Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40555237›Full record

ArticleAmerican journal of human genetics2025

Single-cell transcriptome-wide Mendelian randomization and colocalization analyses uncover cell-specific mechanisms in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Anushree Ray, Paulo Alabarse, Rainer Malik, Muralidharan Sargurupremraj, Jürgen Bernhagen, Martin Dichgans, Sebastian-Edgar Baumeister, Marios K Georgakis

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in American journal of human genetics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Anushree RayInstitute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD), Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Hospital, LMU Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany.
Paulo AlabarseInstitute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD), Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Hospital, LMU Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany.
Rainer MalikInstitute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD), Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Hospital, LMU Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany.
Muralidharan SargurupremrajGlenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer's & Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA.
Jürgen BernhagenInstitute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD), Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Hospital, LMU Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany; German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), Partner Site Munich Heart Alliance, 80636 Munich, Germany; Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), 81377 Munich, Germany.
Martin DichgansInstitute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD), Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Hospital, LMU Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany; German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK), Partner Site Munich Heart Alliance, 80636 Munich, Germany; Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), 81377 Munich, Germany; German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany.
Sebastian-Edgar BaumeisterInstitute of Health Services Research in Dentistry, University of Muenster, 48149 Muenster, Germany.
Marios K GeorgakisInstitute for Stroke and Dementia Research (ISD), Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Hospital, LMU Munich, 81377 Munich, Germany; Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), 81377 Munich, Germany; Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA. Electronic address: marios.georgakis@med.uni-muenchen.de.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified numerous genetic loci influencing human disease risk; however, linking these to causal genes remains challenging, limiting opportunities for drug target discovery. Transcriptome-wide association studies (TWASs) address this by linking variants to gene expression but typically rely on bulk RNA sequencing, limiting cell-specific resolution. Here, we present a single-cell TWAS pipeline combining cis-Mendelian randomization (MR) with colocalization analyses at the single-cell level. As a case study, we examined how genetically proxied gene expression in immune cells influences atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk. We integrated single-cell expression quantitative trait loci (sc-eQTLs) for 14 immune cell types with GWASs for coronary artery disease, large artery atherosclerotic stroke, and peripheral artery disease. sc-cis-MR revealed 440 gene-outcome associations across cell types, 88% of which were missed by bulk TWASs, despite the considerably smaller sample size of the sc-eQTL dataset. Of these associations, 21 were replicated with external cis-eQTLs and colocalized with ASCVD GWAS signals. Expanding on previous evidence linking genetically proxied LIPA expression in whole blood to coronary artery disease, we found genetic variants influencing LIPA expression, particularly in monocytes, to drive associations with coronary artery disease, large artery atherosclerotic stroke, and subclinical atherosclerosis traits. A phenome-wide association study confirmed these findings without evidence of associations with unexpected clinical outcomes. scRNA sequencing and immunohistochemistry of human carotid plaques revealed high LIPA expression in plaque macrophages. Our pipeline enables the discovery of cell-specific expression patterns that drive genetic predisposition to human disease, potentially impacting target selection for cell-tailored therapeutics.

Indexed as

AtherosclerosisCardiovascular DiseasesMendelian Randomization AnalysisSingle-Cell AnalysisTranscriptomeCoronary Artery DiseaseGenetic Predisposition to DiseaseGenome-Wide Association StudyHumansPolymorphism, Single NucleotideQuantitative Trait Lociatherosclerosiscardiovascular diseasecolocalization analysisdrug targetexpression quantitative trait lociimmune cellsMendelian randomizationRNA sequencing

Identifiers

PMID40555237
PMCPMC12256824

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.