Variation in the type I interferon gene cluster on 9p21 influences susceptibility to asthma and atopy.

摘要

A genome-wide screen for asthma and atopy susceptibility alleles conducted in the Hutterites, a founder population of European descent, reported evidence of linkage with a short tandem repeat polymorphism (STRP) within the type I interferon (IFN) gene cluster on chromosome 9p21. The goal of this study was to identify variation within the IFN gene cluster that influences susceptibility to asthma and atopic phenotypes. We screened approximately 25 kb of sequence, including the flanking sequence of all 15 functional genes and the single coding exon in 12, in Hutterites representing different IFNA-STRP genotypes. We identified 78 polymorphisms, and genotyped 40 of these (in 14 genes) in a large Hutterite pedigree. Modest associations (0.003