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GWAS meta-analysis of cerebrospinal fluid Alzheimer's biomarkers reveals loci regulating lipids, brain volume and autophagy.

Nature communications

Authors: Jigyasha Timsina, Chenyang Jiang, Daniel L McCartney, Feifei Tao, Maria Carolina Dalmasso, Jenna Najar, Federica Anastasi, Olena Ohlei, Raquel Puerta Fuentes, Chenyu Yang, Joseph Bradley, Daniel Western, Muhammad Ali, Ciyang Wang, Chengran Yang, Ying Wu, Menghan Liu, John Budde, Julie Williams, Rebecca Mahoney, Atahualpa Castillo Morales, Timothy J Hohman, Logan Dumitrescu, Ting-Chen Wang, Niccolo' Tesi, Silke Kern, Margda Waern, Ingmar Skoog, Argonde van Harten, Yolande A L Pijnenburg, Wiesje M van der Flier, Pascual Sánchez-Juan, Eloy Rodriguez-Rodriguez, Luca Kleineidam, Oliver Peters, Anja Schneider, Fahri Küçükali, Céline Bellenguez, Benjamin Grenier-Boley, Sami Heikkinen, Itziar de Rojas, Dan Rujescu, Norbert Scherbaum, Lucrezia Hausner, Emrah Düzel, Timo Grimmer, Jens Wiltfang, Rik Vandenberghe, Sebastiaan Engelborghs, Stefanie Heilmann-Heimbach, Matthias Schmid, Thomas Tegos, Nikolaos Scarmeas, Oriol Dols-Icardo, Fermin Moreno, Jordi Pérez-Tur, María J Bullido, Raquel Sánchez-Valle, Victoria Álvarez, Pablo García-González, Pablo Mir, Luis M Real, Gerard Piñol-Ripoll, Jose María García-Alberca, Harro Seelaar, Inez Ramakers, Janne Papma, Marc Hulsman, Christoph Laske, Stefan Teipel, Josef Priller, Robert Perneczky, Katharina Buerger, Markus M Nöthen, Piotr Lewczuk, Johannes Kornhuber, Harald Hampel, Ina Giegling, Oliver Goldhardt, Janine Diehl-Schmid, Victor Andrade, Michael Mt Heneka, Lutz Frölich, Jonathan Vogelgsang, Caroline Graff, Hakan Thonberg, Abbe Ullgren, Goran Papenberg, Jean-François Deleuze, Carole Dufouil, Michael Wagner, Frank Jessen, Henne Holstege, Cornelia van Duijn, Thibaud Lebouvier, Olivier Hannon, Ville Leinonen, Hilkka Soininen, Sanna-Kaisa Herukka, Vilmantas Giedraitis, Malin Löwenmark, Lena Kilander, Patricia Genius, Blanca Rodríguez, Emma S Luckett, Arcadi Navarro, Amanda Cano, Marta Marquié, Kaj Blennow, Henrik Zetterberg, Alberto Lleo, Mercè Boada, Agustin Ruiz, Virginia Man-Yee Lee, Vivianna M Van Deerlin, Yuetiva Deming, Sterling C Johnson, Corinne D Engelman, Pau Pastor, Ignacio Alvarez, Elaine R Peskind, Amanda J Heslegrave, Andrew J Saykin, Kwangsik Nho, Suzanne E Schindler, John C Morris, David M Holtzman, Eric McDade, Alan E Renton, Alison Goate, Laura Ibanez, Matthias Riemenschneider, Marilyn S Albert, Simon M Laws, Tenielle Porter, Eleanor K O'Brien, Leslie M Shaw, Betty M Tijms, Martin Ingelsson, Pieter Jelle Visser, Mikko Hiltunen, Kristel Sleegers, Craig W Ritchie, Rebecca Sims, Michael Belloy, Jean-Charles Lambert, Natalia Vilor-Tejedor, Maria Victoria Fernández, Qingqin S Li, Michael W Nagle, Riccardo E Marioni, Alfredo Ramirez, Lars Bertram, Sven J van der Lee, Carlos Cruchaga

Cerebrospinal fluid amyloid beta 42, total tau, and phosphorylated tau 181 are well accepted markers of Alzheimer's disease. These biomarkers better reflect disease pathogenesis compared to clinical diagnosis. Here, we perform a genome wide association study meta-analysis including 18,948 individuals of European ancestry and identify 12 genome-wide significant loci across all three biomarkers, eight of them novel. We replicate the association of biomarkers with APOE, CR1, GMNC/CCDC50 and C16orf95/MAP1LC3B. Novel loci include BIN1 for amyloid beta and GNA12, MS4A6A, SLCO1A2 with both total tau and phosphorylated tau 181, as well as additional loci on chr. 8, near ANGPT1 and chr. 9 near SMARCA2. We also demonstrate that these variants have significant association with Alzheimer's disease risk, disease progression and/or brain amyloidosis. The associated genes are implicated in lipid metabolism independent of APOE, coupled with autophagy and brain volume regulation driven by total tau and phosphorylated tau 181 dysregulation.

© 2026. The Author(s).

PMID: 42014397

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