Brain–heart–eye axis revealed by multi-organ imaging genetics and proteomics

Abstract

Multi-organ research investigates interconnections among multiple human organ systems, enhancing our understanding of human aging and disease mechanisms. Here we use multi-organ imaging, individual- and summary-level genetics, and proteomics data consolidated via the MULTI Consortium to delineate a brain–heart–eye axis using brain patterns of structural covariance (PSCs), heart imaging-derived phenotypes (IDPs) and eye IDPs. We find that proteome-wide associations of the PSCs and IDPs show within-organ specificity and cross-organ interconnections. Pleiotropic effects of common single-nucleotide polymorphisms are observed across multiple organs, and key genetic parameters are estimated for si..