ATAC-seq in 24 GBR lymphoblastoid cell lines. ATAC-seq in 24 GBR lymphoblastoid cell lines

Although genome-wide association study is an important tool for linking genetic variation to common complex diseases, it remains difficult to identify the causal variants underlying susceptibility loci. Recent work demonstrated mapping chromatin accessibility across different individuals can be a powerful method for interpreting genetic variant function, existing assays to measure chromatin landscapes (e.g., DNaseI-seq) are labor intensive and require very large numbers of cells preventing their application in real-world settings. This project aims to assess the ability of a novel assay for chromatin accessibility, ATAC-seq, to detect chromatin structure variation among individuals. We will apply ATAC-seq in 24 GBR HapMap lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs), which are a model system for studying the function of human genetic variation. We will also employ a novel approach to molecular quantitative trait locus identification which utilizes both population quantitative trait locus and allele-specific signatures, and gives increased mapping power in small sample sizes. This data is part of a pre-publication release. For information on the proper use of pre-publication data shared by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (including details of any publication moratoria), please see http://www.sanger.ac.uk/datasharing/