Heritability and Genomics of Gene Expression in Peripheral Blood

We assessed gene expression profiles in 2,752 twins, using a classic twin design to quantify expression heritability and quantitative trait loci (eQTL) in peripheral blood. The most highly heritable genes (~777) were grouped into distinct expression clusters, enriched in gene-poor regions, associated with specific gene function/ontology classes, and strongly associated with disease designation. The design enabled a comparison of twin-based heritability to estimates based on dizygotic IBD sharing and distant genetic relatedness. Consideration of sampling variation suggests that previous heritability estimates have been upwardly biased. Genotyping of 2,494 twins enabled powerful identification of eQTLs, which were further examined in a replication set of 1,895 unrelated subjects. A large number of local eQTLs (6,988) met replication criteria, while a relatively small number of distant eQTLs (165) met quality control and replication standards. Our results provide an important new resource toward understanding the genetic control of transcription.