Novel single nucleotide polymorphisms in the 3'-UTR of the TGFbetaRI and TGFbetaRIII genes.

Transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) family members are multifunctional cytokines that play a key role in cellular growth, proliferation and differentiation. Transmembrane signalling by TGFbeta occurs via a complex of the serine/threonine kinases TGFbeta type 1 (TGFbetaRI), type 2 (TGFbetaRII), and type 3 (TGFbetaRIII) receptors. Previous studies have implicated TGFbeta receptors (TGFbetaR) in a variety of important hereditary clinical disorders. Mutations of the TGFbetaR genes have been observed in several human cancers. The aim of this study was to identify and confirm novel single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TGFbetaRI and RIII and to determine the relative allele and genotype frequencies of these SNPs. SNPs were identified from the examination of sequence alignments held in databases and were confirmed by DNA sequencing. A polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method was devised for genotyping TGFbeta receptor polymorphisms. DNA samples from 91 controls were examined. The observed heterozygosities of TGFbetaRI and TGFbetaRIII gene polymorphisms in the control population were 43 and 33%, respectively, suggesting these SNPs could be useful markers in disease association studies.