The P16 (Cdkn2a/Ink4a) Tumor-Suppressor Gene in Head

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The P16 (Cdkn2a/Ink4a) Tumor-Suppressor Gene in Head The p16 (CDKN2a/INK4a) Tumor-Suppressor Gene in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Promoter Methylation and Protein Expression Study in 100 Cases Lingbao Ai, M.D., Krystal K. Stephenson, Wenhua Ling, M.D., Chunlai Zuo, M.D., Perkins Mukunyadzi, M.D., James Y. Suen, M.D., Ehab Hanna, M.D., Chun-Yang Fan, M.D., Ph.D. Departments of Pathology (LA, KKS, CZ, PM, CYF) and Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (CYF, JYS, EH), University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; and School of Public Health (LA, WL), Sun-Yat Sen University, Guangzhou, China apparent loss of p16 protein expression appears to The p16 (CDKN2a/INK4a) gene is an important be an independent prognostic factor, although loss tumor-suppressor gene, involved in the p16/cyclin- of p16 protein may be used to predict overall pa- dependent kinase/retinoblastoma gene pathway of tient survival in early-stage head and neck squa- cell cycle control. The p16 protein is considered to mous cell carcinoma. be a negative regulator of the pathway. The gene encodes an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 KEY WORDS: Gene inactivation, Head and and 6, which regulate the phosphorylation of reti- neck squamous cell carcinoma, p16, Promoter noblastoma gene and the G1 to S phase transition of hypermethylation. the cell cycle. In the present study, p16 gene pro- Mod Pathol 2003;16(9):944–950 moter hypermethylation patterns and p16 protein expression were analyzed in 100 consecutive un- The development of head and neck squamous cell treated cases of primary head and neck squamous carcinoma is believed to be a multistep process, in cell carcinoma by methylation-specific PCR and im- which genetic and epigenetic events accumulate as munohistochemical staining. The p16 promoter hy- a result of chronic exposure to environmental car- permethylation and apparent loss of p16 protein cinogens, resulting in loss of cell cycle control, se- expression were detected in 27% and 74% of head lected cell growth, and finally the development of and neck squamous cell carcinoma, respectively. By cancer. ␹2 test, history of alcohol or tobacco use was signif- On chromosome 9p21, the INK4a locus encodes icantly correlated with the loss of p16 protein ex- both p16 and p14ARF proteins by alternative splicing -and .05, respectively). When pa 005. ؍ pression (P (1, 2), in which exon 1␣ is used by p16 and exon 1␤ tient follow-up data were correlated with various is used by p14ARF. Although the role of p14ARF as a clinical and molecular parameters, tumor size and true tumor suppressor has yet to be further charac- nodal and clinical stage were the strongest prognos- terized, p16 fulfills all the criteria for a bona fide tic predictors for disease-free survival (tumor recur- tumor-suppressor gene, even judged with the rence) and for cause-specific and overall survival in strictest measures (3). The human p16 protein con- patients with head and neck squamous cell carci- tains 156 amino acids and was first discovered in a noma. Neither p16 promoter hypermethylation nor yeast two-hybrid system to detect proteins that in- teract with human cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (4). The tumor suppressor function of p16 is attributed Copyright © 2003 by The United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, Inc. to its ability to inhibit the catalytic activity of the VOL. 16, NO. 9, P. 944, 2003 Printed in the U.S.A. cyclin-dependent kinase 4–6/cyclin D complex Date of acceptance: May 13, 2003. This work was supported by research funds from the Departments of that is required for phosphorylation of retinoblas- Pathology and Otolaryngology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sci- toma protein (5, 6). ences and Biomedical Research Foundation, John L. McClellan Memorial Veteran’s Hospital, Little Rock, Arkansas. The E2F family of transcription factors is essen- Presented at the 92nd Annual Meeting of the United States and Canadian tial for cell cycle progression, and their transcrip- Academy of Pathology, Washington, D.C., March 22–28, 2003. Address reprint requests to: Chun-Yang Fan, M.D., Ph.D., Department of tional activity is inhibited through the specific Pathology (113/LR), University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and binding to retinoblastoma protein b (7). This reti- Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, 4300 W. 7th Street, Little Rock, AR 72205; fax: 501-257-6430; e-mail: [email protected]. noblastoma protein/E2F complex will release E2F DOI: 10.1097/01.MP.0000085760.74313.DD transcriptional factors upon phosphorylation of ret- 944 inoblastoma protein by cyclin dependent