Multi-Trait Polygenic Scores for COPD and COPD Exacerbations Implicate Druggable Proteins.

Objectives: To construct multi-trait polygenic scores (PRS) predicting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and exacerbations, validate their performance in diverse cohorts, and identify PRS-related proteins for potential therapeutic targeting.

Design: Prospective cohort studies.

Setting: Genetic Epidemiology of COPD (COPDGene; 2007-present), Evaluation of COPD Longitudinally to Identify Predictive Surrogate Endpoints (ECLIPSE; 2005-2008), Mass General Brigham Biobank (MGBB; 2010-present), All of Us (2016-present), and UK Biobank (UKB; 2006-present).

Assessing inflammatory protein biomarkers in COPD subjects with and without alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency.

Rationale: Individuals homozygous for the Alpha-1 Antitrypsin (AAT) Z allele (Pi*ZZ) exhibit heterogeneity in COPD risk. COPD occurrence in non-smokers with AAT deficiency (AATD) suggests that inflammatory processes may contribute to COPD risk independently of smoking. We hypothesized that inflammatory protein biomarkers in non-AATD COPD are associated with moderate-to-severe COPD in AATD individuals, after accounting for clinical factors.

Proteomic discovery analysis of quantitatively assessed emphysema in the general population. The MESA Lung Study.

Background: Pulmonary emphysema occurs frequently in older adults, often without airflow limitation. Its presence predicts symptoms, respiratory hospitalizations and deaths, and all-cause mortality. Proteomics may provide further insights into emphysema pathogenesis and inform therapeutic targets.

Proteomic biomarkers of emphysema-predominant and non-emphysema-predominant chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a complex and heterogeneous disease. Emphysema-predominant and non-emphysema predominant COPD are two major disease subtypes capturing important aspects of COPD heterogeneity. Molecular differences between these COPD subtypes are unknown.

Omic Risk Scores are Associated with COPD-related Traits Across Three Cohorts.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exhibits marked heterogeneity in lung function decline, mortality, exacerbations, and other disease-related outcomes. Omic risk scores (ORS) estimate the cumulative contribution of omics, such as the transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome, to a particular trait. This study evaluates the predictive value of ORS for COPD-related traits in both smoking-enriched and general population cohorts.

A generalized higher-order correlation analysis framework for multi-omics network inference.

Multiple -omics (genomics, proteomics, etc.) profiles are commonly generated to gain insight into a disease or physiological system. Constructing multi-omics networks with respect to the trait(s) of interest provides an opportunity to understand relationships between molecular features but integration is challenging due to multiple data sets with high dimensionality.

Cross-Ancestry Comparison of Aptamer and Antibody Proteomics Measures.

Measures from affinity-proteomics platforms often correlate poorly, challenging interpretation of protein associations with genetic variants (pQTL) and phenotypes. Here, we examined 2,157 proteins measured on both SomaScan 7k and Olink Explore 3072 across 1,930 participants with genetic similarity to European, African, East Asian, and Admixed American ancestry references. Inter-platform correlation coefficients for these 2,157 proteins followed a bimodal distribution (median r=0.

Assessing Inflammatory Protein Biomarkers in COPD Subjects with and without Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency.

Rationale: Individuals homozygous for the Alpha-1 Antitrypsin (AAT) Z allele (Pi*ZZ) exhibit heterogeneity in COPD risk. COPD occurrence in non-smokers with AAT deficiency (AATD) suggests inflammatory processes may contribute to COPD risk independently of smoking. We hypothesized that inflammatory protein biomarkers in non-AATD COPD are associated with moderate-to-severe COPD in AATD individuals, after accounting for clinical factors.

Genomic and phenotypic correlates of mosaic loss of chromosome Y in blood.

Mosaic loss of Y (mLOY) is the most common somatic chromosomal alteration detected in human blood. The presence of mLOY is associated with altered blood cell counts and increased risk of Alzheimer disease, solid tumors, and other age-related diseases. We sought to gain a better understanding of genetic drivers and associated phenotypes of mLOY through analyses of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of a large set of genetically diverse males from the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program.

Metabolic Aging as an Increased Risk for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Background/objectives: Both aging and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are strongly associated with changes in the metabolome; however, it is unknown whether there are common aging/COPD metabolomic signatures and if accelerated aging is associated with COPD.

Methods: Plasma from 5704 subjects from the Genetic Epidemiology of COPD study (COPDGene) and 2449 subjects from Subpopulations and intermediate outcome measures in COPD study (SPIROMICS) were profiled using the Metabolon global metabolomics platform (1013 annotated metabolites). Post-bronchodilator spirometry measures of airflow obstruction (forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV)/forced vital capacity (FVC) < 0.

Plasma Proteomic Markers of Iron and Risk of Diabetes in a Cohort of African American and White American Current and Former Smokers.

