Cited by 473Genetic Associations and EpidemiologyGenetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and AnimalsRNA Research and Splicing

Impact of regulatory variation from RNA to protein

Open access
Battle, Alexis, Khan, Zia, Wang, Sidney H., Mitrano, Amy, Ford, Michael J., Pritchard, Jonathan K., Gilad, Yoav·2015·Science

Abstract

How genetics affect phenotypic variation: How an individual looks depends on their genes, genetic variation, and interactions with the environment. However, the path from genotype to phenotype remains murky. Battle et al. examine how an individual's genetic variation affects expression of RNA, ribosome occupancy, and protein levels. They find that RNA expression and ribosome occupancy are generally correlated. However, in contrast, protein levels appear not to depend on RNA levels or ribosome occupancy. Protein levels are thus regulated by posttranscriptional mechanisms. Science , this issue p. 664

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1126/science.1260793

Cites

43 of 43 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Claims the paper makes

0 of 30 cited sources checked · 0 supported · 0 flagged

  • Findingown data

    A substantial fraction of regulatory genetic variants influence gene expression at all levels from mRNA to steady-state protein abundance.

    “We found that most QTLs are associated with transcript expression levels, with consequent effects on ribosome and protein levels.”
    • Also stated in: § Abstract · boosted
      “In summary, we have shown that while a substantial fraction of regulatory genetic variants influence gene expression at all levels from mRNA to steady state protein abundance, there are also a number of effects with specific impact on particular expression phenotypes.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingown data

    A class of cis QTLs affect protein abundance with little or no effect on mRNA or ribosome levels.

    “Additionally, we identified a class of cis QTLs that affect protein abundance with little or no effect on mRNA or ribosome levels, suggesting that they may arise from differences in post-translational regulation.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingown data

    eQTLs tend to have reduced effect sizes on protein levels.

    “However, eQTLs tend to have significantly reduced effect sizes on protein levels, suggesting that their potential impact on downstream phenotypes is often attenuated or buffered.”
    • Also stated in: § Abstract · hedged
      “Yet, both eQTL mapping and effect-size analyses indicate that many eQTLs have attenuated (or absent) effects on steady state protein levels (Fig. S16).”
    • Also stated in: § Abstract · plain
      “QTLs affecting mRNA levels are on average attenuated or buffered at the protein level, as has been observed between species (14).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingown data

    eQTLs showed the lowest overlap with pQTLs (35%).

    “In contrast, eQTLs showed the lowest overlap with pQTLs (35%), as expected (Fig. 1B).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Findingown data

    GEUVADIS eQTLs had reduced mean effect size in protein data compared to RNA-seq data (P=6.7e-3) or ribosome data (P=5.6e-3).

    “Using this approach, we observed a reduced mean effect size for the GEUVADIS eQTLs in the protein data compared to either the RNA-seq data (t-test P = 6.7×10-3) or ribosome data (P = 5.6×10-3; Fig. 1C).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims. 6
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 3
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    At FDR 10%, 2,355 eQTLs, 939 rQTLs, and 278 pQTLs were detected.

    “At an FDR of 10% we detected 2,355 eQTLs, 939 rQTLs, and 278 pQTLs (Table 1, Fig. S11).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Findingown data

    Average effect sizes for RNA-seq and ribosome data are not significantly different and are highly correlated across tested eQTLs (Pearson c=0.79, P<10-96).

    “In contrast, the average effect sizes observed for the RNA-seq and ribosome data are not significantly different from each other, and their effect sizes are highly correlated across the tested eQTLs (Pearson c = 0.79, P < 10-96, Fig. S14).”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

    Premisecitation

    Protein expression evolves under greater evolutionary constraint than transcript levels.

    “Comparative studies (9-13) have suggested that protein expression evolves under greater evolutionary constraint than transcript levels (14)”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim0 of 6 sources checked
    • cites [9] Laurent JM Protein abundances are more conserved than mRNA abundances across diverse taxa Proteomics 10 4209 2010 21089048 PMC3113407 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [10] Schrimpf SP Comparative Functional Analysis of the Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster Proteomes PLoS Biol 7 e1000048 2009 PMC2650730 19260763 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [11] Stadler M Fire A Conserved translatome remodeling in nematode species executing a shared developmental transition PLoS genetics 9 e1003739 2013 24098135 PMC3789828 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [12] Artieri CG Fraser HB Evolution at two levels of gene expression in yeast Genome research 24 411 3 2014 24318729 PMC3941106 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [13] McManus CJ May GE Spealman P Shteyman A Ribosome profiling reveals post-transcriptional buffering of divergent gene expression in yeast Genome research 24 422 3 2014 24318730 PMC3941107 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [14] Khan Z Primate transcript and protein expression levels evolve under compensatory selection pressures Science (New York, N Y) 342 1100 11 29 2013 PMC3994702 24136357 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation

    Previous studies have evaluated the association between genetic variation and transcript expression in humans.