kinase ity, pharynx, and larynx); (3) no prior history of 4–6/cyclin D complex and promote cell cycle pro- head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; and (4) gression past the G1/S checkpoint (3, 7). By binding no prior history of chemotherapy or radiation ther- to cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 and inhibiting apy. The histology of each case was reviewed, and retinoblastoma protein phosphorylation, p16 pre- representative tissue sections containing invasive vents the formation of cyclin-dependent kinases squamous cell carcinoma were selected for immu- 4–6/cyclin D stimulatory complex and promotes nohistochemical staining and extraction of DNA for the formation of retinoblastoma protein/E2F re- promoter methylation analysis. Clinical follow-up pressive complex, with the end result of blockage of was available for all patients until May 2002. Perti- cell cycle progression at the G1/S checkpoint (3). nent patient information was retrieved from the In head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, a Computerized Patient Record System of the De- number of studies have identified three major partment of Veterans Affairs. mechanisms by which p16 gene is inactivated, and these are homozygous deletions, inactivating mu- Immunohistochemical Staining for the p16 tation, and aberrant promoter methylation. In the Protein review by Rocco and Sidransky (3), the p16 inacti- Immunohistochemical staining was performed Յ vation was seen in 68% of primary human tumors as described elsewhere (15), except that the primary and was caused by homozygous deletions in 27%, antibody was incubated at the dilution of 1:50 for by inactivating mutations in 11%, and by promoter 1.5 hours at room temperature, using a monoclonal hypermethylation in 30% of the cases respectively. antibody against the p16 protein (Ab-4, clone 16P04 It has been established that loss of p16 function or JC2; NeoMarkers, Fremont, CA). The p16 immu- occurs early in cancer progression (8, 9), and some nohistochemical staining results were interpreted studies even indicate that p16 loss is the earliest semiquantitatively as follows: negative, Ͻ10% pos- detectable genetic abnormality in head and neck itive cells (Ϫ); mostly negative, 10 to 20% positive squamous cell carcinoma (10, 11). cells (Ϯ); weakly positive, 30 to 40% positive cells Consistent with the results of genetic and epige- (ϩ); moderately positive, 50 to 70% positive cells netic analyses in head and neck squamous cell car- (ϩϩ); and strongly positive, 80 to 100% positive cinoma, the p16 gene expression is frequently lost cells (ϩϩϩ). The above percentages were deter- at the protein levels. The frequency of absent p16 mined by visual estimation of the positively stained protein expression by immunohistochemical stain- area as compared with all areas containing tumor ing method in head and neck squamous cell carci- cells. noma ranges from 55 to 90% in three studies in- Two pathologists (CLZ and CYF) evaluated the volving 332 cases, with an average frequency of 74% slides independently without prior knowledge of (12–14). the methylation-specific PCR results. Any discrep- In the present study, we analyze promoter meth- ancy in the immunohistochemical staining inter- ylation and protein expression patterns of the p16 pretation was resolved by reexamination of the gene in 100 patients with primary head and neck cases by both pathologists. One head and neck squamous cell carcinomas that have not been pre- squamous cell carcinoma case that showed un- viously treated by radiation and chemotherapy. The equivocal positive reaction in both nucleus and epigenetic alteration and protein expression data cytoplasm was used as the positive control and was are then correlated with various clinical parameters included every time when immunohistochemical in an attempt to determine the prognostic signifi- staining was performed. cance of the p16 gene in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Sample Collection and DNA Extraction DNA samples were collected using the EX-WAX DNA Extraction Kit (Intergen Co., New York, NY) MATERIALS AND METHODS from five deparaffinized, 5-␮m-thick tissue sections A total of 100 consecutive untreated cases of head from each tissue block. Human placental DNA and neck squamous cell carcinoma were gathered (Sigma) was used as a negative control, and CpGe- from the paraffin block archives in the Department nome universal methylated human DNA (Intergen of Pathology at John L. McClellan Memorial Veter- Co.) served as a positive control, in which all CpG sites ans’ Hospital, spanning a period from 1993 to 1998. within the genomic DNA are chemically methylated. Criteria for tissue selection were as follows: (1) pri- mary surgical resection with curative intent or first- Bisulfite Modification of DNA for