Incorporating prior biological information in linkage studies increases power and limits multiple testing

We used the Genetic Analysis Workshop 15 Problem 1 data set to search for expression phenotype quantitative trait loci in a highly selected group of genes with a supposedly correlated role in the development of the enteric nervous system. Our strategy was to reduce the level of multiple testing by analyzing at the genome-wide level a limited number of genes considered to be the most promising enteric nervous system candidates on the basis of mouse expression data, and then extend the analysis to a larger number of traits only for a small number of candidate linked regions. Such a study design allowed us to identify a "master regulator" locus for several genes involved in the enteric nervous system, located in 9q31. In particular, one of four traits included in the genome-wide analysis and 2 of 57 from the follow-up single-chromosome analysis showed LOD scores above 2 around position 109 on chromosome 9 by univariate variance-component linkage analysis. Bivariate linkage analysis further supported the presence of a common regulatory locus, with a maximum multipoint LOD score of 5.17 and five additional LOD scores > 3 in the same region. This region is particularly interesting because a susceptibility locus for Hirschsprung disease, a disease characterized by enteric malformation, was previously mapped to 9q31. The proposed strategy of limiting the genome-wide analysis to a small number of well characterized candidate expression phenotypes and following up the most promising results in a larger number of correlated traits may prove successful for other groups of genes involved in a common pathway

CONSTITUTIVE ERK ACTIVITY INDUCES DOWN-REGULATION OF TRISTETRAPROLIN, A MAJOR PROTEIN CONTROLLING INTERLEUKIN8/CXCL8 mRNA STABILITY IN MELANOMA CELLS.

International audienceMost melanoma cells are characterized by the V600E mutation in B-Raf kinase. This mutation leads to increased expression of Interleukin (CXCL8) which plays a key role in cell growth and angiogenesis. Thus, CXCL8 appears to be an interesting therapeutic target. Hence, we performed vaccination of mice with GST-CXCL8 which results in a reduced incidence of syngenic B16 melanoma cell xenograft tumors. We next addressed the molecular mechanisms responsible for aberrant CXCL8 expression in melanoma. The CXCL8 mRNA contains multiples AU-rich sequences (AREs) that modulate mRNA stability through the binding of Tristetraprolin (TTP). Melanoma cell lines express very low TTP levels. We therefore hypothesized that the very low endogenous levels of TTP present in different melanoma cell lines might be responsible for the relative stability of CXCL8 mRNAs. We show that TTP is actively degraded by the proteasome and that ERK inhibition results in TTP accumulation. Conditional expression of TTP in A375 melanoma cells leads to CXCL8 mRNA destabilization via its 3'UTR and TTP over-expression reduces its production. In contrast, down-regulation of TTP by sh-RNA results in up-regulation of CXCL8 mRNA. Maintaining high TTP levels in melanoma cells decreases cell proliferation and autophagy and induces apoptosis. Sorafenib, a therapeutic agent targeting Raf kinases, decreases CXCL8 expression in melanoma cells through re-expression of TTP. We conclude that loss of TTP represents a key event in the establishment of melanomas through constitutive expression of CXCL8, which constitutes a potent therapeutic target

A Rare Haplotype of the RET Proto-Oncogene Is a Risk-Modifying Allele in Hirschsprung Disease

Hirschsprung disease (HSCR) is a common genetic disorder characterized by intestinal obstruction secondary to enteric aganglionosis. HSCR demonstrates a complex pattern of inheritance, with the RET proto-oncogene acting as a major gene and with several additional susceptibility loci related to the Ret-signaling pathway or to other developmental programs of neural crest cells. To test how the HSCR phenotype may be affected by the presence of genetic variants, we investigated the role of a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), 2508C→T (S836S), in exon 14 of the RET gene, characterized by low frequency among patients with HSCR and overrepresentation in individuals affected by sporadic medullary thyroid carcinoma. Typing of several different markers across the RET gene demonstrated that a whole conserved haplotype displayed anomalous distribution and nonrandom segregation in families with HSCR. We provide genetic evidence about a protective role of this low-penetrant haplotype in the pathogenesis of HSCR and demonstrate a possible functional effect linked to RET messenger RNA expression