Variants in ELL2 influencing immunoglobulin levels associate with multiple myeloma.

Nat Commun
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

Multiple myeloma (MM) is characterized by an uninhibited, clonal growth of plasma cells. While first-degree relatives of patients with MM show an increased risk of MM, the genetic basis of inherited MM susceptibility is incompletely understood. Here we report a genome-wide association study in the Nordic region identifying a novel MM risk locus at ELL2 (rs56219066T; odds ratio (OR)=1.25; P=9.6 × 10(-10)). This gene encodes a stoichiometrically limiting component of the super-elongation complex that drives secretory-specific immunoglobulin mRNA production and transcriptional regulation in plasma cells. We find that the MM risk allele harbours a Thr298Ala missense variant in an ELL2 domain required for transcription elongation. Consistent with a hypomorphic effect, we find that the MM risk allele also associates with reduced levels of immunoglobulin A (IgA) and G (IgG) in healthy subjects (P=8.6 × 10(-9) and P=6.4 × 10(-3), respectively) and, potentially, with an increased risk of bacterial meningitis (OR=1.30; P=0.0024).

Year of Publication
2015
Journal
Nat Commun
Volume
6
Pages
7213
Date Published
2015 May 26
ISSN
2041-1723
URL
DOI
10.1038/ncomms8213
PubMed ID
26007630
PubMed Central ID
PMC4455110
Links