Methylation- time biopsy for adjuvant therapy; (2) an established Specific PCR diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma by histomor- In DNA samples from head and neck squamous phology of upper aerodigestive tract (lip, oral cav- cell carcinoma cases, negative and positive controls P16 (CDKN2a/INK4a) Tumor-Suppressor Gene (L. Ai et al.) 945 were subjected to bisulfite modification before MSP chemo/radiation therapies. All P values were two- using CpGenome DNA modification Kit (Intergen sided. SPSS software (Version 11.0, SPSS Inc., Chi- Co.). cago, IL) was used for all statistical computation. PCR Amplification and Primers RESULTS Amplification of the promoter region of the p16 gene was carried out in a Touchgene Gradient Of 100 patients, 91 underwent curative surgical Thermal Cycler (Techne Inc., Princeton, NJ) in a resection, and 9, chemoradiation therapies as pri- 50-␮L PCR reaction mixture containing 2 ␮Lof mary treatment for their tumors.
Recommended publications
  • Involvement of the Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor P16 (Ink4a) in Replicative Senescence of Normal Human Fibroblasts
    Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 93, pp. 13742–13747, November 1996 Biochemistry Involvement of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p16 (INK4a) in replicative senescence of normal human fibroblasts DAVID A. ALCORTA*†,YUE XIONG‡,DAWN PHELPS‡,GREG HANNON§,DAVID BEACH§, AND J. CARL BARRETT* *Laboratory of Molecular Carcinogenesis, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709; ‡Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599; and §Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 11724 Communicated by Raymond L. Erickson, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, September 19, 1996 (received for review on May 15, 1996) ABSTRACT Human diploid fibroblasts (HDFs) can be viewed in ref. 5). In senescent fibroblasts, CDK2 is catalytically grown in culture for a finite number of population doublings inactive and the protein down-regulated (7). CDK4 is also before they cease proliferation and enter a growth-arrest state reported to be down-regulated in senescent cells (8), while the termed replicative senescence. The retinoblastoma gene prod- status of CDK6 has not been previously addressed. The uct, Rb, expressed in these cells is hypophosphorylated. To activating cyclins for these CDKs, cyclins D1 and E, are present determine a possible mechanism by which senescent human in senescent cells at similar or elevated levels relative to early fibroblasts maintain a hypophosphorylated Rb, we examined passage cells (8). A role of the CDK inhibitors in senescence the expression levels and interaction of the Rb kinases, CDK4 was revealed by the isolation of a cDNA of a highly expressed and CDK6, and the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors p21 message in senescent cells that encoded the CDK inhibitor, p21 and p16 in senescent HDFs.
    [Show full text]
  • Infrequent Methylation of CDKN2A(Mts1p16) and Rare Mutation of Both CDKN2A and CDKN2B(Mts2ip15) in Primary Astrocytic Tumours
    British Joumal of Cancer (1997) 75(1), 2-8 © 1997 Cancer Research Campaign Infrequent methylation of CDKN2A(MTS1p16) and rare mutation of both CDKN2A and CDKN2B(MTS2Ip15) in primary astrocytic tumours EE Schmidt, K Ichimura, KR Messerle, HM Goike and VP Collins Institute for Oncology and Pathology, Division of Tumour Pathology, and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Stockholm Branch, Karolinska Hospital, S-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden Summary In a series of 46 glioblastomas, 16 anaplastic astrocytomas and eight astrocytomas, all tumours retaining one or both alleles of CDKN2A (48 tumours) and CDKN2B (49 tumours) were subjected to sequence analysis (entire coding region and splice acceptor and donor sites). One glioblastoma with hemizygous deletion of CDKN2A showed a missense mutation in exon 2 (codon 83) that would result in the substitution of tyrosine for histidine in the protein. None of the tumours retaining alleles of CDKN2B showed mutations of this gene. Glioblastomas with retention of both alleles of CDKN2A (14 tumours) and CDKN2B (16 tumours) expressed transcripts for these genes. In contrast, 7/13 glioblastomas with hemizygous deletions of CDKN2A and 8/11 glioblastomas with hemizygous deletions of CDKN2B showed no or weak expression. Anaplastic astrocytomas and astrocytomas showed a considerable variation in the expression of both genes, regardless of whether they retained one or two copies of the genes. The methylation status of the 5' CpG island of the CDKN2A gene was studied in all 15 tumours retaining only one allele of CDKN2A as well as in the six tumours showing no significant expression of transcript despite their retaining both CDKN2A alleles.
