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Genotoxicity of neutrons in Drosophila melanogaster. Somatic mutation and recombination induced by reactor neutrons.

This paper describes the observation of a direct relationship between the absorbed doses of neutrons and the frequencies of somatic mutation and recombination using the wing somatic mutation and recombination test (SMART) of Drosophila melanogaster. This test was used for evaluating the biological effects induced by neutrons from the Triga Mark III reactor of Mexico. Two different reactor power levels were used, 300 and 1000 kW, and two absorbed doses were tested for each power level: 1.6 and 3.2 Gy for 300 kW and 0.84 and 1.7 Gy for 1000 kW. A linear relationship was observed between the absorbed dose and the somatic mutation and recombination frequencies. Furthermore, these frequencies were dependent on larval age: In 96-h-old larvae, the frequencies were increased considerably but the sizes of the spots were smaller than in 72-h-old larvae. The analysis of the balancer-heterozygous progeny showed a linear absorbed dose- response relationship, although the responses were clearly lower than found in the marker-trans-heterozygous flies. Approximately 65% of the genotoxicity observed is due to recombinational events. The results of the study indicate that thermal and fast neutrons are both mutagenic and recombinagenic in the D. melanogaster wing SMART, and that the frequencies are dependent on neutron dose, reactor power, and the age of the treated larvae.

Animals↗

Extensive somatic mutation in the Ig heavy chain V genes in a late primary anti-hapten immune response.

Somatic mutations and cell lineage relationships were examined in a large panel of hybridomas derived from a single mouse 21 days after a primary immunization with NP-CGG. Among 21 lambda-bearing anti-NP hybridomas 18 distinct cell lineages were observed. Ten of the hybridomas used the V186-2 gene which is the most frequently utilized VH gene in the anti-NP response. Analysis of DNA sequence of the entire VH region of these antibodies revealed extensive somatic mutations. The selection for certain codon changes and the level of mutation observed is comparable to that observed in an early secondary anti-NP response. An unexpected observation was that one-third of the hybridomas produced IgM antibodies. Two IgM antibodies expressing the V186-2 gene contained extensive mutations in the VH region. These results indicate that once the somatic mutation process is initiated, it progresses rapidly and continues for at least two weeks during the development of the response. A highly mutated repertoire of memory B cells is formed by three weeks post-immunization that can be rapidly utilized to generate the secondary immune response.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Somatic mutation of mitochondrial DNA in Helicobacter pylori-associated chronic gastritis in patients with and without gastric cancer.

Somatic mutations of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are associated with development of various types of human cancer. To elucidate the significance of somatic mutations of the mtDNA in gastric carcinogenesis, we examined mtDNA mutations in gastric cancers and in Helicobacter pylori-associated chronic gastritis (H. pylori-CG), which is associated with an increased risk for gastric cancer development. Specimens of gastric cancer and gastric mucosa were obtained from 73 gastric cancer patients with H. pylori-CG, 75 cancer-free H. pylori-CG patients and 30 H. pylori-negative healthy subjects. Mutations of a specific mononucleotide repeat (D310) of the mtDNA were examined by microsatellite assay. mtDNA mutations were detected in 9 of 56 (16%) gastric cancers, in 10 of 148 (7%) H. pylori-CG and none of the 30 H. pylori-negative healthy subjects. mtDNA mutations in H. pylori-CG were significantly more frequent in gastric cancer patients than in cancer-free patients (12% vs. 1%, p=0.008). In addition, mtDNA mutations in H. pylori-CG were significantly more frequent in patients with mtDNA mutated gastric cancer than in patients with mtDNA unmutated gastric cancer (66% vs. 4%, p<0.001). These data suggest that somatic mutations of the mtDNA may be involved in the early stages of gastric carcinogenesis.

Chronic Disease↗

The COSMIC (Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer) database and website.

The discovery of mutations in cancer genes has advanced our understanding of cancer. These results are dispersed across the scientific literature and with the availability of the human genome sequence will continue to accrue. The COSMIC (Catalogue of Somatic Mutations in Cancer) database and website have been developed to store somatic mutation data in a single location and display the data and other information related to human cancer. To populate this resource, data has currently been extracted from reports in the scientific literature for somatic mutations in four genes, BRAF, HRAS, KRAS2 and NRAS. At present, the database holds information on 66 634 samples and reports a total of 10 647 mutations. Through the web pages, these data can be queried, displayed as figures or tables and exported in a number of formats. COSMIC is an ongoing project that will continue to curate somatic mutation data and release it through the website.

