Abstract
Plasma proteomic profiles associated with subclinical somatic mutations in blood cells may offer novel insights into downstream clinical consequences. Here, we explore such patterns in clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP), which is linked to several cancer and non-cancer outcomes, including coronary artery disease (CAD). Among 61,833 ancestrally diverse participants (3,881 with CHIP) from NHLBI TOPMed and UK Biobank with blood-based DNA sequencing and proteomic measurements (1,148 proteins by SomaScan in TOPMed and 2,917 proteins by Olink in UK Biobank), we identified 32 and 345 unique proteins from TOPMed and UK Biobank, respectively, associated with the most prevalent driver genes (DNMT3A, TET2, and ASXL1). These associations showed substantial heterogeneity by driver genes, sex, and race, and were enriched for immune response and inflammation pathways. Mendelian randomization in humans, coupled with ELISA in hematopoietic Tet2-/- vs wild-type mice validation, disentangled causal proteomic perturbations from TET2 CHIP. Lastly, we identified plasma proteins shared between CHIP and CAD.
Competing Interest Statement
A.E.L. is currently a member of TenSixteen Bio, outside of the submitted work. B.L.E. has received research funding from Celgene, Deerfield, Novartis, and Calico and consulting fees from GRAIL. He is a member of the scientific advisory board and shareholder for Neomorph Inc., TenSixteen Bio, Skyhawk Therapeutics, and Exo Therapeutics. B.M.P serves on the Steering Committee of the Yale Open Data Access Project funded by Johnson & Johnson. J.C. is a scientific advisor to SomaLogic. P.L. is an unpaid consultant to, or involved in clinical trials for Amgen, AstraZeneca, Baim Institute, Beren Therapeutics, Esperion Therapeutics, Genentech, Kancera, Kowa Pharmaceuticals, Medimmune, Merck, Moderna, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Pfizer, and Sanofi-Regeneron. P.L. is a member of the scientific advisory board for Amgen, Caristo Diagnostics, Cartesian Therapeutics, CSL Behring, DalCor Pharmaceuticals, Dewpoint Therapeutics, Eulicid Bioimaging, Kancera, Kowa Pharmaceuticals, Olatec Therapeutics, Medimmune, Novartis, PlaqueTec, TenSixteen Bio, Soley Thereapeutics, and XBiotech, Inc. P.L.'s laboratory has received research funding in the last 2 years from Novartis, Novo Nordisk and Genentech. P.L. is on the Board of Directors of XBiotech, Inc. P.L. has a financial interest in Xbiotech, a company developing therapeutic human antibodies, in TenSixteen Bio, a company targeting somatic mosaicism and clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) to discover and develop novel therapeutics to treat age-related diseases, and in Soley Therapeutics, a biotechnology company that is combining artificial intelligence with molecular and cellular response detection for discovering and developing new drugs, currently focusing on cancer therapeutics. P.L.'s interests were reviewed and are managed by Brigham and Women's Hospital and Mass General Brigham in accordance with their conflict-of-interest policies. P.N. reports investigator-initiated grants from Amgen, Apple, Boston Scientific, Novartis, and AstraZeneca, personal fees from Allelica, Apple, AstraZeneca, Blackstone Life Sciences, Foresite Labs, Genentech, and Novartis, scientific board membership for Esperion Therapeutics, geneXwell, and TenSixteen Bio, and spousal employment at Vertex, all unrelated to the present work. P.N., A.G.B., S.J., and B.L.E. are scientific co-founders of TenSixteen Bio, and P.L. is an advisor to TenSixteen Bio. TenSixteen Bio is a company focused on clonal hematopoiesis but had no role in the present work. S.J. is on advisory boards for Novartis, AVRO Bio, and Roche Genentech, reports speaking fees and a honorarium from GSK, and is on the scientific advisory board of Bitterroot Bio. The other authors report no conflicts.
Footnotes
↵* Indicate co-senior authorship
added mice elisa, added mr, included all 3k ukb proteomics data.