    [Show full text]
  • Transcriptional Regulation of the P16 Tumor Suppressor Gene
    ANTICANCER RESEARCH 35: 4397-4402 (2015) Review Transcriptional Regulation of the p16 Tumor Suppressor Gene YOJIRO KOTAKE, MADOKA NAEMURA, CHIHIRO MURASAKI, YASUTOSHI INOUE and HARUNA OKAMOTO Department of Biological and Environmental Chemistry, Faculty of Humanity-Oriented Science and Engineering, Kinki University, Fukuoka, Japan Abstract. The p16 tumor suppressor gene encodes a specifically bind to and inhibit the activity of cyclin-CDK specific inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4 and 6 complexes, thus preventing G1-to-S progression (4, 5). and is found altered in a wide range of human cancers. p16 Among these CKIs, p16 plays a pivotal role in the regulation plays a pivotal role in tumor suppressor networks through of cellular senescence through inhibition of CDK4/6 activity inducing cellular senescence that acts as a barrier to (6, 7). Cellular senescence acts as a barrier to oncogenic cellular transformation by oncogenic signals. p16 protein is transformation induced by oncogenic signals, such as relatively stable and its expression is primary regulated by activating RAS mutations, and is achieved by accumulation transcriptional control. Polycomb group (PcG) proteins of p16 (Figure 1) (8-10). The loss of p16 function is, associate with the p16 locus in a long non-coding RNA, therefore, thought to lead to carcinogenesis. Indeed, many ANRIL-dependent manner, leading to repression of p16 studies have shown that the p16 gene is frequently mutated transcription. YB1, a transcription factor, also represses the or silenced in various human cancers (11-14). p16 transcription through direct association with its Although many studies have led to a deeper understanding promoter region.
    [Show full text]
  • The P16 Status of Tumor Cell Lines Identifies Small Molecule Inhibitors Specific for Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 41
    Vol. 5, 4279–4286, December 1999 Clinical Cancer Research 4279 The p16 Status of Tumor Cell Lines Identifies Small Molecule Inhibitors Specific for Cyclin-dependent Kinase 41 Akihito Kubo,2 Kazuhiko Nakagawa,2, 3 CDK4 kinase inhibitors that may selectively induce growth Ravi K. Varma, Nicholas K. Conrad, inhibition of p16-altered tumors. Jin Quan Cheng, Wen-Ching Lee, INTRODUCTION Joseph R. Testa, Bruce E. Johnson, INK4A 4 The p16 gene (also known as CDKN2A) encodes p16 , Frederic J. Kaye, and Michael J. Kelley which inhibits the CDK45:cyclin D and CDK6:cyclin D com- Medicine Branch [A. K., K. N., N. K. C., F. J. K., B. E. J.] and plexes (1). These complexes mediate phosphorylation of the Rb Developmental Therapeutics Program [R. K. V.], National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20889; Department of Medical protein and allow cell cycle progression beyond the G1-S-phase Oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania checkpoint (2). Alterations of p16 have been described in a wide 19111 [J. Q. C., W-C. L., J. R. T.]; and Department of Medicine, variety of histological types of human cancers including astro- Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710 cytoma, melanoma, leukemia, breast cancer, head and neck [M. J. K.] squamous cell carcinoma, malignant mesothelioma, and lung cancer. Alterations of p16 can occur through homozygous de- ABSTRACT letion, point mutation, and transcriptional suppression associ- ated with hypermethylation in cancer cell lines and primary Loss of p16 functional activity leading to disruption of tumors (reviewed in Refs. 3–5). the p16/cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4:cyclin D/retino- Whereas the Rb gene is inactivated in a narrow range of blastoma pathway is the most common event in human tumor cells, the pattern of mutational inactivation of Rb is tumorigenesis, suggesting that compounds with CDK4 ki- inversely correlated with p16 alterations (6–8), suggesting that nase inhibitory activity may be useful to regulate cancer cell a single defect in the p16/CDK4:cyclin D/Rb pathway is suffi- growth.
