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Simon Stacey, Kari Stefansson and colleagues show that a germline variant in the TP53 polyadenylation signal is associated with increased risk of basal cell carcinoma and other solid tumors.
Yardena Samuels and colleagues sequenced G protein-coupled receptors in 11 melanoma samples and report a comprehensive map of somatic variants in the GPCR gene family. They find frequent mutations in GRM3, which promote proliferation and migration of melanoma cells.
Vincent Lynch and colleagues report the transcriptional landscapes of endometrial stromal cells from placental and marsupial mammals and identify 1,532 genes that are expressed in human and armadillo but not opossum. The authors suggest these genes were recruited into endometrial stromal cells during the evolution of pregnancy in placental mammals. Thirteen percent of these genes are located within 200 kb of a MER20 transposable element, and functional experiments show that MER20 elements regulate endometrial-specific gene expression response to progesterone and cAMP.
Martin Tobin and colleagues report a meta-analysis of 23 genome-wide association studies for pulmonary function. They identify 16 loci newly associated with variation in two cross-sectional measures of lung function, used to define airway obstruction and to grade the severity of obstruction.
Adam Siepel and colleagues estimate key parameters for ancient human demography using a Bayesian analysis of the whole-genome sequences of six individuals from diverse populations. They present new methods for coalescent-based inference of demographic parameters as well as a custom pipeline for genotype inference.
The Schizophrenia Psychiatric Genome-Wide Association Study Consortium reports five genetic loci newly associated with risk of schizophrenia, involving 17,836 cases of schizophrenia and 33,859 healthy controls. The new locus with the strongest support of association was located within an intron for microRNA 137, a known regulator of neuronal development. Four other genome-wide significant loci for schizophrenia contain predicted targets of MIR137, suggesting that disruption to pathways involving MIR137 may be an etiologic mechanism in schizophrenia.
The Psychiatric GWAS Consortium Bipolar Disorder Working Group reports a large-scale genome-wide association study of 7,481 individuals with bipolar disorder with replication in 4,493 cases. The Consortium identifies a new susceptibility locus near ODZ4 and replicates a known association near CACNA1C for bipolar disorder.
Michiaki Kubo and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for age-related macular degeneration in individuals of Japanese ancestry. They identify two genetic loci newly associated with this disease.
Joshua Bis, Christopher O'Donnell and colleagues report a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies from the CHARGE Consortium that identifies loci associated with carotid intima media thickness and plaque. These are established measures of subclinical atherosclerosis that predict future cardiovascular disease events.
Paul Elliott, Martin Tobin, Cornelia van Duijn and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for pulse pressure and mean arterial pressure, identifying six new loci influencing these two traits.
Dianna Milewicz and colleagues report a genome-wide association study of sporadic thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection. They identify an associated locus on 15q21 spanning the FBN1 gene.
Yoon Shin Cho and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for nine metabolic traits in east Asians. They identify ten new loci that are associated with these traits.
Andrea Ventura and colleagues report germline hemizygous deletions in the miR-17~92 cluster in individuals with features overlapping Feingold syndrome. Mice with targeted deletions in miR17~92 also display growth and skeletal defects.
Sahar Mansour and colleagues report alterations in the transcription factor GATA2 in eight pedigrees with Emberger disorder, which is characterized by primary lymphedema and predispositon to acute myeloid leukemia. Most of the heterozygous variants lead to frameshift mutations and premature termination of GATA2.
João Barata and colleagues identify somatic gain-of-function IL7R mutations in childhood T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The mutations result in constitutive receptor activation, implicating the IL-7R pathway as a potential therapeutic target in a subset of T-ALL cases.
Matthew Meyerson and colleagues report the whole-genome sequencing of primary colorectal tumors and matched adjacent non-tumor tissue from nine individuals with colorectal cancer. They identify a recurrent VTI1A-TCF7L2 fusion in 3% of colorectal cancers.
Hamish Scott and colleagues report that germline mutations in GATA2 segregate with myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia in four pedigrees. The resulting alterations occur in a conserved zinc finger DNA-binding domain of GATA2.