Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40025045›Full record

ArticleNature communications2025

FLT1 and other candidate fetal haemoglobin modifying loci in sickle cell disease in African ancestries.

Ambroise Wonkam, Kevin Esoh, Rachel M Levine, Valentina Josiane Ngo Bitoungui, Khuthala Mnika, Nikitha Nimmagadda, Erin A D Dempsey, Siana Nkya, Raphael Z Sangeda, Victoria Nembaware and 15 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Genetics and Genomics in Sickle Cell Disease in Africa.American journal of hematology · 2026
    Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

25 authors.

Ambroise Wonkam *McKusick-Nathans Institute and Department of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. awonkam1@jhmi.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1420-9051
Kevin Esoh *McKusick-Nathans Institute and Department of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4024-5681
Rachel M LevineDepartment of Hematology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3684-2950
Valentina Josiane Ngo BitounguiDepartment of Microbiology, Haematology and Immunology, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2845-8879
Khuthala MnikaDivision of Human Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Nikitha NimmagaddaDepartment of Hematology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1648-6335
Erin A D DempseyDepartment of Hematology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
Siana NkyaDepartment of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
Raphael Z SangedaDepartment of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6574-5308
Victoria NembawareDivision of Human Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Jack MorriceDivision of Human Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Fujr OsmanMcKusick-Nathans Institute and Department of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4993-996X
Michael A BeerMcKusick-Nathans Institute and Department of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9955-3809
Julie MakaniSickle Cell Programme, Department of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, Muhimbili University of Health & Allied Sciences (MUHAS), Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
Nicola MulderComputational Biology Division, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, CIDRI-Africa Wellcome Trust Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4905-0941
Guillaume LettreMontreal Heart Institute, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7740-3399
Martin H SteinbergDepartment of Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Rachel LatanichMcKusick-Nathans Institute and Department of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
James F CasellaDepartment of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2846-9420
Daiana DrehmerArmstrong Oxygen Biology Research Center, Institute for Cell Engineering, and Department of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7329-2425
Dan E ArkingMcKusick-Nathans Institute and Department of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8980-8695
Emile R ChimusaDepartment of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8846-2047
Jonathan S YenDepartment of Hematology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9432-9450
Gregory A NewbyMcKusick-Nathans Institute and Department of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Stylianos E AntonarakisDepartment of Genetic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8907-5823

Funding

Viral Vector Technology (VVTSR)P30CA021765 · NCI · ST. JUDE CHILDREN'S RESEARCH HOSPITAL · PI Shondra Michelle Miller · 1985 to 2026
$166.9M
Public Understanding of Big data in Genomics Medicine in Africa (PUBGEM-Africa)U01MH127692 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN · PI MUNUNG, NCHANGWI SYNTIA, WONKAM, AMBROISE · 2021 to 2025
$1.9M
Exploring Perspectives on Genomics and Sickle Cell Public Health InterventionsU01HG007459 · NHGRI · UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN · PI WONKAM, AMBROISE · 2013 to 2016
$622k
NCI NIH HHS P30 CA021765NHGRI NIH HHS U01 HG007459NIMH NIH HHS U01 MH127692U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) U24-HL-135600U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) 1U01HG007459U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) U01MH127692
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Known fetal haemoglobin (HbF)-modulating loci explain 10-24% variation of HbF level in Africans with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), compared to 50% among Europeans. Here, we report fourteen candidate loci from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of HbF level in patients with SCD from Cameroon, Tanzania, and the United States of America. We present results of cell-based experiments for FLT1 candidate, demonstrating expression in early haematopoiesis and a possible involvement in hypoxia associated HbF induction. Our study employed genotyping arrays that capture a broad range of African and non-African genetic variation and replicated known loci (BCL11A and HBS1L-MYB). We estimated the heritability of HbF level in SCD at 94%, higher than estimated in unselected Europeans, and suggesting a robust capture of HbF-associated loci by these arrays. Our approach, which involved genotype imputation against six reference haplotype panels and association analysis with each of the panels, proved superior over selecting a best-performing panel, evidenced by a substantial proportion of panel-specific (up to 18%) and a low proportion of shared (28%) imputed variants across the panels.

Indexed as

Anemia, Sickle CellFetal HemoglobinVascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1Black or African AmericanCameroonCarrier ProteinsFemaleGenetic LociGenetic Predisposition to DiseaseGenome-Wide Association StudyGenotypeGTP-Binding ProteinsHaplotypesHumansMalePolymorphism, Single NucleotideBCL11A protein, humanCarrier ProteinsFetal HemoglobinFLT1 protein, humanGTP-Binding ProteinsHBS1L protein, humanRepressor ProteinsVascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1

Identifiers

PMID40025045
PMCPMC11873275

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.