    [Show full text]
  • Increased Expression of Unmethylated CDKN2D by 5-Aza-2'-Deoxycytidine in Human Lung Cancer Cells
    Oncogene (2001) 20, 7787 ± 7796 ã 2001 Nature Publishing Group All rights reserved 0950 ± 9232/01 $15.00 www.nature.com/onc Increased expression of unmethylated CDKN2D by 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine in human lung cancer cells Wei-Guo Zhu1, Zunyan Dai2,3, Haiming Ding1, Kanur Srinivasan1, Julia Hall3, Wenrui Duan1, Miguel A Villalona-Calero1, Christoph Plass3 and Gregory A Otterson*,1 1Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University-Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, Ohio, OH 43210, USA; 2Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University-Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, Ohio, OH 43210, USA; 3Division of Human Cancer Genetics, Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, The Ohio State University-Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbus, Ohio, OH 43210, USA DNA hypermethylation of CpG islands in the promoter Introduction region of genes is associated with transcriptional silencing. Treatment with hypo-methylating agents can Methylation of cytosine residues in CpG sequences is a lead to expression of these silenced genes. However, DNA modi®cation that plays a role in normal whether inhibition of DNA methylation in¯uences the mammalian development (Costello and Plass, 2001; expression of unmethylated genes has not been exten- Li et al., 1992), imprinting (Li et al., 1993) and X sively studied. We analysed the methylation status of chromosome inactivation (Pfeifer et al., 1990). To date, CDKN2A and CDKN2D in human lung cancer cell lines four mammalian DNA methyltransferases (DNMT) and demonstrated that the CDKN2A CpG island is have been identi®ed (Bird and Wole, 1999). Disrup- methylated, whereas CDKN2D is unmethylated. Treat- tion of the balance in methylated DNA is a common ment of cells with 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-CdR), alteration in cancer (Costello et al., 2000; Costello and an inhibitor of DNA methyltransferase 1, induced a dose Plass, 2001; Issa et al., 1993; Robertson et al., 1999).
    [Show full text]
  • AP-1 in Cell Proliferation and Survival
    Oncogene (2001) 20, 2390 ± 2400 ã 2001 Nature Publishing Group All rights reserved 0950 ± 9232/01 $15.00 www.nature.com/onc AP-1 in cell proliferation and survival Eitan Shaulian1 and Michael Karin*,1 1Laboratory of Gene Regulation and Signal Transduction, Department of Pharmacology, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California, CA 92093-0636, USA A plethora of physiological and pathological stimuli extensively discussed previously (Angel and Karin, induce and activate a group of DNA binding proteins 1991; Karin, 1995). that form AP-1 dimers. These proteins include the Jun, The mammalian AP-1 proteins are homodimers and Fos and ATF subgroups of transcription factors. Recent heterodimers composed of basic region-leucine zipper studies using cells and mice de®cient in individual AP-1 (bZIP) proteins that belong to the Jun (c-Jun, JunB proteins have begun to shed light on their physiological and JunD), Fos (c-Fos, FosB, Fra-1 and Fra-2), Jun functions in the control of cell proliferation, neoplastic dimerization partners (JDP1 and JDP2) and the closely transformation and apoptosis. Above all such studies related activating transcription factors (ATF2, LRF1/ have identi®ed some of the target genes that mediate the ATF3 and B-ATF) subfamilies (reviewed by (Angel eects of AP-1 proteins on cell proliferation and death. and Karin, 1991; Aronheim et al., 1997; Karin et al., There is evidence that AP-1 proteins, mostly those that 1997; Liebermann et al., 1998; Wisdom, 1999). In belong to the Jun group, control cell life and death addition, some of the Maf proteins (v-Maf, c-Maf and through their ability to regulate the expression and Nrl) can heterodimerize with c-Jun or c-Fos (Nishiza- function of cell cycle regulators such as Cyclin D1, p53, wa et al., 1989; Swaroop et al., 1992), whereas other p21cip1/waf1, p19ARF and p16.
