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Ó³»­´«Ã½-led team reveals new genetic findings that link major pathway for triglyceride metabolism to risk of coronary artery disease

For decades, scientists have searched for the biological roots of coronary artery disease (CAD), the most common form of heart disease and the leading cause of death in the United States. LDL, a type of fat in the blood, emerged early on as a key player — high levels raise the risk of CAD and heart attack. Based on these insights, LDL-lowering drugs were first introduced in the late 1980’s and are now a staple of modern medicine.

Recent evidence has suggested that interaction with RNA can regulate the activity and localization of chromatin-associated proteins, but it’s not known whether this is a widespread mechanism underlying chromatin states and gene regulation. As part of the initiative, researchers from Harvard University and the Ó³»­´«Ã½ used a scalable protocol for cataloguing RNA–protein interactions—including those on and around chromatin—to uncover many examples of RNA binding that suggest that RNA does indeed play an important roles in creating and/or maintaining chromatin states. The data provide a powerful, novel resource that can help dissect the interplay of RNA and epigenetic regulation across diverse chromatin regulatory complexes.

One of the first protein polymorphisms identified in humans involves alternative forms of haptoglobin, one of the most abundant proteins in the blood. The genetic origins and medical significance of this variation have puzzled scientists since its discovery. Now, a team of researchers from the Ó³»­´«Ã½â€™s Medical and Population Genetics Program led by institute member Steve McCarroll and postdoctoral associate Linda Boettger has revealed that haptoglobin variation likely arose from the combined effects of many deletions among human ancestors. , published this week in Nature Genetics, goes on to find that these deletions contribute to lower blood cholesterol levels. The findings may also represent an interesting example of exon deletions that exert a beneficial effect on protein structure and human health.