Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42243151›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

GWAS on short tandem repeats identifies genetic mechanisms in Alzheimer's disease.

David Gmelin, Olena Ohlei, M Muaaz Aslam, Marit P Junge, Laura Parkkinen, Kristina Mullin, Dmitry Prokopenko, Christina M Lill, Rudolph E Tanzi, Valerija Dobricic and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–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

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
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

11 authors.

David GmelinLübeck Interdisciplinary Platform for Genome Analytics (LIGA), University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
Olena OhleiLübeck Interdisciplinary Platform for Genome Analytics (LIGA), University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.ORCID 0009-0003-7721-6803
M Muaaz AslamLübeck Interdisciplinary Platform for Genome Analytics (LIGA), University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
Marit P JungeLübeck Interdisciplinary Platform for Genome Analytics (LIGA), University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.ORCID 0009-0001-0333-3105
Laura ParkkinenNuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-3392-8564
Kristina MullinGenetics and Aging Research Unit and McCance Center for Brain Health, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Dmitry ProkopenkoGenetics and Aging Research Unit and McCance Center for Brain Health, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-1844-5652
Christina M LillInstitute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-2805-1307
Rudolph E TanziGenetics and Aging Research Unit and McCance Center for Brain Health, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7032-1454
Valerija Dobricic *Lübeck Interdisciplinary Platform for Genome Analytics (LIGA), University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany.
Lars Bertram *Lübeck Interdisciplinary Platform for Genome Analytics (LIGA), University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany. lars.bertram@uni-luebeck.de.ORCID 0000-0002-0108-124X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

GWAS typically focus on SNPs, often excluding complex genetic variants, such as short tandem repeats. Here, we report the results of GWAS analyses systematically assessing the role of short tandem repeats, both imputed and directly genotyped by whole genome sequencing, on risk for Alzheimer's disease in a large collection of ~330,000 individuals (3287 cases; 47,048 Alzheimer's disease-by-proxy cases, 283,111 controls) from the UK biobank. Using short tandem repeat genotype data, we identify 15 independent loci showing evidence for genome-wide significant association with Alzheimer's disease risk. While most identified loci had already been highlighted by SNP-based GWAS, we detect short tandem repeat-based signals near the genes SNX32 (chr. 11q13) and WSB1 (chr. 17q11). In addition, we delineate several other loci where short tandem repeats (and not SNPs) either represent the lead signal (ABCA7) or make substantial contributions to the SNP-driven associations (HLA-DRB1, MINDY/ADAM10, and APOE). Heritability analyses estimate that short tandem repeats account for at least 3% of the total phenotypic variance of Alzheimer's disease in this dataset. Aligning our top short tandem repeats with DNA methylation and transcriptome profiles from human brain samples suggests that several short tandem repeats may unfold their effects by impacting gene expression.

Indexed as

Alzheimer DiseaseGenetic Predisposition to DiseaseGenome-Wide Association StudyMicrosatellite RepeatsAgedFemaleGenotypeHumansMalePolymorphism, Single NucleotideWhole Genome Sequencing

Identifiers

PMID42243151
PMCPMC13237113

What Socratic holds

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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.