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An Overview of Genome-Wide Association Studies in Alzheimer’s Disease

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Abstract

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have revealed a plethora of putative susceptibility genes for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). With the sole exception of the APOE gene, these AD susceptibility genes have not been unequivocally validated in independent studies. No single novel functional risk genetic variant has been identified. In this review, we evaluate recent GWASs of AD, and discuss their significance, limitations, and challenges in the investigation of the genetic spectrum of AD.

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Acknowledgments

This review was supported by CHINA-CANADA Joint Initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders (81261120571), the National Basic Research Development Program (973 Program) of China (2011CB504104), Scientific Promoting Project of Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders (BIBDPXM2014_014226_000016), Seed Grant of International Alliance of Translational Neuroscience (PXM2014_014226_000006), Key Medical Professional Development Plan of Beijing Municipal Administration of Hospitals (ZYLX201301), the National Science and Technology Major Project for “Major New Drug Innovation and Development” of the Twelfth 5-year Plan Period of China(2011ZX09307-001-03), the Major Project of the Science and Technology Plan of the Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission of China (D111107003111009), the National Key Technology R&D Program in the Eleventh Five-year Plan Period of China (2006BAI02B01), and the Key Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30830045).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Xuan Wu Hospital of the Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100053, China

    Luxi Shen & Jianping Jia

  2. Center of Alzheimer’s Disease, Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, 100053, China

    Jianping Jia

  3. Beijing Key Laboratory of Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, Beijing, 100053, China

    Jianping Jia

  4. Neurodegenerative Laboratory of Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, 100053, China

    Jianping Jia

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  1. Luxi Shen
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Correspondence to Jianping Jia.

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Shen, L., Jia, J. An Overview of Genome-Wide Association Studies in Alzheimer’s Disease. Neurosci. Bull. 32, 183–190 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12264-016-0011-3

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