    “Previous studies have evaluated the association between variation and transcript expression in humans (1-3).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 3 sources checked
    • cites [1] Battle A Characterizing the genetic basis of transcriptome diversity through RNA-sequencing of 922 individuals Genome research 24 14 1 2014 24092820 PMC3875855 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [2] Lappalainen T Transcriptome and genome sequencing uncovers functional variation in humans Nature 501 506 9 26 2013 24037378 PMC3918453 source

      Not checked in the free run.

    • cites [3] Grundberg E Mapping cis- and trans-regulatory effects across multiple tissues in twins Nature genetics 44 1084 10 2012 22941192 PMC3784328 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Study design and conductown data

    Ribosome profiling reads are highly concentrated within coding regions and show enrichment of a 3-bp periodicity.

    “We obtained a median coverage of 12 million mapped reads per sample and, as expected, the ribosome profiling reads are highly concentrated within coding regions and show an enrichment of a 3-bp periodicity, reflecting the progression of a translating ribosome (Figs. S1-S3, Table S1).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    There is a scarcity of translation-specific QTLs and minimal attenuation of genetic impact between mRNA and ribosome phenotypes.

    “These observations, along with the phenotype-specific QTL analysis, indicate a scarcity of translation-specific QTLs, and minimal attenuation of genetic impact between mRNA and ribosome phenotypes.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Interpretationcitation

    This enrichment possibly reflects the functional role of lysine acetylation in modulating protein degradation.

    “This possibly reflects the functional role of lysine acetylation in modulating protein degradation (23).”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim0 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [23] Yang XJ Seto E Lysine acetylation: codified crosstalk with other posttranslational modifications Molecular cell 31 449 8 22 2008 18722172 PMC2551738 source

      Not checked in the free run.

  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationown data

    Genetic variants involved in post-transcriptional regulation are functionally distinct from variants primarily affecting transcription, being more likely in translated regions and at non-synonymous sites.

    “Overall, the enrichment results suggest that genetic variants involved in post-transcriptional regulation are functionally distinct from genetic variants that primarily affect transcription – they are more likely to fall within translated regions of the gene, and more likely to occur at non-synonymous sites.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
  • May combine two claims.

    Interpretationreasoning

    These results identify loci where genetic variants have specific impacts on protein levels not fully mediated by transcription or translation and may affect protein degradation rates.

    “Put together, these results allow us to identify loci where genetic variants have specific impacts on protein levels that are not fully mediated by regulation of either transcription or translation and hence may affect rates of protein degradation.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim
9 of 9

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • How 5′ UTR sequences affect translation is only beginning to be understood.

    “Genetic variants play a major role in phenotypic differences between individuals38 and how these sequences affect translation is only beginning to be understood39,40.”

    From Human 5′ UTR design and variant effect prediction from a massively parallel translation assay (2019) · cites this paper as [39]

    In the section labeled Abstract (page unavailable), the paper says that how genetic differences affect gene expression through translation has not been fully characterized. That supports the general point that understanding is incomplete, but the cited passage does not specifically address how 5′ UTR sequences affect translation. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • A number of studies have shown that while levels of many proteins are strongly correlated with their transcript levels, with coincident eQTL and pQTL, the correlations for most protein-transcript pairs are modest.

    “A number of studies have now shown that while levels of many proteins are strongly correlated with their transcript levels, with coincident eQTL and protein QTL (pQTL), the correlations for most protein–transcript pairs are modest [51–58].”

    From Multi-omics approaches to disease (2017) · cites this paper as [51]

  • Human biology is closely tied to proteins, and mass spectrometry-based proteomics has linked phenotype to protein-level biology.

    “Human biology is tightly linked to proteins, and mass spectrometry-based proteomics has established a strong linkage between phenotype and protein-level biology (1, 2).”

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Authors
Battle, A., Khan, Z., Wang, S. H., Mitrano, A., Ford, M. J., Pritchard, J. K., & Gilad, Y.
Affiliations
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
  • University of Chicago (US)
  • MS Bioworks, LLC, 3950 Varsity Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA.
Corresponding author
  • Battle, Alexis
  • Khan, Zia
  • Wang, Sidney H.
  • Pritchard, Jonathan K.
  • Gilad, Yoav
Venue
Science
Published
2015-02-06
Volume
347
Issue
6222
Pages
664-667
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
OpenAlex
W2044286001
Cited by
471
References
44
Citations by year
2026: 29 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 49 · 2023: 39 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 40 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 35 · 2017: 43 · 2016: 46 · 2015: 33
FWCI
26.64
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • NIH (GM077959, HG007036, MH084703)
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Mapping and Diversity in Plants and Animals
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA Research and Splicing
Keywords
expression quantitative trait loci, ribosome occupancy, protein abundance, genetic variants, transcript expression, post-translational regulation, regulatory variation
MeSH terms
Cell Line, Exons, Gene Expression Regulation, Humans, Phenotype, Ribosomes, RNA, Messenger, Transcription, Genetic, Protein Biosynthesis, Genetic Variation, 5' Flanking Region, 3' Flanking Region, Quantitative Trait Loci

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