Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42546692›Full record

ArticleAmerican journal of human genetics2026

Cell villages and Dirichlet modeling map human cell fitness genetics.

Chloe Hanson, Timothy Derebenskiy, Ana Rodriguez Vega, Yashika S Kamte, Rachel G Fox, Laila Sathe, Hannah Lambing, Tyler E Dietterich, Derek Hawes, Ralda Nehme and 5 more

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in American journal of human genetics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Chloe HansonDepartment of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Timothy DerebenskiyDepartment of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Ana Rodriguez VegaDepartment of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Interdepartmental PhD Program for Neuroscience, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; The UCLA-CDU Dana Center for Neuroscience & Society, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Yashika S KamteDepartment of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Rachel G FoxDepartment of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Interdepartmental PhD Program for Neuroscience, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Laila SatheDepartment of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Hannah LambingDepartment of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Tyler E DietterichDepartment of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Interdepartmental PhD Program for Neuroscience, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Derek HawesStanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Ralda NehmeStanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Olli PietiläinenStanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Helsinki Institute of Life Science Neuroscience Center, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Aarno PalotieStanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Program in Medical and Population Genetics, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA; Analytic and Translational Genetics Unit, Department of Medicine, Department of Neurology, and Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Patrick AllardInstitute for Society and Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Harold PimentelDepartment of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Computer Science, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Computational Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Electronic address: hjp@ucla.edu.
Michael F WellsDepartment of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Electronic address: mfwells@mednet.ucla.edu.

Funding

Hierarchical modeling and simulation to optimize cell village experimental design and the analysis of scRNA-seq dataF31HG013890 · NHGRI · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI Chloe C Hanson · 2024 to 2026
$84k
NHGRI NIH HHS F31 HG013890
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The capacity of cells to proliferate and survive is central to development and disease. Assays that measure cell fitness are therefore a cornerstone of biology, but traditional techniques lack donor diversity and have high technical variability that impedes scale and reproducibility. To overcome these barriers, we designed and validated a "cell village"-based fitness screening approach using pooled cultures of 12-39 genetically distinct human neural progenitor cell (NPC) lines. We also developed Townlet to establish a foundational statistical framework based on Dirichlet regression for analyzing proportional data from cell villages. Applying these systems, we identified hyperproliferation in NPCs harboring the autism risk factor chromosome 16p11.2 deletion, mapped common genetic variants near ZFHX3 associated with NPC proliferation rate, and discovered genetic modifiers of lead (Pb) sensitivity implicating ARNT2. Together, these experimental and analytical tools advance a scalable, genetically diverse in vitro platform for dissecting human variation in cell fitness and gene-environment interactions.

Indexed as

Genetic FitnessNeural Stem CellsAryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Nuclear TranslocatorAutistic DisorderBasic Helix-Loop-Helix ProteinsCell LineCell ProliferationChromosome DeletionChromosomes, Human, Pair 16Gene-Environment InteractionHomeodomain ProteinsHumansARNT2 protein, humanAryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Nuclear TranslocatorBasic Helix-Loop-Helix ProteinsHomeodomain Proteins16p11.2 deletionARNT2cell fitnesscell villageDirichlet modelgene-environment interactionGWAS-in-a-dishneural progenitor cellsneurotoxicityZFHX3

Identifiers

PMID42546692

What OpenQuestion holds

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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.