have an additive genetic component (heritability, h2)≥  0.5. In contrast, 12 glycan traits had a low genetic contribution (h2

旨在探究遗传及表观遗传因素对人类免疫球蛋白G（IgG）糖基化变异程度的影响。研究方法：对来自TwinsUK的220对一卵双生子和310对二卵双生子中的循环免疫球蛋白G的N-聚糖特征进行UPLC分析。采用经典的孪生子研究设计，以推导出定义这些特征变异的加性遗传、共同环境和独特环境成分。利用Illumina 27k芯片进行全基因组关联分析。研究结果：所研究的76个糖基化特征中，有51个具有显著的加性遗传成分（遗传力，h2≥0.5）。相反，12个糖基化特征的遗传贡献较低（h2）。