    [Show full text]
  • Efficacy of BRAF and MEK Inhibition in Patients with BRAF-Mutant
    cancers Communication Efficacy of BRAF and MEK Inhibition in Patients with BRAF-Mutant Advanced Melanoma and Germline CDKN2A Pathogenic Variants Francesco Spagnolo 1,†, Bruna Dalmasso 2,3,† , Enrica Tanda 1,3, Miriam Potrony 4,5 , Susana Puig 4,5 , Remco van Doorn 6, Ellen Kapiteijn 7 , Paola Queirolo 8, Hildur Helgadottir 9,‡ and Paola Ghiorzo 2,3,*,‡ 1 Medical Oncology 2, IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, 16132 Genoa, Italy; [email protected] (F.S.); [email protected] (E.T.) 2 IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genetics of Rare Cancers, 16132 Genoa, Italy; [email protected] 3 Genetics of Rare Cancers, Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties, University of Genoa, 16132 Genoa, Italy 4 Melanoma Unit, Dermatology Department, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Institut d’Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Universitat de Barcelona, 08007 Barcelona, Spain; [email protected] (M.P.); [email protected] (S.P.) 5 Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBER) de Enfermedades Raras, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 08036 Barcelona, Spain 6 Department of Dermatology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 Leiden, The Netherlands; [email protected] 7 Department of Medical Oncology, Leiden University Medical Center, 2333 Leiden, The Netherlands; [email protected] Citation: Spagnolo, F.; Dalmasso, B.; 8 Melanoma, Sarcoma & Rare Tumors Division, European Institute of Oncology (IEO), 20141 Milan, Italy; Tanda, E.; Potrony, M.; Puig, S.; van [email protected] Doorn, R.; Kapiteijn, E.; Queirolo, P.; 9 Department of Oncology Pathology, Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital Solna, Helgadottir, H.; Ghiorzo, P. Efficacy of 171 64 Stockholm, Sweden; [email protected] BRAF and MEK Inhibition in Patients * Correspondence: [email protected] with BRAF-Mutant Advanced † These authors contributed equally to this study.
    [Show full text]
  • Expression of P16 INK4A and P14 ARF in Hematological Malignancies
    Leukemia (1999) 13, 1760–1769 1999 Stockton Press All rights reserved 0887-6924/99 $15.00 http://www.stockton-press.co.uk/leu Expression of p16INK4A and p14ARF in hematological malignancies T Taniguchi1, N Chikatsu1, S Takahashi2, A Fujita3, K Uchimaru4, S Asano5, T Fujita1 and T Motokura1 1Fourth Department of Internal Medicine, University of Tokyo, School of Medicine; 2Division of Clinical Oncology, Cancer Chemotherapy Center, Cancer Institute Hospital; 3Department of Hematology, Showa General Hospital; 4Third Department of Internal Medicine, Teikyo University, School of Medicine; and 5Department of Hematology/Oncology, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan The INK4A/ARF locus yields two tumor suppressors, p16INK4A tumor suppressor genes.10,11 In human hematological malig- ARF and p14 , and is frequently deleted in human tumors. We nancies, their inactivation occurs mainly by means of homo- studied their mRNA expressions in 41 hematopoietic cell lines and in 137 patients with hematological malignancies; we used zygous deletion or promoter region hypermethylation a quantitative reverse transcription-PCR assay. Normal periph- (reviewed in Ref. 12). In tumors such as pancreatic adenocar- eral bloods, bone marrow and lymph nodes expressed little or cinomas, esophageal squamous cell carcinomas and familial undetectable p16INK4A and p14ARF mRNAs, which were readily melanomas, p16INK4A is often inactivated by point mutation, detected in 12 and 17 of 41 cell lines, respectively. Patients with 12 INK4A which is not the case in hematological malignancies. On hematological malignancies frequently lacked p16 INK4C INK4D ARF the other hand, genetic aberrations of p18 or p19 expression (60/137) and lost p14 expression less frequently 12 (19/137, 13.9%).
