Fingerprint patterns are linked to limb development genes

Date:
January 6, 2022
Source:
Cell Press
Summary:
In the most comprehensive analysis to date, researchers found
that the shapes of fingerprints -- whether they are circular,
wavy, or winding - - are influenced by the genes responsible for
limb development instead of skin patterning. The study could help
scientists better understand the association between genes and
phenotypical traits in humans.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
In the most comprehensive analysis to date, researchers found that the
shapes of fingerprints -- whether they are circular, wavy, or winding --
are influenced by the genes responsible for limb development instead of
skin patterning. The study, presented January 6 in the journal Cell,
could help scientists better understand the association between genes
and phenotypical traits in humans.


========================================================================== "People may wonder why our team is working on fingerprints," says
Sijia Wang, a geneticist at the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and
Health, of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and co-senior author on the
paper. "We started the work purely out of curiosity. But later it turns
out fingerprint pattern is associated with genes for limb growth, which
are critical for fetal development. This provides another classic example
of pleiotropy, when multiple phenotypes are interrelated to each other
and are affected by the same genes." While fingerprints are unique to individuals, they are generally categorized into three types: arch, loop,
and whorl. These furrows and ridges begin to form on a fetus' fingers
and toes after the third month of pregnancy. Scientists have suspected
that fingerprints have potentially evolved to help grab objects and sense
their textures, but exactly how these patterns are formed remains unknown.

Wang and colleagues scanned the DNA of more than 23,000 people across
ethnic groups and found that at least 43 regions on the genome are
associated with fingerprint patterns. One of the most influential regions appeared to be regulating the expression of a gene called EVI1, which
is known for its role in embryonic limb development.

To test their finding, the team modified the DNA of mice so their
expression of EVI1 was turned down. They found that mice with
downregulated EVI1 developed abnormal skin patterns on their digits
compared with wild-type mice.

Analysis of human data revealed that fingerprint patterns are genetically correlated with finger length. For example, people with whorl-shaped fingerprints on both of their little fingers tend to have longer little
fingers than those who do not, and this correlation is strongly linked
to genes involved ini limb development.

"We don't know exactly how the genes shape fingerprint patterns, but it
could be determined by the amount of strength from growth that's put
on an embryonic tissue called volar pads that plays an important role
in the formation of different patterns of fingerprint," says Jinxi Li, a geneticist at the Human Phenome Institute at Fudan University in Shanghai,
and a co-first author on the paper. She explains that as a fetus' hands
grow, the palms and fingers would stretch and elongate. These forces
could turn a whorl into a loop, for example.

Notably, previous research has suggested that EVI1is linked to risk of leukemia, and some studies have observed that people with more whorl
patterns are more susceptible to the disease," Wang says.

"Many congenital genetic disorders are related to different dermatoglyphic patterns, such as fingerprints," he says. For example, children with
Down's syndrome are more likely to have a single crease running across the
palm of their hands. "Our study suggests that dermatoglyphic patterns
are affected by crucial development genes, which provides a strong
theoretical basis for this kind of pleiotropy." The research is part
of the International Human Phenome Project led by Fudan University in
Shanghai that aims to map how the human phenotypical traits are correlated
with each other. Next, the team plans to conduct more research on how dermatoglyphic patterns are related to diseases and the underlying
pleiotropic mechanism.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Cell_Press. Note: Content may be
edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Jinxi Li, James D. Glover, Haiguo Zhang, Meifang Peng, Jingze Tan,
Chandana Basu Mallick, Dan Hou, Yajun Yang, Sijie Wu, Yu Liu,
Qianqian Peng, Shijie C. Zheng, Edie I. Crosse, Alexander Medvinsky,
Richard A.

Anderson, Helen Brown, Ziyu Yuan, Shen Zhou, Yanqing Xu, John
P. Kemp, Yvonne Y.W. Ho, Danuta Z. Loesch, Lizhong Wang, Yingxiang
Li, Senwei Tang, Xiaoli Wu, Robin G. Walters, Kuang Lin, Ruogu Meng,
Jun Lv, Jonathan M. Chernus, Katherine Neiswanger, Eleanor Feingold,
David M.

Evans, Sarah E. Medland, Nicholas G. Martin, Seth M. Weinberg,
Mary L.

Marazita, Gang Chen, Zhengming Chen, Yong Zhou, Michael Cheeseman,
Lan Wang, Li Jin, Denis J. Headon, Sijia Wang. Limb development
genes underlie variation in human fingerprint patterns. Cell,
2022; 185 (1): 95 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.12.008 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220106111552.htm

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