Databases, Factual↗

Sequential triggering of apoptosis, somatic mutation and isotype switch during germinal center development.

Using an approach similar to that used to study primary B-lymphocyte development within bone marrow and primary T-lymphocyte development within thymus, the peripheral B-cell maturation pathway within secondary lymphoid tissue (human tonsils) was analysed on the expression of discrete surface antigens. sIgD and CD38 permit the identification of four subpopulations of tonsillar B lymphocytes, including sIgD+ CD38-, sIgD+, CD38+, sIgD-CD38+ and sIgD-CD38- B cells. Further phenotypic, functional and Ig gene analysis (IgV gene sequences, expression of sterile transcripts and DNA switch circles) allowed us to conclude the following: (1) sIgM+ IgD+ CD38- B cells are naive B cells (Bm1 + 2), which carry unmutated antigen-receptors; (2) sIgM+ IgD+ CD38+ B cells are germinal center founder cells (Bm2'), which become prone to undergo apoptosis before the onset of somatic mutation; (3) sIgM-IgD+ CD38+ are germinal center B cells (Bm 3 delta), that have accumulated the highest number of somatic mutations ever reported in normal B cells; these cells may have undergone C mu-deletion by homologous recombination through sigma mu-sigma delta sequences: (4) sIgD-CD38+ CD77+ B cells are centroblasts (Bm3), in which somatic mutation machinery is activated; (5) sIgD-CD38+ CD77- B cells are centrocytes (Bm4), in which the isotype switching machinery is activated; (6) sIgD-CD38- cells (Bm5) represent somatically mutated resting memory B cells. In conclusion, human peripheral B-cell subpopulations corresponding to the differentiation stages before, during and after the triggering of apoptosis program, somatic mutation and isotype switch have been identified and isolated using a combination of surface markers.

Apoptosis↗

Analysis of somatic mutations at human minisatellite loci in tumors and cell lines.

Hypervariable human minisatellite loci show a substantial level of germline instability, and spontaneous mutation rates to new length alleles have been measured directly by pedigree analysis. We now show that mutation events altering the number of minisatellite repeat units are not restricted to the germline, but also arise in other tissues. Mutant alleles can be detected at a very low frequency in lymphoblastoid cell lines and at much higher frequencies in clonal tumor cell populations, most particularly in gastrointestinal adenocarcinomas. Mutant alleles in these tumors are usually present at a dosage equal to or greater than that of the progenitor allele, indicating that most or all of the tumor cells carry the same clonally derived mutant allele. As with germline mutation, the incidence of somatic mutations in tumors varies from locus to locus, with the same locus showing the highest level of germline and somatic instability. Most length changes, as those in the germline, are of only a few repeat units; however, very large changes are also observed, implying that such mutations can occur in the absence of meiosis.

DNA Mutational Analysis↗

Analysis of somatic mutation in five B cell subsets of human tonsil.

Using a series of phenotypic markers that include immunoglobulin (Ig)D, IgM, IgG, CD23, CD44, Bcl-2, CD38, CD10, CD77, and Ki67, human tonsillar B cells were separated into five fractions representing different stages of B cell differentiation that included sIgD+ (Bm1 and Bm2), germinal center (Bm3 and Bm4), and memory (Bm5) B cells. To establish whether the initiation of somatic mutation correlated with this phenotypic characterization, we performed polymerase chain reaction and subsequent sequence analysis of the Ig heavy chain variable region genes from each of the B cell subsets. We studied the genes from the smallest VH families (VH4, VH5, and VH6) in order to facilitate the mutational analysis. In agreement with previous reports, we found that the somatic mutation machinery is activated only after B cells reach the germinal center and become centroblasts (Bm3). Whereas 47 independently rearranged IgM transcripts from the Bm1 and Bm2 subsets were nearly germline encoded, 57 Bm3-, and Bm4-, and Bm5-derived IgM transcripts had accumulated an average of 5.7 point mutations within the VH gene segment. gamma transcripts corresponding to the same VH gene families were isolated from subsets Bm3, Bm4, and Bm5, and had accumulated an average of 9.5 somatic mutations. We conclude that the molecular events underlying the process of somatic mutation takes place during the transition from IgD+, CD23+ B cells (Bm2) to the IgD-, CD23-, germinal center centroblast (Bm3). Furthermore, the analysis of Ig variable region transcripts from the different subpopulations confirms that the pathway of B cell differentiation from virgin B cell throughout the germinal center up to the memory compartment can be traced with phenotypic markers. The availability of these subpopulations should permit the identification of the functional molecules relevant to each stage of B cell differentiation.

