First genetic factor identified that tells the body when to start puberty
18 May 2009
Scientists from the Medical Research Council have identified the first genetic variant associated with the timing of puberty in humans. The discovery will allow scientists to learn more about how genetic factors, diet and physical activity combine to influence children’s growth.
The researchers performed a genome wide association study, published in Nature Genetics, and found that a variation in the human gene LIN28B was associated with the age at which a girl starts her menstrual cycle. They went on to show that this genetic variation is associated with the timing of many other characteristics of early puberty in both girls and boys.
Genetic studies in thousands of volunteers from studies in the UK and other European countries showed that this genetic variation was associated with early breast development in girls. In boys, it was associated with early voice breaking and early growth of pubic hair. Both girls and boys with this genetic variant grew faster between the ages of 7 and 11 years, but adults with this variant were relatively short. These findings illustrate that many early developers are often tall children but become short adults because they stop growing early.
Lead author Dr Ken Ong of the MRC Epidemiology Unit, Cambridge said:
"Early puberty is seen in some overweight and obese children. These important findings now allow us to study how genetic factors like LIN28B work together with diet and physical activity to influence the timing of growth and maturation in children."
He added: "The LIN28B gene in humans is similar to a gene (lin-28) that controls the rate of maturation in the nematode worm, Caenorhabditis elegans. It is remarkable that the human system of growth and development appears to be the same as that in very primitive creatures like the nematode worm."
Original research paper: Genetic variation in LIN28B is associated with the timing of growth and puberty is published in Nature Genetics
Notes
The researchers at the MRC Epidemiology Unit are extremely grateful to all of the participants in each of the studies contributing to this effort. These studies were EPIC-Norfolk, Lausanne Cohort (Co-Laus), Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), British 1958 Birth Cohort, MRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD), and European Youth Heart Study (EYHS).
The MRC Epidemiology Unit would also like to acknowledge the support provided by the UK Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the University of Bristol, the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of Lausanne, Switzerland, GlaxoSmithKline and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, USA.
Press contact: 020 7637 6011
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