Tú Nguyen-Dumont

Rare Mutations in XRCC2 Increase the Risk of Breast Cancer

An exome-sequencing study of families with multiple breast-cancer-affected individuals identified two families with XRCC2 mutations, one with a protein-truncating mutation and one with a probably deleterious missense mutation. We performed a population-based case-control mutation-screening study that identified six probably pathogenic coding variants in 1,308 cases with early-onset breast cancer and no variants in 1,120 controls (the severity grading was p < 0.02). We also performed additional mutation screening in 689 multiple-case families. We identified ten breast-cancer-affected families with protein-truncating or probably deleterious rare missense variants in XRCC2. Our identification of XRCC2 as a breast cancer susceptibility gene thus increases the proportion of breast cancers that are associated with homologous recombination-DNA-repair dysfunction and Fanconi anemia and could therefore benefit from specific targeted treatments such as PARP (poly ADP ribose polymerase) inhibitors. This study demonstrates the power of massively parallel sequencing for discovering susceptibility genes for common, complex diseases.

Determining the effectiveness of High Resolution Melting analysis for SNP genotyping and mutation scanning at the TP53 locus

BackgroundTogether single nucleotide substitutions and small insertion/deletion variants are the most common form of sequence variation in the human gene pool.High-resolution SNP profile and/or haplotype analyses enable the identification of modest-risk susceptibility genes to common diseases, genes that may modulate responses to pharmaceutical agents, and SNPs that can affect either their expression or function. In addition, sensitive techniques for germline or somatic mutation detection are important tools for characterizing sequence variations in genes responsible for tumor predisposition. Cost-effective methods are highly desirable. Many of the recently developed high-throughput technologies are geared toward industrial scale genetic studies and arguably do not provide useful solutions for small laboratory investigator-initiated projects. Recently, the use of new fluorescent dyes allowed the high-resolution analysis of DNA melting curves (HRM).ResultsHere, we compared the capacity of HRM, applicable to both genotyping and mutation scanning, to detect genetic variations in the tumor suppressor gene TP53 with that of mutation screening by full resequencing. We also assessed the performance of a variety of available HRM-based genotyping assays by genotyping 30 TP53 SNPs. We describe a series of solutions to handle the difficulties that may arise in large-scale application of HRM to mutation screening and genotyping at the TP53 locus. In particular, we developed specific HRM assays that render possible genotyping of 2 or more, sometimes closely spaced, polymorphisms within the same amplicon. We also show that simultaneous genotyping of 2 SNPs from 2 different amplicons using a multiplex PCR reaction is feasible; the data can be analyzed in a single HRM run, potentially improving the efficiency of HRM genotyping workflows.ConclusionThe HRM technique showed high sensitivity and specificity (1.0, and 0.8, respectively, for amplicons of <400 bp) for mutation screening and provided useful genotyping assays as assessed by comparing the results with those obtained with Sanger sequencing. Thus, HRM is particularly suitable for either performing mutation scanning of a large number of samples, even in the situation where the amplicon(s) of interest harbor a common variant that may disturb the analysis, or in a context where gathering common SNP genotypes is of interest.

Rare, evolutionarily unlikely missense substitutions in CHEK2 contribute to breast cancer susceptibility: results from a breast cancer family registry case-control mutation-screening study

IntroductionBoth protein-truncating variants and some missense substitutions in CHEK2 confer increased risk of breast cancer. However, no large-scale study has used full open reading frame mutation screening to assess the contribution of rare missense substitutions in CHEK2 to breast cancer risk. This absence has been due in part to a lack of validated statistical methods for summarizing risk attributable to large numbers of individually rare missense substitutions.MethodsPreviously, we adapted an in silico assessment of missense substitutions used for analysis of unclassified missense substitutions in BRCA1 and BRCA2 to the problem of assessing candidate genes using rare missense substitution data observed in case-control mutation-screening studies. The method involves stratifying rare missense substitutions observed in cases and/or controls into a series of grades ordered a priori from least to most likely to be evolutionarily deleterious, followed by a logistic regression test for trends to compare the frequency distributions of the graded missense substitutions in cases versus controls. Here we used this approach to analyze CHEK2 mutation-screening data from a population-based series of 1,303 female breast cancer patients and 1,109 unaffected female controls.ResultsWe found evidence of risk associated with rare, evolutionarily unlikely CHEK2 missense substitutions. Additional findings were that (1) the risk estimate for the most severe grade of CHEK2 missense substitutions (denoted C65) is approximately equivalent to that of CHEK2 protein-truncating variants; (2) the population attributable fraction and the familial relative risk explained by the pool of rare missense substitutions were similar to those explained by the pool of protein-truncating variants; and (3) post hoc power calculations implied that scaling up case-control mutation screening to examine entire biochemical pathways would require roughly 2,000 cases and controls to achieve acceptable statistical power.ConclusionsThis study shows that CHEK2 harbors many rare sequence variants that confer increased risk of breast cancer and that a substantial proportion of these are missense substitutions. The study validates our analytic approach to rare missense substitutions and provides a method to combine data from protein-truncating variants and rare missense substitutions into a one degree of freedom per gene test.