Antigens, CD↗

Somatically mutated B cell pool provides precursors for insulin antibodies.

Antibodies to insulin are products of autoreactive B lymphocytes that escape inactivation or clonal deletion and are examples of "clonal ignorance." To understand the genetic origin of Abs from clonally ignorant B cells, the roles of somatic mutation and germ-line V(H) structures were examined for two murine IgG1 mAb that bind human and rodent insulin. Engineered mAb constructs that express germ-line or mutated V(H) genes show that somatic mutations introducing aspartic acid in or adjacent to CDRH2 play a key role in insulin binding. When either of the two anti-insulin V(H) regions is returned to its germ-line (unmutated) sequence, neither mAb binds insulin and the germ-line-encoded mAb are not polyreactive. Reconstruction of the somatic evolution of insulin binding in both mAbs shows that a single mutation in CDRH2 is sufficient to generate anti-insulin activity from a nonbinding precursor. When the role of somatic mutation in the binding of rodent insulin is examined, autoreactivity is associated with single mutations in both Abs. Together these findings indicate that, despite a low mutation frequency, IgG insulin Abs may not be derived directly from germ-line (unmutated) precursors. The requirement for somatic mutation as a prerequisite for measurable insulin binding suggests these Abs have their origin in a previously mutated B cell pool as a consequence of the individual's immune history. Low avidity interaction with endogenous insulin may play a role in selection of these B cells and contribute to the origin of clonal ignorance.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

[Somatic hypermutagenesis in immunoglobulin genes. II. Properties of somatic mutations and clonal selection].

Analysis of the collection of 203 somatic mutations in immunoglobulin genes was carried out. It was shown, that the high frequency of these mutations in CDRs of V-genes may be connected with the high concentration of repeats in these regions. In addition, the observed clusterization of mutations may emerge from simultaneous correction of several pertubations of complementarity in the heteroduplex, formed by the repeat regions. It was revealed, that somatic mutations in FRs are characterized by reliably smaller changes of some important amino acid physical-chemical properties than in CDRs. These data obviously indicate the occurrence of B-lymphocytes clonal selection. Analysis of synonymous substitutions has shown, that stabilizing selection seems to provide the conservatism of FRs (it leads to the conservation of the protein three-dimensional structure) and movement selection may provide the proliferation of B-lymphocytes with considerable changes in CDRs, if these mutations improve antigens binding. Preferential fixation of transitions in comparison with transversions, particularly expressed in FRs, may also be connected with the fact, that transitions lead to smaller changes of amino acid physical-chemical properties and they are rejected by selection to a smaller extent.

Amino Acids↗

Somatic mutations at the trinucleotide repeats of androgen receptor gene in male hepatocellular carcinoma.

Androgen and androgen receptor (AR) have long been implicated in liver carcinogenesis, especially for the male dominance feature. However, whether AR gene could occur in somatic mutations that might contribute to this process has not yet been studied. DNA sequencing and genotyping were conducted for detecting the genetic aberrations of AR gene in 257 primary hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) and also the dysplastic nodules (DN) from another 11 patients. Twenty-one AR somatic mutations causing amino acid changes were identified in HCC and even in the precancerous DN. The missense somatic mutations of AR were rare in HCC (2 cases) but the trinucleotide repeat (TNR) changes, both at (CAG)n and (GGC)n, was a more common one (19 cases). Notably, all these mutations occurred in male patients and most TNR changes belonged to the contraction type (15 out of 19 cases, 78.9%), which has been reported to associate with increased AR transcriptional activity. Most samples with TNR changes did not show microsatellite instability, suggesting a different cause for these TNR mutations. Although no significant correlation was identified between AR mutations and the clinicopathologic parameters, we found the (CAG)n length significantly shorter in hepatitis B virus (HBV)(+) HCCs than in HBV(-) HCCs and the (GGC)n length significantly correlates with the overall survival. In conclusion, the mis-sense somatic mutations of AR were rare in HCC but the TNR change was a more common one, which exclusively occurred in males. Moreover, the length of TNR carried clinical significance in special HCC group.

Adult↗

In vivo somatic mutations in human lymphocytes frequently result from major gene alterations.

