Elisabete Miracca

The contribution of 700,000 ORF sequence tags to the definition of the human transcriptome

Open reading frame expressed sequences tags (ORESTES) differ from conventional ESTs by providing sequence data from the central protein coding portion of transcripts. We generated a total of 696,745 ORESTES sequences from 24 human tissues and used a subset of the data that correspond to a set of 15,095 full-length mRNAs as a means of assessing the efficiency of the strategy and its potential contribution to the definition of the human transcriptome. We estimate that ORESTES sampled over 80% of all highly and moderately expressed, and between 40% and 50% of rarely expressed, human genes. In our most thoroughly sequenced tissue, the breast, the 130,000 ORESTES generated are derived from transcripts from an estimated 70% of all genes expressed in that tissue, with an equally efficient representation of both highly and poorly expressed genes. In this respect, we find that the capacity of the ORESTES strategy both for gene discovery and shotgun transcript sequence generation significantly exceeds that of conventional ESTs. The distribution of ORESTES is such that many human transcripts are now represented by a scaffold of partial sequences distributed along the length of each gene product. The experimental joining of the scaffold components, by reverse transcription–PCR, represents a direct route to transcript finishing that may represent a useful alternative to full-length cDNA cloning.

High prevalence of p16 genetic alterations in head and neck tumours

Inactivation of the p16 gene is believed to contribute to the tumorigenic process of several neoplasms, including head and neck tumours. In the present study, DNA samples from paired tumour and adjacent normal tissue from 47 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck were investigated for the occurrence of p16 genetic alterations. Single-strand conformation polymorphism and direct DNA sequence analysis led to the identification of p16 mutations in six cases (13%). Southern blot analysis showed that homozygous deletion is a rare event in the group of tumours analysed. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) analysis was performed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using two microsatellite markers (IFNA and D9S171) from the 9p21 region. Taking into account only the informative cases, 17 of 32 tumours (53%) showed LOH for at least one of the markers analysed. The methylation status of the CpG sites in the exon 1 of the p16 gene was analysed using methylation-sensitive restriction enzymes and PCR amplification. Hypermethylation was observed in 22 (47%) of the head and neck tumours analysed. In our series of head and neck tumours, evidence for inactivation of both p16 alleles was observed in 13 cases with hypermethylation and LOH, two cases with hypermethylation and mutation, four cases with mutation and LOH and one case with homozygous deletion. These findings provide further evidence that genetic alterations, especially hypermethylation and LOH, leading to the inactivation of the p16 tumour suppressor gene are common in primary head and neck tumours.

Large-scale Transcriptome Analyses Reveal New Genetic Marker Candidates of Head, Neck, and Thyroid Cancer

A detailed genome mapping analysis of 213,636 expressed sequence tags (EST) derived from nontumor and tumor tissues of the oral cavity, larynx, pharynx, and thyroid was done. Transcripts matching known human genes were identified; potential new splice variants were flagged and subjected to manual curation, pointing to 788 putatively new alternative splicing isoforms, the majority (75%) being insertion events. A subset of 34 new splicing isoforms (5% of 788 events) was selected and 23 (68%) were confirmed by reverse transcription-PCR and DNA sequencing. Putative new genes were revealed, including six transcripts mapped to well-studied chromosomes such as 22, as well as transcripts that mapped to 253 intergenic regions. In addition, 2,251 noncoding intronic RNAs, eventually involved in transcriptional regulation, were found. A set of 250 candidate markers for loss of heterozygosis or gene amplification was selected by identifying transcripts that mapped to genomic regions previously known to be frequently amplified or deleted in head, neck, and thyroid tumors. Three of these markers were evaluated by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR in an independent set of individual samples. Along with detailed clinical data about tumor origin, the information reported here is now publicly available on a dedicated Web site as a resource for further biological investigation. This first in silico reconstruction of the head, neck, and thyroid transcriptomes points to a wealth of new candidate markers that can be used for future studies on the molecular basis of these tumors. Similar analysis is warranted for a number of other tumors for which large EST data sets are available.