Background: Little information is available on iron with diabetes risk among African Americans, a population where both anemia and elevated ferritin are common. We tested whether plasma proteomic measurements of ferritin and transferrin were associated with increased diabetes risk in a cohort of current and former African American (NHB) and Non-Hispanic White (NHW) smokers.

Methods: NHB and NHW participants from the COPDGene study who were free of diabetes (n = 4693) at baseline were followed for incident diabetes.

Polygenic and transcriptional risk scores identify chronic obstructive pulmonary disease subtypes in the COPDGene and ECLIPSE cohort studies.

Background: Genetic variants and gene expression predict risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but their effect on COPD heterogeneity is unclear. We aimed to define high-risk COPD subtypes using genetics (polygenic risk score, PRS) and blood gene expression (transcriptional risk score, TRS) and assess differences in clinical and molecular characteristics.

Methods: We defined high-risk groups based on PRS and TRS quantiles by maximising differences in protein biomarkers in a COPDGene training set and identified these groups in COPDGene and ECLIPSE test sets.

A protein risk score for all-cause and respiratory-specific mortality in non-Hispanic white and African American individuals who smoke.

Protein biomarkers are associated with mortality in cardiovascular disease, but their effect on predicting respiratory and all-cause mortality is not clear. We tested whether a protein risk score (protRS) can improve prediction of all-cause mortality over clinical risk factors in smokers. We utilized smoking-enriched (COPDGene, LSC, SPIROMICS) and general population-based (MESA) cohorts with SomaScan proteomic and mortality data.

Smccnet 2.0: a comprehensive tool for multi-omics network inference with shiny visualization.

Sparse multiple canonical correlation network analysis (SmCCNet) is a machine learning technique for integrating omics data along with a variable of interest (e.g., phenotype of complex disease), and reconstructing multi-omics networks that are specific to this variable.

Dynamic and prognostic proteomic associations with FEV decline in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Rationale: Identification and validation of circulating biomarkers for lung function decline in COPD remains an unmet need.

Objective: Identify prognostic and dynamic plasma protein biomarkers of COPD progression.

Methods: We measured plasma proteins using SomaScan from two COPD-enriched cohorts, the Subpopulations and Intermediate Outcomes Measures in COPD Study (SPIROMICS) and Genetic Epidemiology of COPD (COPDGene), and one population-based cohort, Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) Lung.

Polygenic and transcriptional risk scores identify chronic obstructive pulmonary disease subtypes.

Rationale: Genetic variants and gene expression predict risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but their effect on COPD heterogeneity is unclear.

Objectives: Define high-risk COPD subtypes using both genetics (polygenic risk score, PRS) and blood gene expression (transcriptional risk score, TRS) and assess differences in clinical and molecular characteristics.

Methods: We defined high-risk groups based on PRS and TRS quantiles by maximizing differences in protein biomarkers in a COPDGene training set and identified these groups in COPDGene and ECLIPSE test sets.

Genomic and phenotypic correlates of mosaic loss of chromosome Y in blood.

Mosaic loss of Y (mLOY) is the most common somatic chromosomal alteration detected in human blood. The presence of mLOY is associated with altered blood cell counts and increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, solid tumors, and other age-related diseases. We sought to gain a better understanding of genetic drivers and associated phenotypes of mLOY through analyses of whole genome sequencing of a large set of genetically diverse males from the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program.

Proteomic Networks and Related Genetic Variants Associated with Smoking and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Background: Studies have identified individual blood biomarkers associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and related phenotypes. However, complex diseases such as COPD typically involve changes in multiple molecules with interconnections that may not be captured when considering single molecular features.

Methods: Leveraging proteomic data from 3,173 COPDGene Non-Hispanic White (NHW) and African American (AA) participants, we applied sparse multiple canonical correlation network analysis (SmCCNet) to 4,776 proteins assayed on the SomaScan v4.

Blood-based Transcriptomic and Proteomic Biomarkers of Emphysema.

Emphysema is a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease phenotype with important prognostic implications. Identifying blood-based biomarkers of emphysema will facilitate early diagnosis and development of targeted therapies. To discover blood omics biomarkers for chest computed tomography-quantified emphysema and develop predictive biomarker panels.

Alpha-1 antitrypsin inhibits fractalkine-mediated monocyte-lung endothelial cell interactions.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by nonresolving inflammation fueled by breach in the endothelial barrier and leukocyte recruitment into the airspaces. Among the ligand-receptor axes that control leukocyte recruitment, the full-length fractalkine ligand (CX3CL1)-receptor (CX3CR1) ensures homeostatic endothelial-leukocyte interactions. Cigarette smoke (CS) exposure and respiratory pathogens increase expression of endothelial sheddases, such as a-disintegrin-and-metalloproteinase-domain 17 (ADAM17, TACE), inhibited by the anti-protease α-1 antitrypsin (AAT).