Marina De Rosa

Genetics, diagnosis and management of colorectal cancer (Review)

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common type of cancer worldwide and a leading cause of cancer death. Surgery represents the mainstay of treatment in early cases but often patients are primarily diagnosed in an advanced stage of disease and sometimes also distant metastases are present. Neoadjuvant therapy is therefore needed but drug resistance may influence response and concur to recurrent disease. At molecular level, it is a very heterogeneous group of diseases with about 30% of hereditary or familial cases. During colorectal adenocarcinomas development, epithelial cells from gastrointestinal trait acquire sequential genetic and epigenetic mutations in specific oncogenes and/or tumour suppressor genes, causing CRC onset, progression and metastasis. Molecular characterization of cancer associated mutations gives valuable information about disease prognosis and response to the therapy. Very early diagnosis and personalized care, as well as a better knowledge of molecular basis of its onset and progression, are therefore crucial to obtain a cure of CRC. In this review, we describe updated genetics, current diagnosis and management of CRC pointing out the extreme need for a multidisciplinary approach to achieve the best results in patient outcomes.

Three submicroscopic deletions at the APC locus and their rapid detection by quantitative-PCR analysis.

We describe three unrelated kindreds, affected by familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), with 5q submicroscopic deletions that encompass the entire adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene and the adjacent DP1 gene. In one family the deletion encompasses also the MCC (mutated in colon cancer) gene. Affected members of these families had dysplastic adenomatous polyps and congenital hypertrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium (CHRPE); no individual was affected by mental retardation or facial dysmorphism. The deletions were detected by linkage analysis with several intragenic and closely flanking polymorphic markers and confirmed by a quantitative PCR analysis. This procedure could have an impact on the detection of the molecular defect in FAP patients in whom mutational analysis fails to identify the specific mutation.

Association of low‐risk MSH3 and MSH2 variant alleles with Lynch syndrome: Probability of synergistic effects

Mutations in the MLH1 and MSH2 genes account for a majority of cases of families with Lynch Syndrome. Germ‐line mutations in MSH6, PMS2 and MLH3 are responsible for disease in a minority of cases, usually associated with milder and variable phenotypes. No germ‐line mutations in MSH3 have so far been associated with Lynch Syndrome, although it is known that impaired MSH3 activity leads to a partial defect in mismatch repair (MMR), with low levels of microsatellite instability at the loci with dinucleotide repeats in colorectal cancer (CRC), thus suggesting a role for MSH3 in carcinogenesis. To determine a possible role of MSH3 as predisposing to CRC in Lynch syndrome, we screened MSH3 for germ‐line mutations in 79 unrelated Lynch patients who were negative for pathogenetic mutations in MLH1, MSH2 and MSH6. We found 13 mutant alleles, including silent, missense and intronic variants. These variants were identified through denaturing high performance liquid chromatography and subsequent DNA sequencing. In one Lynch family, the index case with early‐onset colon cancer was a carrier of a polymorphism in the MSH2 gene and two variants in the MSH3 gene. These variants were associated with the disease in the family, thus suggesting the involvement of MSH3 in colon tumour progression. We hypothesise a model in which variants of the MSH3 gene behave as low‐risk alleles that contribute to the risk of colon cancer in Lynch families, mostly with other low‐risk alleles of MMR genes.

Wnt pathway, angiogenetic and hormonal markers in sporadic and familial adenomatous polyposis-associated juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibromas (JNA)

Juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma (JNA) is a rare, invasive, and locally destructive tumor of the nasopharynx. The Wnt pathway, angiogenetic and hormonal factors are involved in the pathophysiology of JNA; it can result in an extracolonic manifestation of familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) or in a sporadic tumor. All patients who underwent resection of JNA between 1991 and 2006 at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia were studied to identify immunohistochemical markers of associated FAP syndrome. Paraffin-embedded JNA samples were analyzed immunohistochemically for the expression of adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), β-catenin, E-cadherin, androgen receptor, and vascular endothelial growth factors receptor (VEGFR2). In one out of the 4 (25%) young patients affected by JNA the diagnosis of FAP syndrome linked to APC mutation was made. All of the sporadic and familial JNA tumors showed nuclear staining of β-catenin, whereas altered APC expression was seen only in FAP-associated JNA. All cases were stained with VEGFR2. A combined clinical, immunohistochemical, and biomolecular screening may be useful for the identification of FAP among patients with a diagnosis of JNA. The Wnt pathway can be involved in the JNA pathogenesis either by somatic mutations of β-catenin or by germline APC mutations. As the VEGFR has an important impact on the pathogenesis of JNA, we suggest that a targeted therapy with monoclonal antibodies against VEGFR might lead to a specific chemoprevention and treatment of these tumors and their recurrences.

Synergistic effect of interleukin-10-receptor variants in a case of early-onset ulcerative colitis

AIM To investigated the molecular cause of very early-onset ulcerative colitis (UC) in an 18-mo-old affected child. METHODS We analysed the interleukin-10 (IL10) receptor genes at the DNA and RNA level in the proband and his relatives. Beta catenin and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) receptors were analysed in the proteins extracted from peripheral blood cells of the proband, his relatives and familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) and PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome (PHTS) patients. Samples were also collected from the probands inflamed colorectal mucosa and compared to healthy and tumour mucosa collected from a FAP patient and patients affected by sporadic colorectal cancer (CRC). Finally, we examined mesalazine and azathioprine effects on primary fibroblasts stabilised from UC and FAP patients. RESULTS Our patient was a compound heterozygote for the IL10RB E47K polymorphism, inherited from his father, and for a novel point mutation within the IL10RA promoter (the -413G->T), inherited from his mother. Beta catenin and tumour necrosis factor α receptors-I (TNFRI) protein were both over-expressed in peripheral blood cells of the probands relatives more than the proband. However, TNFRII was over-expressed only in the proband. Finally, both TNFα-receptors were shown to be under-expressed in the inflamed colon mucosa and colorectal cancer tissue compared to healthy colon mucosa. Consistent with this observation, mesalazine and azathioprine induced, in primary fibroblasts, IL10RB and TNFRII over-expression and TNFRI and TNFα under-expression. We suggest that β-catenin and TNFRI protein expression in peripheral blood cells could represent molecular markers of sub-clinical disease in apparently healthy relatives of patients with early-onset UC. CONCLUSION A synergistic effect of several variant alleles of the IL10 receptor genes, inherited in a Mendelian manner, is involved in UC onset in this young child.