Somatic mutations, either spontaneous or produced by identifiable mutagens, are thought to be important in the aetiology of cancer and in the ageing process. The study of somatic mutations in human cells in vivo has recently been made possible by the development of techniques for enumeration and clonal expansion of lymphocytes mutated at the chromosome X-linked hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase (HPRT) locus. We have studied the molecular basis of in vivo hprt mutations in human lymphocytes and report here that a surprisingly high proportion (57%) involve substantial gene alterations which are not evident cytogenetically. These major gene alterations include deletions, exon amplifications and novel, sometimes amplified, bands on Southern analysis. Such changes emphasize the fluid nature of information in DNA and may be indicative of general mechanisms by which functional gene loss is involved in the aetiology of cancer and the homeostatic failure of ageing.

Aging↗

Somatic mutations of the mitochondrial genome in human colorectal tumours.

Alterations of oxidative phosphorylation in tumour cells were originally believed to have a causative role in cancerous growth. More recently, mitochondria have again received attention with regards to neoplasia, largely because of their role in apoptosis and other aspects of tumour biology. The mitochondrial genome is particularly susceptible to mutations because of the high level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in this organelle, coupled with a low level of DNA repair. However, no detailed analysis of mitochondrial DNA in human tumours has yet been reported. In this study, we analysed the complete mtDNA genome of ten human colorectal cancer cell lines by sequencing and found mutations in seven (70%). The majority of mutations were transitions at purines, consistent with an ROS-related derivation. The mutations were somatic, and those evaluated occurred in the primary tumour from which the cell line was derived. Most of the mutations were homoplasmic, indicating that the mutant genome was dominant at the intracellular and intercellular levels. We showed that mitochondria can rapidly become homogeneous in colorectal cancer cells using cell fusions. These findings provide the first examples of homoplasmic mutations in the mtDNA of tumour cells and have potential implications for the abnormal metabolic and apoptotic processes in cancer.

Base Sequence↗

Genetics and pulmonary medicine. 7. Somatic mutations in the development of lung cancer.

Lung cancers exhibit complex heterogeneous karyotypes and to date sequencing the serial somatic mutations which give rise to malignant change has proved difficult. Cigarette smoke causes a field change in the respiratory mucosa with mutations demonstrable even in histologically normal areas. After smoking cessation many of these mutations seem to persist indefinitely so that the risk of an ex-smoker developing lung cancer never reverts to that of a life-long non-smoker. Demonstration of specific somatic mutations in biopsy or sputum samples may eventually provide a useful method of screening for lung cancer. Somatic mutations give useful information about prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer and they are the key to exciting future retroviral and monoclonal antibody mediated therapies.

Humans↗

Somatic mutations of PIG-A in Thai patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria.

Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is a hematopoietic stem cell disorder characterized by clonal blood cells that are deficient in the surface expression of glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins. In the affected cells, the X-chromosomal gene PIG-A, which participates in biosynthesis of the GPI anchor, is somatically mutated. Analyses of Japanese, British, and American patients with PNH have shown somatic mutations of PIG-A in all of them, indicating that PIG-A is responsible for PNH in most, if not all, patients in those countries. Twenty-nine of the reported somatic mutations are small, mostly involving 1 or 2 bases, except for one with a 4-kb deletion. Here we describe an analysis of PIG-A in neutrophils from 14 patients from Thailand where PNH is thought to be more common. We found small somatic PIG-A mutations in all patients. These consisted of six single base deletions, one each of 2-, 3-, 5- and 10-base deletions, two single base insertions and two base substitutions. Thus, the small somatic mutation in the PIG-A gene is also responsible for PNH in Thailand. However, base substitutions were rarer (2 of 14) than in Japan (8 of 16), and deletions of multiple bases were more common, suggesting various causes of mutation.

Base Sequence↗

Nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin without an additional somatic mutation in coding region of the APC gene in hepatoblastoma from a familial adenomatous polyposis patient.

The APC (adenomatous polyposis coli) gene status in a familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) patient who developed hepatoblastoma was analyzed by the yeast color assay. Although a single base insertion at codon 462 resulting in truncation of its product was documented in hepatoblastoma cells, no additional somatic mutation was detectable in the whole coding sequence of the APC gene. The nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin without mutation in the exons 2-4 of the beta-catenin gene, however, was observed in the tumor cells by immunohistochemistry. The similar nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin without an additional somatic mutation in its gene, in the absence of somatic mutation in cluster region of the APC gene, has been previously reported in the single FAP case. Moreover, review in the hepatoblastoma cases in the FAP families showed a relatively later onset of the disease when compared with the sporadic cases. These observations suggest that accumulation of beta-catenin without an additional somatic mutation in the APC gene might be a possible mechanism for tumorigenesis of hepatoblastoma in the FAP families.