TP53 genetic alterations in head-and-neck carcinomas from Brazil

In this study we investigated the incidence of mutations and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of the TP53 gene in DNA samples from paired tumor and adjacent normal tissue from 90 patients with untreated squamous‐cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Evidence for TP53 mutations were demonstrated in 53% (48/90) of the cases analyzed. All cases were also examined for loss of heterozygosity, using a PCR‐based polymorphic marker at TP53. LOH was found in 36 out of 72 (50%) informative cases. Direct sequencing of PCR products was performed in 45 cases with evidence of mutations. The sequencing results revealed the presence of base‐substitutions (67%), deletions (29%) and insertions (4%). Of the base‐substitutions, 70% were transitions and 30% were transversions. Demographic variables, tumor site, stage (TNM), family history of cancer, lymph‐node involvement and histological grade were not important predictors of TP53 mutations. Nor did TP53 genetic alterations correlate with survival status. In conclusion, we show that TP53 genetic alterations are frequent in head‐and‐neck tumors, but are not associated with clinicopathological variables or disease progression. Our study provides an evaluation of the spectrum of TP53 mutations in the pathogenesis of head‐and‐neck carcinoma in Brazil. Int. J. Cancer 76:13–18, 1998.© 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Distinct chromosomal deleted regions defining different subsets of head and neck tumors.

The aim of this work is detecting the loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and its relationship with the development and progression of head and neck cancer. Matched normal and tumor DNA from 81 patients with head and neck cancer were examined for LOH using six microsatellite repeat markers mapped to chromosomal regions 3p13, 6q13, 9p21, 11p15, 17p13.1, and 17q22. LOH frequency at a locus ranged from 21% to 55%. The highest frequencies were at 3p (41%), 9p (48%), and 17p (54%). Thirty-two of 81 tumor samples showed allelic loss at more than one region. Significant associations were found between LOH at 3p and 9p (P = 0.001), 9p and 11p (P = 0.03), and 9p and 17p (P = 0.007). LOH at 11p was frequent in tumors from the oral cavity (5/17), oropharynx (2/7), and hypopharynx (5/10), but absent in tumors from the larynx (0/11) (P = 0.02), and LOH at 17q was observed in tumors from oral cavity (10/30) and hypopharynx (3/9), but not in tumors from the oropharynx (0/10) or larynx (0/13) (P = 0.003). In addition to that, the occurrence of allelic losses at 9p and 17p strongly correlates to tobacco smoking (P = 0.03 and P = 0.006, respectively) and alcohol intake (P = 0.01 and P = 0.005, respectively). These results suggest that tumors from different sites have different LOH patterns and corroborate with epidemiological data implicating tobacco and alcohol in the etiology of head and neck tumors.

Investigation of possible association between Ser9Gly polymorphism of the D3 dopaminergic receptor gene and response to typical antipsychotics in patients with schizophrenia

Typical antipsychotics have a high affinity for dopamine receptors. It is therefore of interest to investigate such loci in pharmacogenetic studies on psychosis. We investigated the hypothesis that Ser9Gly polymorphism of the DRD3 gene may play a role in the differences in individual response to typical antipsychotics between schizophrenic patients. The sample was composed of 53 good responders and 59 poor ones. No significant differences between the good and poor responders were found in the allelic distribution (good responders: Ser9 61.32%, Gly9 38.67%; poor responders: Ser9 64.40%, Gly9 35.59%; odds ratio, OR = 0.88, 0.49 < OR < 1.56; chi2 = 0.23, 1 degree of freedom, df, p = 0.63) and genotype distribution (good responders: Ser9/Ser9 37.73%, Ser9/Gly9 47.16%, Gly9/Gly9 15.09%; poor responders: Ser9/Ser9 42.37%, Ser9/Gly9 44.06%, Gly9/Gly9 13.55%; chi2 = 0.25, 2 df, p = 0.88). Nor was there any association with homozygosity (good responders: homozygous: 52.82%, heterozygous: 47.16%; poor responders: homozygous: 55.92%, heterozygous: 44.06%; odds ratio, OR = 0.88, 0.39 < OR < 1.99; chi2 = 0.11, 1 df, p = 0.74). The results did not support the hypothesis that Ser9Gly polymorphism of the DRD3 gene influences the response to typical antipsychotics in our sample of schizophrenics.

The CAG repeat polymorphism in the androgen receptor gene (AR) and its relationship to head and neck cancer.

