Preprint on cell type specific eQTLs

Nil Aygün, a graduate student in the lab, has led a project to identify how genetic variation affects gene expression during human cortical neurogenesis. Importantly, this was completed in a cell-type specific approach, where we studied two cell types involved in neurogenesis - neural progenitors and their neuronal progeny. Most eQTLs were cell-type specific and not detected in previous bulk tissue eQTLs. This implies we may be missing a lot of gene regulation with bulk tissue QTLs. Also, many of these loci co-localize with neuropsychiatric disorder GWAS, allowing inference of genes dysregulated in these disorders. Check out the pre-print here.

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