    [Show full text]
  • Uncommon Association of Germline Mutations of RET Proto-Oncogene
    European Journal of Endocrinology (2008) 158 417–422 ISSN 0804-4643 CASE REPORT Uncommon association of germline mutations of RET proto-oncogene and CDKN2A gene L Foppiani1, F Forzano2, I Ceccherini3, W Bruno4, P Ghiorzo4, F Caroli3, P Quilici5, R Bandelloni5, A Arlandini6, G Sartini6, M Cabria7 and P Del Monte1 1Endocrinology 2Genetics Laboratory, Galliera Hospital, 16128 Genova, Italy, 3Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, G Gaslini Institute, 16148 Genova, Italy, 4Department of Oncology, Biology and Genetics/Medical Genetics Service, University of Genova, 1632 Genova, Italy, 5Pathology Unit, 6Division of Surgery and 7Nuclear Medicine, Galliera Hospital, 16128 Genova, Italy (Correspondence should be addressed to L Foppiani who is now at S S D Endocrinologia, Mura delle Cappuccine 14, 16128 Genova, Italy; Email: [email protected]) Abstract Introduction: Calcitonin measurement is advised in the diagnosis of thyroid nodules, as it is an accurate marker of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC). C-cell hyperplasia (CCH)-induced hypercalcitoninemia cannot be distinguished from that induced by MTC, unless surgery is performed. Case: We report the clinical and biological features of a patient with a family history of cancer, including melanoma and pancreatic cancer, who had previously undergone surgery for melanoma. He presented the unusual association of papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), normocalcemic hyperpara- thyroidism, and hypercalcitoninemia with a pathological response to pentagastrin, which was histologically deemed secondary to CCH. Multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) 2A was diagnosed. RET gene analysis showed a p.V804M missense mutation in exon 14, a low- but variably penetrant defect found in both sporadic and MEN2A-associated MTC/CCH, and a p.G691S polymorphism in exon 11.
    [Show full text]
  • Direct CDKN2 Modulation of CDK4 Alters Target Engagement of CDK4 Inhibitor Drugs Jennifer L
    Published OnlineFirst March 5, 2019; DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-18-0755 Cancer Biology and Translational Studies Molecular Cancer Therapeutics Direct CDKN2 Modulation of CDK4 Alters Target Engagement of CDK4 Inhibitor Drugs Jennifer L. Green1, Eric S. Okerberg1, Josilyn Sejd1, Marta Palafox2, Laia Monserrat2, Senait Alemayehu1, Jiangyue Wu1, Maria Sykes1, Arwin Aban1, Violeta Serra2, and Tyzoon Nomanbhoy1 Abstract The interaction of a drug with its target is critical to achieve bition is not possible by traditional kinase assays. Here, we drug efficacy. In cases where cellular environment influences describe a chemo-proteomics approach that demonstrates target engagement, differences between individuals and cell high CDK4 target engagement by palbociclib in cells without types present a challenge for a priori prediction of drug efficacy. functional CDKN2A and attenuated target engagement when As such, characterization of environments conducive to CDKN2A (or related CDKN2/INK4 family proteins) is abun- achieving the desired pharmacologic outcome is warranted. dant. Analysis of biological sensitivity in engineered isogenic We recently reported that the clinical CDK4/6 inhibitor pal- cells with low or absent CDKN2A and of a panel of previously bociclib displays cell type–specific target engagement: Palbo- characterized cell lines indicates that high levels of CDKN2A ciclib engaged CDK4 in cells biologically sensitive to the drug, predict insensitivity to palbociclib, whereas low levels do not but not in biologically insensitive cells. Here, we report a correlate with sensitivity. Therefore, high CDKN2A may pro- molecular explanation for this phenomenon. Palbociclib tar- vide a useful biomarker to exclude patients from CDK4/6 get engagement is determined by the interaction of CDK4 with inhibitor therapy.
