An integrative analysis of non-coding regulatory DNA variations associated with autism

A number of genetic studies have identified rare protein-coding DNA variations associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental disorder with significant genetic etiology and heterogeneity. In contrast, the contributions of functional, regulatory genetic variations that occur in the extensive non-protein-coding regions of the genome remain poorly understood. Here we developed a genome-wide analysis to identify rare single nucleotide variants (SNVs) that occur in non-coding regions and determined regulatory function and evolutionary conservation of these variants. Using publicly available datasets and computational predictions, we identified SNVs within putative regulatory regions in promoters, transcription factor binding sites, microRNA genes and their target sites. Overall, we found regulatory variants in the ASD cases were enriched in autism-risk genes and genes involved in fetal neurodevelopment. As with previously reported coding mutations, we found an enrichment of regulatory variants associated with dysregulation of neurodevelopmental and synaptic signaling pathways. Among these were rare inherited non-coding SNVs found in the mature sequence of a number of microRNAs predicted to affect the regulation of autism-risk genes. We show a paternally inherited miR-873-5p variant, with reduced NRXN2 binding affinity, overlays a maternally inherited NRXN1 putative loss-of-function coding variation to likely increase genetic liability in an idiopathic ASD case. Our analysis pipeline provides a new resource for identifying loss-of-function regulatory DNA variations that may contribute to the genetic etiology of complex disorders. Overall design: This data is RNAseq of tagged-microRNA mRNA-pulldown assays for wild-type and mutant miR-873-5p. Four replicates each, with paired control (con) and pulldown (PD) samples for each replicate.