Massively parallel discovery of human-specific substitutions that alter enhancer activity

Genetic changes that altered the function of gene regulatory elements have been implicated in the evolution of human traits such as the expansion of the cerebral cortex. However, identifying the particular changes that modified regulatory activity during human evolution remain challenging. Here we used massively parallel enhancer assays in neural stem cells to quantify the functional impact of >32,000 human-specific substitutions in >4,300 human accelerated regions (HARs) and human gain enhancers (HGEs), which include enhancers with novel activities in humans. We found that >30% of active HARs and HGEs exhibited differential activity between human and chimpanzee. We isolated the effects of human-specific substitutions from background genetic variation to identify the effects of genetic changes most relevant to human evolution. We found that substitutions interacted in both additive and nonadditive ways to modify enhancer function. Substitutions within HARs, which are highly constrained compared to HGEs, showed smaller effects on enhancer activity, suggesting that the impact of human-specific substitutions is buffered in enhancers with constrained ancestral functions. Our findings yield insight into how human-specific genetic changes altered enhancer function and provide a rich set of candidates for studies of regulatory evolution in humans.

Automated summary

Massively parallel enhancer assays in neural stem cells were used to quantify the functional impact of >32,000 human-specific substitutions in >4,300 human accelerated regions (HARs) and human gain enhancers (HGEs). Over 30% of active HARs and HGEs showed differential activity between human and chimpanzee, with human-specific substitutions interacting in additive and nonadditive ways to modify enhancer function. Substitutions in HARs, which are highly constrained compared to HGEs, had smaller effects on enhancer activity, indicating buffering of the impact of human-specific substitutions in enhancers with constrained ancestral functions.