    [Show full text]
  • MYC Oncogene Contributions to Release of Cell Cycle Brakes
    Review MYC Oncogene Contributions to Release of Cell Cycle Brakes Lucía García-Gutiérrez 1,2, María Dolores Delgado 1 and Javier León 1* 1 Instituto de Biomedicina y Biotecnología de Cantabria (IBBTEC) CSIC-Universidad de Cantabria and Department of Biología Molecular, Universidad de Cantabria, 39011 Santander, Spain; [email protected] (M.D.D.) 2 Current address: Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland; [email protected] (L.G-G) * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel: +34-942-201952 Received: 24 February 2019; Accepted: 18 March 2019; Published: 22 March 2019 Abstract: Promotion of the cell cycle is a major oncogenic mechanism of the oncogene c-MYC (MYC). MYC promotes the cell cycle by not only activating or inducing cyclins and CDKs but also through the downregulation or the impairment of the activity of a set of proteins that act as cell- cycle brakes. This review is focused on the role of MYC as a cell-cycle brake releaser i.e., how MYC stimulates the cell cycle mainly through the functional inactivation of cell cycle inhibitors. MYC antagonizes the activities and/or the expression levels of p15, ARF, p21, and p27. The mechanism involved differs for each protein. p15 (encoded by CDKN2B) and p21 (CDKN1A) are repressed by MYC at the transcriptional level. In contrast, MYC activates ARF, which contributes to the apoptosis induced by high MYC levels. At least in some cells types, MYC inhibits the transcription of the p27 gene (CDKN1B) but also enhances p27’s degradation through the upregulation of components of ubiquitin ligases complexes.
    [Show full text]
  • DNA Methylation and the Mechanisms of CDKN2A Inactivation in Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Urinary Bladder Andrea R
    0023-6837/00/8010-1513$03.00/0 LABORATORY INVESTIGATION Vol. 80, No. 10, p. 1513, 2000 Copyright © 2000 by The United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, Inc. Printed in U.S.A. DNA Methylation and the Mechanisms of CDKN2A Inactivation in Transitional Cell Carcinoma of the Urinary Bladder Andrea R. Florl, Knut H. Franke, Dieter Niederacher, Claus-Dieter Gerharz, Hans-Helge Seifert, and Wolfgang A. Schulz Urologische Klinik (ARF, KHF, H-HS, WAS), Frauenklinik (DN), and Institut für Pathologie (C-DG), Heinrich Heine Universität, Düsseldorf, Germany SUMMARY: Alterations of the CDKN2A locus on chromosome 9p21 encoding the p16INK4A cell cycle regulator and the p14ARF1 p53 activator proteins are frequently found in bladder cancer. Here, we present an analysis of 86 transitional cell carcinomas (TCC) to elucidate the mechanisms responsible for inactivation of this locus. Multiplex quantitative PCR analysis for five microsatellites around the locus showed that 34 tumors (39%) had loss of heterozygosity (LOH) generally encompassing the entire region. Of these, 17 tumors (20%) carried homozygous deletions of at least one CDKN2A exon and of flanking microsatellites, as detected by quantitative PCR. Analysis by restriction enzyme PCR and methylation-specific PCR showed that only three specimens, each with LOH across 9p21, had bona fide hypermethylation of the CDKN2A exon 1␣ CpG-island in the remaining allele. Like most other specimens, these three specimens displayed substantial genome-wide hypomethylation of DNA as reflected in the methylation status of LINE L1 sequences. The extent of DNA hypomethylation was significantly more pronounced in TCC with LOH and/or homozygous deletions at 9p21 than in those without (26% and 28%, respectively, on average, versus 11%, p Ͻ 0.0015).
    [Show full text]