An atlas of genetic regulation and disease associations of microRNAs

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression. Identification of genetic variants influencing the transcription of miRNAs can provide an understanding of their genetic regulation and implication in human disease. Here we present genome-wide association studies of 2,083 plasma circulating miRNAs measured by next-generation sequencing in 2,178 participants of the Rotterdam Study to identify miRNA-expression quantitative trait loci (miR-eQTLs). We report 4,310 cis- and trans-miR-eQTLs for 64 miRNAs that have been replicated across independent studies. Many of these miR-eQTLs overlap with gene expression, protein, and metabolite-QTLs and with disease-associated variants. The consequences of perturbation in miRNA transcription on a wide range of clinical conditions are systematically investigated in phenome-wide association studies, with their causality tested using Mendelian randomization. Integration of genomics and miRNAs enables interrogation of the genetic architecture of miRNAs, revealing their clinical importance, and providing valuable resources for future studies of miRNAs in human disease. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement RM is supported by the Presidents PhD Scholarship from Imperial College London. AD is funded by a Welcome Trust seed award (206046/Z/17/Z). This project is partly supported by the Erasmus MC Fellowship (EMCF20213) and Alzheimer Nederland (WE.03-2021-10) grants of MG. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The Rotterdam Study has been approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Erasmus MC (registration number MEC 02.1015) and by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (Population Screening Act WBO, license number 1071272-159521-PG). The Rotterdam Study Personal Registration Data collection is filed with the Erasmus MC Data Protection Officer under registration number EMC1712001. All participants provided written informed consent to participate in the study and to have their information obtained from treating physicians. The UK Biobank has approval from the North-West Multi-centre Research Ethics Committee (MREC) as a Research Tissue Bank (RTB) approval. Explicit informed consent was obtained from all participants when they enrolled in the UK Biobank. Access to the UK Biobank was provided through application 52569. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes All data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors. Requests should be directed towards the management team of the Rotterdam Study (secretariat.epi{at}erasmusmc.nl), which has a protocol for approving data requests.