Impact of common and rare genetic variants in Alzheimer's Disease using whole-genome and whole-exome sequencing data

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has a strong genetic component, and several studies have identified genetic variants that influence AD. A majority of those variants are common variants that appear frequently in a population, and studies have also found that those variants do not explain all of genetic basis of AD. This finding has led genetic studies to investigate effect of rare variants that may have larger effect than that of common variants. To better understand effect of rare variants on AD, we aim to ADSP whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and whole-exome datasets. We will determine whether rare variants in genes appear more frequently among AD patients than controls. Our lab has developed several statistical approaches for the rare variant association method (both case/control and family), and we will apply these methods to the ADSP dataset. Through this analysis, we will quantify the effect of rare variants on AD. We will also estimate polygenic risk scores (PRS) of individuals with AD and compare them to those without AD. We will check how much phenotypic variance of AD is explained by PRS.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has a strong genetic component, and although several studies found several genetic variations associated with AD, they do not explain all of genetic basis of AD. Those genetic variations are mostly common in population, and recent studies have shown that rare genetic variations may also influence AD. In this study, we propose to identify rare genetic variations that are associated with AD by applying the statistical approaches that combine effect of multiple rare variants. Our lab has developed several methods to identify effect of rare variants both among unrelated individuals and among family members. We will apply these methods to the ADSP dataset and find rare variants associated with AD. In addition to rare variants, we will also investigate effect of common variants using a method called polygenic risk score. These analyses in this study will elucidate impact of both common and rare variants in AD.