Correlation of mutant menin stability with clinical expression of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 and its incomplete forms

Germline mutations of the tumor suppressor gene MEN1 are found not only in typical multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) but also in its incomplete forms such as familial isolated hyperparathyroidism (FIHP) and apparently sporadic parathyroid tumor (ASPT). No definitive genotype-phenotype correlation has been established between these clinical forms and MEN1 gene mutations. We previously demonstrated that mutant menin proteins associated with MEN1 are rapidly degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. To examine whether the intracellular stability of mutant menin is correlated with clinical phenotypes, we developed a method of evaluating menin stability and examined 20 mutants associated with typical MEN1 (17 missense, two in-frame deletion, one nonsense) and 21 mutants associated with FIHP or ASPT (19 missense, two in-frame deletion). All tested mutants associated with typical MEN1 showed reduced stability. Some missense and in-frame deletion mutants (G28A, R171W, T197I, E255K, E274A, Y353del and E366D) associated with FIHP or ASPT were almost as stable as or only slightly less stable than wild-type menin, while others were as unstable as those associated with typical MEN1. Some stable mutants exhibited substantial biological activities when tested by JunD-dependent transactivation assay. These findings suggest that certain missense and in-frame mutations are fairly stable and retain intrinsic biological activity, and might be specifically associated with incomplete clinical phenotypes. The menin stability test will provide useful information for the management of patients carrying germline MEN1 mutations especially when they have missense or in-frame variants of ambiguous clinical significance.     

Altered ligand binding by insulin-like growth factor II/mannose 6-phosphate receptors bearing missense mutations in human cancers.

The M6P/IGF2R gene, encoding the insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II)/mannose 6-phosphate receptor (IGF2R), is frequently inactivated during carcinogenesis. M6P/IGF2R is postulated to be a tumor suppressor gene due to its ability to bind and degrade the mitogen IGF-II, promote activation of the growth inhibitor transforming growth factor beta, and regulate the targeting of lysosomal enzymes. In this study, we determined the effects of four M6P/IGF2R missense mutations associated with loss of heterozygosity in hepatocellular and breast cancers on the ligand binding properties of full-length membrane-bound receptors. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to prepare COOH-terminal, c-myc epitope-tagged human IGF2R cDNA expression constructs bearing point mutations that lead to the substitutions I1572T, G1464E, G1449V, and Q1445H, all of which are located in the receptor's extracytoplasmic domain. Ligand binding was measured in plasma membranes from 293T cells expressing full-length receptors. No binding of 125I-IGF-II to I1572T mutant receptors was observed. Binding to G1449V mutant receptors was decreased by 50% relative to wild-type (WT). However, IGF-II binding to the G1464E and Q1445H mutant receptors was equivalent to WT when plasma membranes were assayed immediately after preparation. The phosphomannosylated pseudoglycoprotein pentamannose 6-phosphate-BSA (PMP-BSA) was synthesized as a ligand for the M6P binding site. Binding of 125I-PMP-BSA was equivalent to WT for the I1572T, G1464E, and Q1445H mutations, but there was a 60% reduction in PMP-BSA binding to the G1449V mutant receptor. Thus, several missense mutations in M6P/IGF2R disrupt the ligand binding functions of the intact IGF2R, lending further support to the hypothesis that the M6P/IGF2R is a tumor suppressor gene.     

The chicken junD gene and its product

We have isolated and characterized the chicken junD gene. It does not contain an intron; its upstream regulatory sequences lack the AP-1-binding site seen in c-jun but include two CRE elements. Downstream untranslated sequences do not show the destabilizing signal ATTTA. The amino acid sequence of the chicken JunD protein is closely related to that of mouse JunD in the dimerization and DNA contact surfaces of the carboxy-terminal region; additional homologies to mouse JunD are seen in acidic and amphipathic amino-terminal domains. Chicken JunD contains stretches of oligoglycines, alanines and prolines, possibly acting as hinges that connect functionally distinct domains of the protein. Chicken junD is broadly expressed at low basal levels in differentiated tissues and at somewhat higher levels in cultured fibroblasts. The cDNA clone of junD was transcribed and translated in vitro. The resulting JunD protein migrates in between 40 and 50 kDa in an SDS gel and can be precipitated with an antibody prepared against a polypeptide consisting of the carboxy-terminal 100 amino acids of mouse c-Jun.     