Implication of Adenomatous Polyposis Coli and MUTYH Mutations in Familial Colorectal Polyposis

PURPOSE: Familial adenomatous polyposis is an autosomal dominantly inherited syndrome characterized by hundreds or thousands of colorectal polyps and a high risk of colorectal cancer at a young age. Truncating germline mutations in the adenomatous polyposis coli gene are detected in approximately 80 percent of patients with classical familial adenomatous polyposis and in approximately 10 percent of the attenuated familial adenomatous polyposis patients. METHODS: We investigated the adenomatous polyposis coli and MUTYH genes mutations in a well-characterized series of 25 unrelated Italian patients with familial adenomatous polyposis. RESULTS: We characterized the specific adenomatous polyposis coli gene mutation in 10 probands, and identified eight truncating mutations (4 novel and 4 known mutations) and two splicing mutations. One of these, a novel missense mutation in exon 15, activates an exonic splicing enhancer control sequence. Moreover, 11 MUTYH gene mutations have been identified in 7 patients without a dominant family history of polyposis. CONCLUSIONS: This study enlarges the genotype-phenotype correlations of familial adenomatous polyposis and suggests that messenger alterations could be responsible for a subset of familial adenomatous polyposis cases without germ-line adenomatous polyposis coli or MUTYH gene mutations. It also confirms that genotype-phenotype correlations in MUTYH-associated polyposis are very complex.

Familial Adenomatous Polyposis Coli: Five Novel Mutations in Exon 15 of the Adenomatous Polyposis Coli (APC) Gene in Italian Patients

Germline mutations within the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene, a tumor suppressor gene, are responsible for most cases of familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), an autosomal dominantly inherited predisposition to colorectal cancer. To date, more than 300 germ‐line causative mutations within this gene have been described (Beroud and Soussi, 1996). Of these, about 95% are chain‐terminating mutations, and more than 60% have been localized within exon 15 (Nagase and Nakamura, 1993, Beroud and Soussi, 1996). Using polymerase chain reaction‐single strand conformation polymorphism, protein truncation test (PTT) and DNA sequencing we have identified five new frameshift mutations (2523insCTTA, 2638delA, 2803insA, 3185delAA, 4145delTCATGT), all occurring within exon 15 and giving rise to truncated protein products. Two of these new mutations are of particular interest because of the unusual phenotypic features shown by probands. The phenotype of the proband bearing the 2523insCTTA mutation at codon 842 was very aggressive with onset of the symptoms at 12 years, while the patient bearing the 3185delAA mutation at codon 1062 exhibited features of an attenuated form of FAP (AAPC). Our data reiterate the great heterogeneity of the mutational spectrum in FAP that gives rise to an extreme variability of the clinical expression.

Real-time PCR quantification of human DKC1 expression in colorectal cancer

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A homozygous PMS2 founder mutation with an attenuated constitutional mismatch repair deficiency phenotype

Background Inherited mutations in DNA mismatch repair genes predispose to different cancer syndromes depending on whether they are mono-allelic or bi-allelic. This supports a causal relationship between expression level in the germline and phenotype variation. As a model to study this relationship, our study aimed to define the pathogenic characteristics of a recurrent homozygous coding variant in PMS2 displaying an attenuated phenotype identified by clinical genetic testing in seven Inuit families from Northern Quebec. Methods Pathogenic characteristics of the PMS2 mutation NM_000535.5:c.2002A>G were studied using genotype–phenotype correlation, single-molecule expression detection and single genome microsatellite instability analysis. Results This PMS2 mutation generates a de novo splice site that competes with the authentic site. In homozygotes, expression of the full-length protein is reduced to a level barely detectable by conventional diagnostics. Median age at primary cancer diagnosis is 22 years among 13 NM_000535.5:c.2002A>G homozygotes, versus 8 years in individuals carrying bi-allelic truncating mutations. Residual expression of full-length PMS2 transcript was detected in normal tissues from homozygotes with cancers in their 20s. Conclusions Our genotype–phenotype study of c.2002A>G illustrates that an extremely low level of PMS2 expression likely delays cancer onset, a feature that could be exploited in cancer preventive intervention.

Three Novel Germline Mutations in the Adenomatous Polyposis Coli Gene

Maria 1. Scarano, Marina De Rosa, Maurizio Gentile, Luigi Bucci, Giuseppe P. Ferulano, Nicola Carlomagno, Andrea Renda, Ginevra Guanti, Francesco Salvatore*, and Paola Izzo Dipartimento di Biochirnica e Biotecnologie Mediche, CEINGE-Biotechnologie Avanzate, Naples, Italy; Fax: + 39-81-746-3650 II Divisione di Chirurgia Generale III Divisione di Chirurgia Generale Instituto di Chirurgia Generale e Trapiand d’Organo, Medical School, University of Naples Federico 11, 80131 Naples Cattedra di Genetica Medica, Istituto di Medicina del Lavoro, Policlinico, Bari, Italy