Sex hormones may play an important role in the tumorigenic process of the head and neck. The aim of our work was to investigate whether the androgen receptor (AR) CAG repeat polymorphism is associated with an increased relative risk for head and neck cancer. Genomic DNA from 103 male patients with head and neck carcinomas and 100 male controls were analyzed for the AR CAG polymorphism by PCR amplification and direct sequencing or denaturing polyacrilamide gel electrophoresis. Logistic regression analysis showed a significant association between CAG repeat length and risk of head and neck cancer in individuals with more than 20 CAG repeats [OR=2.54 (95% CI, 1.3-4.8)]. For the group of individuals with oral and laryngeal cancer the estimated relative risk was increased to 2.79 (95% CI, 1.2-6.3) and 3.06 (95% CI, 1.0-9.6), respectively, in men with CAG repeat length >20. These results suggest, for the first time, that shorter AR CAG repeat alleles have a protective effect for head and neck cancer development.

Identification of differentially expressed genes in prostatic epithelium in relation to androgen receptor CAG repeat length

The CAG repeat within exon 1 of the androgen receptor (AR) has been associated with the development of prostate cancer. The shorter number of glutamine residues in the protein has been associated with a higher transcriptional activity of the AR and increased relative risk for prostate cancer. In an attempt to identify differentially expressed genes in prostate cancer in relation to AR CAG repeat length variation, in this study we used total mRNA from normal and tumor tissues from 2 prostate cancer patients with AR alleles containing 19 and 26 CAG repeats to perform differential-display RT-PCR analysis. We were able to identify 48 different transcripts that showed homology to several known genes associated with different biological pathways. Among the differentially expressed genes, ATRX and SFRP1 were further validated by quantitative RT-PCR. The transcripts of both ATRX and SFRP1 genes proved to be down-regulated in most of the prostate tumors analyzed by quantitative RT-PCR. Hypermethylation of the promoter region of the SFRP1 gene was found in 17.5% (7/40) of the cases analyzed and was associated with the loss of SFRP1 expression (p=0.014). The differentially expressed genes identified in this study are implicated in several cellular pathways that, when up- or down-regulated, might play a role in the tumorigenic process of the prostate.

Association analysis between the C516T polymorphism in the 5-HT2A receptor gene and schizophrenia.

Data from epidemiological studies have demonstrated that genetics is an important risk factor for schizophrenia. Disturbances of serotonergic brain pathways have been implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Some studies have suggested that the efficacy of atypical antipsychotics on schizophrenia treatment may be related to the serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2A), and that serotonergic drugs may induce psychotic symptoms. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the association between the C516T polymorphism and schizophrenia in a Brazilian population composed by 246 patients and 315 healthy matched controls in a case-control approach. No statistically differences were observed in allelic (chi2=1.77, 1d.f., p=0.18) or genotypic (chi2=1.69, 2d.f., p=0.42) distributions between cases and controls. The results suggest that the C516T polymorphism of the 5-HT2A receptor gene is not related to the susceptibility for schizophrenia in our Brazilian sample.

ATM gene mutations in sporadic breast cancer patients from Brazil

PurposeThe Ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene encodes a multifunctional kinase, which is linked to important cellular functions. Women heterozygous for ATM mutations have an estimated relative risk of developing breast cancer of 3.8. However, the pattern of ATM mutations and their role in breast cancer etiology has been controversial and remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the frequency and spectrum of ATM mutations in a series of sporadic breast cancers and controls from the Brazilian population.MethodsUsing PCR-Single Strand Conformation Polymorphism (SSCP) analysis and direct DNA sequencing, we screened a panel of 100 consecutive, unselected sporadic breast tumors and 100 matched controls for all 62 coding exons and flanking introns of the ATM gene.ResultsSeveral polymorphisms were detected in 12 of the 62 coding exons of the ATM gene. These polymorphisms were observed in both breast cancer patients and the control population. In addition, evidence of potential ATM mutations was observed in 7 of the 100 breast cancer cases analyzed. These potential mutations included six missense variants found in exon 13 (p.L546V), exon 14 (p.P604S), exon 20 (p.T935R), exon 42 (p.G2023R), exon 49 (p.L2307F), and exon 50 (p.L2332P) and one nonsense mutation in exon 39 (p.R1882X), which was predicted to generate a truncated protein.ConclusionsOur results corroborate the hypothesis that sporadic breast tumors may occur in carriers of low penetrance ATM mutant alleles and these mutations confer different levels of breast cancer risk.