Adenomatous Polyposis Coli↗

Significance of somatic mutations and content alteration of mitochondrial DNA in esophageal cancer.

BACKGROUND: The roles of mitochondria in energy metabolism, the generation of ROS, aging, and the initiation of apoptosis have implicated their importance in tumorigenesis. In this study we aim to establish the mutation spectrum and to understand the role of somatic mtDNA mutations in esophageal cancer. METHODS: The entire mitochondrial genome was screened for somatic mutations in 20 pairs (18 esophageal squamous cell carcinomas, one adenosquamous carcinoma and one adenocarcinoma) of tumor/surrounding normal tissue of esophageal cancers, using temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TTGE), followed by direct DNA sequencing to identify the mutations. RESULTS: Fourteen somatic mtDNA mutations were identified in 55% (11/20) of tumors analyzed, including 2 novel missense mutations and a frameshift mutation in ND4L, ATP6 subunit, and ND4 genes respectively. Nine mutations (64%) were in the D-loop region. Numerous germline variations were found, at least 10 of them were novel and five were missense mutations, some of them occurred in evolutionarily conserved domains. Using real-time quantitative PCR analysis, the mtDNA content was found to increase in some tumors and decrease in others. Analysis of molecular and other clinicopathological findings does not reveal significant correlation between somatic mtDNA mutations and mtDNA content, or between mtDNA content and metastatic status. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that somatic mtDNA mutations in esophageal cancers are frequent. Some missense and frameshift mutations may play an important role in the tumorigenesis of esophageal carcinoma. More extensive biochemical and molecular studies will be necessary to determine the pathological significance of these somatic mutations.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Myeloma Ig heavy chain V region sequences reveal prior antigenic selection and marked somatic mutation but no intraclonal diversity.

The lg VH region sequence in 48 patients with multiple myeloma (MM) was analyzed to characterize the malignant cell of origin. The sequences were obtained after amplification of bone marrow cDNA by using VH family-specific and CH primers, then compared with either directly sequenced patient germ-line or published VH gen sequences to assay for somatic mutation. Because somatic hypermutation of the VH gene occurs late in B cell development, its presence has been helpful in determining the cell of origin in other B cell malignancies. Overall, a median of 8.2% of the nucleotides had evidence of substitution within each VH gene sequence (range=2.7% to 16.5%), which is more prevalent than in any other reported tumor type. Strong evidence of prior antigenic selection pressure was also evident. The ratio of nucleotide substitutions that resulted in amino acid replacement was significantly higher in the complementarity-determining region than in the framework region (3.25 vs 1.56, respectively; p < 0.00005). No VH gene intraclonal diversity was noted, despite sequencing multiple clones (3-16) from each patient, nor was there evidence of further VH gene somatic mutation over the course of three patients' disease. These findings strongly imply that the malignant clone in MM evolves from a cell late in B cell development.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Variable kappa gene rearrangement in lymphoproliferative disorders: an analysis of V kappa gene usage, VJ joining and somatic mutation.

We have studied a diverse group of lymphoproliferative disorders (acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and myeloma) to determine if V kappa gene use is random or disease-specific and whether somatic mutations (a late event in B-cell differentiation) can provide additional information on the type of B cell involved in the neoplastic clone. In this group of disorders V kappa gene selection is not random and some members of each V kappa family are preferentially rearranged. V kappa genes from the distal portion of the locus are seldom used, possibly because rearrangement of the proximal locus by deletion is more efficient than rearrangement of the distal locus by inversion. Although pseudogenes account for 46% of the V genes in the kappa locus none were ever rearranged, even in non-functional rearrangements of lambda-producing leukemias, suggesting the existence of a mechanism which down-regulates the rearrangement of pseudogenes. N regions were noted at the VJ junction in 20% of alleles (in six CLL, three NHL, two ALL and one myeloma) possibly the result of kappa-chain recombination during the early period of B-cell maturation in which TdT is expressed. Nucleotide addition or imprecise joining at the VJ junction, resulting in a shift in the reading frame, were the commonest causes of non-functional rearrangement. The occurrence of somatic mutation broadly correlated with the stage of B-cell maturation from which the different disorders are thought to arise. However, there was no strict association and somatic mutations were demonstrated in 'typical CLL' while V kappa genes were germline in some follicular lymphomas; these findings suggest either heterogeneity in the stage of B-cell maturation at which these disorders arise or some variability in the process of somatic mutation.

Alleles↗