Researchers pinpointed genes expressed early in chondrocyte development as key influencers of human height, linking genome-wide associations with bone growth processes in children.
A study published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research points to genes and gene pathways that are strong candidates to influence the genetic regulation of human height.
The study examined data from genome-wide association studies of human height, which have identified numerous height-associated regions in the human genome, and assessed the expression of these genetic regions in different layers of the growth plate, or areas of new bone growth during childhood.
“Our results point to genes expressed in earlier stages of chondrocyte differentiation as most influencing human height,” Nora Renthal, MD, PhD, of Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
Reference: “Genes with specificity for expression in the round cell layer of the growth plate are enriched in genomewide association study (GWAS) of human height” by Nora E. Renthal, Priyanka Nakka, John M. Baronas, Henry M. Kronenberg and Joel N. Hirschhorn, 3 August 2021, Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
DOI: 10.1002/jbmr.4408
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