Functional alterations of human exonuclease 1 mutants identified in atypical hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer syndrome

Hereditary Nonpolyposis Colorectal Cancer (HNPCC) is a genetically heterogeneous disorder caused by germ-line mutations in one of several DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes, most commonly in hMSH2 and hMLH1. Human exonuclease 1 (hExo1) possesses both 5'exonuclease and flap endonuclease activities and plays a role in DNA repair, recombination, and replication. The enzyme interacts with MMR proteins, hMsh2, hMlh1, and hMsh3. Recently, eight missense mutations in hEXO1 were identified in atypical HNPCC patients, who have been screened to be negative for hMSH2, hMLH1, and hMSH6 mutations. To address the question of whether these mutations cause susceptibility to HNPCC, in vitro nuclease activity and protein-protein interaction assays were performed in this study. We found that two mutants, E109K and L410R, lost their exonuclease activities while retaining their capacity to bind to the DNA substrate. Three other mutants, P640S, G759E, and P770L, displayed a reduced capacity to interact with hMsh2. The combination of these three point mutations leads to the binding capacity with hMsh2 to nearly zero. Evidence made available in this study sheds light on the pathogenesis of HNPCC, perhaps initiated by an additional MMR gene, hEXO1.     

Missense mutations in the BRCT domain of BRCA-1 from high-risk women frequently perturb strongly hydrophobic amino acids conserved among mammals.

Inherited missense mutations in the tumor suppressor gene, BRCA-1, may predispose to breast or ovarian cancer, but the exact effects on the protein are generally unknown. The COOH-terminal region of BRCA-1 encodes two BRCT repeats, which are partially conserved in mammalian species (human, dog, rat, and mouse; 60% amino acid identity). A bioinformatic analysis was conducted to evaluate 246 BRCT missense mutations from high-risk breast and/or ovarian cancer patients (reported in the NIH Breast Cancer Information Core database). It was hypothesized that amino acids conserved in evolution would be disproportionately targeted by the mutations and that conserved amino acids with strongly hydrophobic side chains would be disproportionately perturbed. A statistical model was developed, and chi(2) tests were used to determine whether missense mutations are randomly distributed throughout the BRCT repeats or whether they disproportionately target certain amino acids. The results showed that missense mutations disproportionately target amino acids that are identical in all four mammals (chi(2) = 46.01, P < 0.001). In addition, missense mutations disproportionately perturb conserved amino acids with strongly hydrophobic side chains (chi(2) = 68.57, P < 0.001) and alter the strongly hydrophobic property. The two most frequently observed known cancer-predisposing missense mutations in the BRCT repeats, M1775R and A1708E, conform to this pattern. These results suggest that missense mutations affecting highly conserved amino acids with strongly hydrophobic side chains can disturb important features of the BRCA-1 protein and may play a role in breast and ovarian cancer formation.     

Metformin与AMPKγ亚基结合位点的探究

目的:基于前期Metformin与AMPKγ亚基结合的研究，进一步确认二者间的结合机制。方法:采用分子对接方法模拟Metformin与AMPKγ亚基潜在的结合位点，通过定点突变技术对AMPKγ亚基进行修饰，以荧光滴定法为检测方法，检测Metformin对突变前后的AMPKγ内源荧光猝灭的改变。结果:获得一系列AMPKγ亚基的突变体AMPKγ M84A、T88A、D89A、R117A、K126A及 I149A，比较发现Metformin与AMPKγ的解离常数KD值为（3.76±0.45） μmol/L，与突变体AMPKγ T88A的KD值约为未突（36.15±6.91） μmol/L，约为变前的10倍，提示88位中的苏氨酸T可能是Metformin的结合位点之一。结论:该结果一方面阐明Metformin与AMPKγ的结合情况，另一方面也为以AMPKγ亚基为靶点的抗肿瘤药物设计提供理论指导。     

Novel human p53 mutations that are toxic to yeast can enhance transactivation of specific promoters and reactivate tumor p53 mutants.