Description and validation of high-throughput simultaneous genotyping and mutation scanning by high-resolution melting curve analysis

Mutation scanning using high‐resolution melting curve analysis (HR‐melt) is an effective and sensitive method to detect sequence variations. However, the presence of a common SNP within a mutation scanning amplicon may considerably complicate the interpretation of results and increase the number of samples flagged for sequencing by interfering with the clustering of samples according to melting profiles. A protocol describing simultaneous high‐resolution gene scanning and genotyping has been reported. Here, we show that it can improve the sensitivity and the efficiency of large‐scale case–control mutation screening. Two exons of ATM, both containing an SNP interfering with standard mutation scanning, were selected for screening of 1,356 subjects from an international breast cancer genetics study. Asymmetric PCR was performed in the presence of an SNP‐specific unlabeled probe. Stratification of the samples according to their probe‐target melting was aided by customized HR‐melt software. This approach improved identification of rare known and unknown variants, while dramatically reducing the sequencing effort. It even allowed genotyping of tandem SNPs using a single probe. Hence, HR‐melt is a rapid, efficient, and cost‐effective tool that can be used for high‐throughput mutation screening for research, as well as for molecular diagnostic and clinical purposes.Hum Mutat 30:1–7, 2009.

Prevalence of PALB2 mutations in Australasian multiple-case breast cancer families

IntroductionPopulation-based studies of breast cancer have estimated that some PALB2 mutations confer a breast cancer risk (penetrance) comparable to the average pathogenic mutation in BRCA2. As this risk is of clinical relevance, we sought to identify mono-allelic PALB2 mutations and determine their frequencies in multiple-case breast cancer families attending Familial Cancer Clinics in Australia and New Zealand.MethodsThe youngest affected woman, not known to carry a mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2, from 747 multiple-case breast cancer families participating in kConFab were selected for PALB2 mutation screening. The coding and flanking intronic regions of PALB2 in DNA extracted from blood were screened using high-resolution melt curve analysis with Sanger sequencing confirmation. Where possible, relatives of women found to carry PALB2 mutations were genotyped for the family-specific mutation, mutant transcripts were characterised and breast tumours arising in mutation carriers were recalled and reviewed. Missense mutations were assessed for potential to disrupt protein function via SIFT, Align GVGD and Polyphen-2.ResultsThe mutation screen identified two nonsense mutations (PALB2 c.3113G>A in eight women and PALB2 c.196C>T in one woman), two frameshift mutations (PALB2 c.1947_1948insA and PALB2 c.2982_2983insT each in one woman), 10 missense variants, eight synonymous variants and four variants in intronic regions. Of the four PALB2 mutations identified that were predicted to produce truncated protein products, only PALB2 c.1947_1948insA had not previously been reported. PALB2 c.3113G>A and PALB2 c.196C>T were previously identified in the Australian population whereas PALB2 c.2982_2983insT was previously reported in the UK population. Transcripts derived from three of these mutant PALB2 alleles were vulnerable to nonsense-mediated decay. One missense mutation (PALB2 c.2993G>A) was predicted to disrupt protein function via the three in silico assessment methods applied. The majority of breast cancers arising in carriers that were available for review were high-grade invasive ductal carcinomas. Conclusions: About 1.5% (95% CI 0.6to 2.4) of Australasian multiple-case breast cancer families attending clinics are segregating protein-truncating mutations in PALB2, most being PALB2 c.3113G>A, p.Trp1038*. Given the prevalence, breast cancer risk, and tumour grade associated with this mutation, consideration of clinical PALB2 testing is warranted.

COMPLEXO: identifying the missing heritability of breast cancer via next generation collaboration

Linkage analysis, positional cloning, candidate gene mutation scanning and genome-wide association study approaches have all contributed significantly to our understanding of the underlying genetic architecture of breast cancer. Taken together, these approaches have identified genetic variation that explains approximately 30% of the overall familial risk of breast cancer, implying that more, and likely rarer, genetic susceptibility alleles remain to be discovered.

