Pathway Analysis Identified a Significant Association Between Cell-Cell Adherens Junctions-Related Genes and Non-Syndromic Cleft Lip/palate in 895 Asian Case-Parent Trios.

Objectives: To study the association between the seven cell-cell adherens junctions (AJs)-related genes (CDH1, CTNND1, CTNNA1, ESRP1, ESRP2, PLEKHA5, and PLEKHA7) and non-syndromic cleft lip with or without cleft palate (NSCL/P) in the Asian population.& nbsp;Design: The study included 895 NSCL/P case-parent trios of Asian ethnicity drawn from an international consortium established for a genome-wide association study. We performed association analysis by applying the genotypic transmission disequilibrium test for each of the 144 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the versatile gene-based association study for the combined effects of all SNPs, all in or around the seven target genes, and the versatile pathway-based approach for the combined effects of these seven target genes, consecutively.& nbsp;Results: In our analysis, we found neither a significant SNP-based nor gene-based association with NSCL/P for any of the 144 relevant SNPs or the seven target genes. However, novel evidence of a significant association (P = 6.00 x 10(-6)) with NSCL/P was observed in the combined effects of these seven target genes in the versatile pathway-based analysis.& nbsp;Conclusions: Our results were consistent with the findings of previously published human sequencing studies and reinforced the role of these cell-cell AJs-related genes in the pathogenesis of NSCL/P that may be replicated using data from other genome-wide association studies. This pathway approach better reflects our current understanding of the biological mechanisms underlying the aetiology of NSCL/P.