Since highly expressed human p53 can inhibit human and yeast cell growth, we predicted that p53 mutants could be generated with increased growth inhibition of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and that these would be useful for characterizing p53 functions and tumor p53 mutants. A random mutagenesis screen led to the isolation of mutations in the DNA binding domain that result in p53 being lethal even at moderate expression levels in yeast. Three independent mutants had an alanine change at the evolutionary invariant V122 in the L1 loop. The other toxic mutations affected codons 277 (C277R, C277W) and 279 (G279R). This latter amino acid change was also reported in tumors, while all the other mutations are novel. A recently developed rheostatable GALI promoter system that provides graded increases in expression of p53 was used to examine the transactivation function of the toxic mutations when expression was greatly reduced and cells were viable. At low expression levels the toxic mutants lacked transactivation from a 3xRGC responsive element (RE). Surprisingly some exhibited enhanced transactivation with p21 and bax REs. The V122A mutant was able to re-activate transactivation of various p53 tumor mutants and retained growth inhibition when co-expressed with dominant-negative tumor mutations. Upon expression in human Saos-2 cells the V122A p53 mutant caused growth suppression, was capable of transactivation and exhibited higher than wild type activity with the bax promoter in luciferase assays. A non-functional p53 tumor mutant was partially reactivated by V122A for both transactivation and growth suppression. Thus, the screen for toxic p53 mutants in yeast can identify novel p53 variants that may be useful in dissecting p53 regulated cellular responses and in developing p53-based cancer therapies.     

Biologic and biochemical analyses of p16(INK4a) mutations from primary tumors.

BACKGROUND: Point mutations in the tumor suppressor gene p16(INK4a) (also known as p16, CDKN2, MTS1, and INK4a) are found in many tumor types. Because the function of the products of these naturally occurring mutants has not been fully explored, we investigated the functional activities of a wide range of naturally occurring p16 mutant proteins. METHODS: Sixteen cancer-associated p16 mutant proteins, resulting from missense mutations, were characterized for their ability to bind and inhibit the cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK4 and CDK6) and to induce cell cycle arrest in G(1) phase. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: Among 16 mutants analyzed, nine had detectable functional defects. Three mutants (D84V, D84G, and R87P) had defects in CDK binding, kinase inhibition, and cell cycle arrest. The corresponding mutations are located in the third ankyrin repeat in a highly conserved region believed to form the CDK binding cleft. Three mutants (P48L, D74N, and R87L) had defects in kinase inhibition and cell cycle arrest. Among the 10 mutants with normal CDK binding and inhibitory activity, three mutants (N71S, R80L, and H83Y) had defects only in their ability to induce cell cycle arrest. Thus, p16 mutant proteins that retain CDK4 and CDK6 binding may have more subtle functional defects. All nine mutations leading to functional impairments mapped to the central portion of the p16 protein. Ankyrin repeats II and III appear more critical to p16 function, and mutations in ankyrin repeats I and IV are less likely to disrupt p16 function.     

Global gene expression in neuroendocrine tumors from patients with the MEN1 syndrome

Background  

Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia type 1 (MEN1, OMIM 131100) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by endocrine tumors of the parathyroids, pancreatic islets and pituitary. The disease is caused by the functional loss of the tumor suppressor protein menin, coded by the MEN1 gene. The protein sequence has no significant homology to known consensus motifs. In vitro studies have shown menin binding to JunD, Pem, Smad3, NF-kappaB, nm23H1, and RPA2 proteins. However, none of these binding studies have led to a convincing theory of how loss-of-menin leads to neoplasia.