A high-plex PCR approach for massively parallel sequencing

Current methods for targeted massively parallel sequencing (MPS) have several drawbacks, including limited design flexibility, expense, and protocol complexity, which restrict their application to settings involving modest target size and requiring low cost and high throughput. To address this, we have developed Hi-Plex, a PCR-MPS strategy intended for high-throughput screening of multiple genomic target regions that integrates simple, automated primer design software to control product size. Featuring permissive thermocycling conditions and clamp bias reduction, our protocol is simple, cost- and time-effective, uses readily available reagents, does not require expensive instrumentation, and requires minimal optimization. In a 60-plex assay targeting the breast cancer predisposition genes PALB2 and XRCC2, we applied Hi-Plex to 100 ng LCL-derived DNA, and 100 ng and 25 ng FFPE tumor-derived DNA. Altogether, at least 86.94% of the human genome-mapped reads were on target, and 100% of targeted amplicons were represented within 25-fold of the mean. Using 25 ng FFPE-derived DNA, 95.14% of mapped reads were on-target and relative representation ranged from 10.1-fold lower to 5.8-fold higher than the mean. These results were obtained using only the initial automatically-designed primers present in equal concentration. Hi-Plex represents a powerful new approach for screening panels of genomic target regions.

Rare Mutations in RINT1 Predispose Carriers to Breast and Lynch Syndrome–Spectrum Cancers

UNLABELLED Approximately half of the familial aggregation of breast cancer remains unexplained. A multiple-case breast cancer family exome-sequencing study identified three likely pathogenic mutations in RINT1 (NM_021930.4) not present in public sequencing databases: RINT1 c.343C>T (p.Q115X), c.1132_1134del (p.M378del), and c.1207G>T (p.D403Y). On the basis of this finding, a population-based case-control mutation-screening study was conducted that identified 29 carriers of rare (minor allele frequency < 0.5%), likely pathogenic variants: 23 in 1,313 early-onset breast cancer cases and six in 1,123 frequency-matched controls [OR, 3.24; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.29-8.17; P = 0.013]. RINT1 mutation screening of probands from 798 multiple-case breast cancer families identified four additional carriers of rare genetic variants. Analysis of the incidence of first primary cancers in families of women carrying RINT1 mutations estimated that carriers were at increased risk of Lynch syndrome-spectrum cancers [standardized incidence ratio (SIR), 3.35; 95% CI, 1.7-6.0; P = 0.005], particularly for relatives diagnosed with cancer under the age of 60 years (SIR, 10.9; 95% CI, 4.7-21; P = 0.0003). SIGNIFICANCE The work described in this study adds RINT1 to the growing list of genes in which rare sequence variants are associated with intermediate levels of breast cancer risk. Given that RINT1 is also associated with a spectrum of cancers with mismatch repair defects, these findings have clinical applications and raise interesting biological questions.

Differential Allelic Expression in Leukoblast from Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia Suggests Genetic Regulation of CDA, DCK, NT5C2, NT5C3, and TP53

mRNA expression levels of certain genes have shown predictive value for the outcome of cytarabine-treated AML-patients. We hypothesized that genetic variants play a role in the regulation of the transcription of these genes. We studied leukoblasts from 82 patients with acute myeloid leukemia and observed various extent and frequency of differential allelic expression in the CDA, DCK, NT5C2, NT5C3, and TP53 genes. Our attempts to identify the causative regulatory single nucleotide polymorphisms by a bioinformatics approach did not succeed. However, our results indicate that genetic variations are at least in part responsible for the differences in overall expression levels of these genes.

Tumour morphology predicts PALB2 germline mutation status

Background:Population-based studies of breast cancer have estimated that at least some PALB2 mutations are associated with high breast cancer risk. For women carrying PALB2 mutations, knowing their carrier status could be useful in directing them towards effective cancer risk management and therapeutic strategies. We sought to determine whether morphological features of breast tumours can predict PALB2 germline mutation status.Methods:Systematic pathology review was conducted on breast tumours from 28 female carriers of PALB2 mutations (non-carriers of other known high-risk mutations, recruited through various resources with varying ascertainment) and on breast tumours from a population-based sample of 828 Australian women diagnosed before the age of 60 years (which included 40 BRCA1 and 18 BRCA2 mutation carriers). Tumour morphological features of the 28 PALB2 mutation carriers were compared with those of 770 women without high-risk mutations.Results:Tumours arising in PALB2 mutation carriers were associated with minimal sclerosis (odds ratio (OR)=19.7; 95% confidence interval (CI)=6.0–64.6; P=5 × 10−7). Minimal sclerosis was also a feature that distinguished PALB2 mutation carriers from BRCA1 (P=0.05) and BRCA2 (P=0.04) mutation carriers.Conclusion:This study identified minimal sclerosis to be a predictor of germline PALB2 mutation status. Morphological review can therefore facilitate the identification of women most likely to carry mutations in PALB2.