Association of tripartite motif family-like 2 (TRIML2) polymorphisms with late-onset Alzheimer's disease risk in a Korean population

Apoptosis is a prominent feature in the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), regulated in part by the activity of p53. As tripartite motif family-like 2 (TRIML2), a member of the TRIM family of proteins, has been implicated in the regulation of p53-mediated apoptosis, we hypothesized that TRIML2 polymorphisms may result in an increased AD susceptibility. Here, we investigated the association between coding region single nucleotide polymorphisms (cSNPs) in TRIML2 and AD in a Korean population. Two cSNPs (rs79698746 and rs2279551) were genotyped using the Sequenom iPLEX(®) Gold assay and direct sequencing in 162 AD patients and 191 controls. Multiple logistic regression models were used to determine the odds ratios, 95% confidence intervals, and p-values. Significant associations were observed between AD and the allelic frequencies of two SNPs (rs79698746, p=0.007; rs2279551, p=0.01); genotype frequencies were also significantly different between the two groups [rs79698746: p=0.003 in the codominant 2 model (CC vs. TT), p=0.01 in the dominant model (TC/CC vs. TT), p=0.016 in the recessive model (CC vs. TT/TC), and p=0.0025 in the log-additive model (TC vs. CC vs. TT); rs2279551: p=0.003 in the codominant 2 model (CC vs. TT), p=0.011 in the dominant model (TC/CC vs. TT), p=0.019 in the recessive model (CC vs. TT/TC), and p=0.0028 in the log-additive model (TC vs. CC vs. TT)]. In the haplotype analyses, CC haplotypes containing two cSNPs were significantly associated with AD (p=0.013). Taken together, these findings indicate that the C allele of both SNPs was associated with an increased risk of AD. These results suggest that TRIML2 may contribute to AD susceptibility.