Mutations in COL11A2 cause non-syndromic hearing loss (DFNA13)

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Novel mutations confirm that COL11A2 is responsible for autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss DFNB53

Hearing loss (HL) is a major public health issue. It is clinically and genetically heterogeneous. The identification of the causal mutation is important for early diagnosis, clinical follow-up, and genetic counseling. HL due to mutations in COL11A2, encoding collagen type XI alpha-2, can be non-syndromic autosomal-dominant or autosomal-recessive, and also syndromic as in Otospondylomegaepiphyseal Dysplasia, Stickler syndrome type III, and Weissenbacher–Zweymuller syndrome. However, thus far only one mutation co-segregating with autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss (ARNSHL) in a single family has been reported. In this study, whole exome sequencing of two consanguineous families with ARNSHL from Tunisia and Turkey revealed two novel causative COL11A2 mutations, c.109G > T (p.Ala37Ser) and c.2662C > A (p.Pro888Thr). The variants identified co-segregated with deafness in both families. All homozygous individuals in those families had early onset profound hearing loss across all frequencies without syndromic findings. The variants are predicted to be damaging the protein function. The p.Pro888Thr mutation affects a -Gly-X–Y- triplet repeat motif. The novel p.Ala37Ser is the first missense mutation located in the NC4 domain of the COL11A2 protein. Structural model suggests that this mutation will likely obliterate, or at least partially compromise, the ability of NC4 domain to interact with its cognate ligands. In conclusion, we confirm that COL11A2 mutations cause ARNSHL and broaden the mutation spectrum that may shed new light on genotype–phenotype correlation for the associated phenotypes and clinical follow-up

Salinomycin inhibits prostate cancer growth and migration via induction of oxidative stress

BACKGROUND: We have shown that a sodium ionophore monensin inhibits prostate cancer cell growth. A structurally related compound to monensin, salinomycin, was recently identified as a putative cancer stem cell inhibitor. METHODS: The growth inhibitory potential of salinomycin was studied in a panel of prostate cells. To get insights into the mechanism of action, a variety of assays such as gene expression and steroid profiling were performed in salinomycin-exposed prostate cancer cells. RESULTS: Salinomycin inhibited the growth of prostate cancer cells, but did not affect non-malignant prostate epithelial cells. Salinomycin impacted on prostate cancer stem cell functions as evidenced by reduced aldehyde dehydrogenase activity and the fraction of CD44(+) cells. Moreover, salinomycin reduced the expression of MYC, AR and ERG, induced oxidative stress as well as inhibited nuclear factor-κB activity and cell migration. Furthermore, profiling steroid metabolites revealed increased levels of oxidative stress-inducing steroids 7-ketocholesterol and aldosterone and decreased levels of antioxidative steroids progesterone and pregnenolone in salinomycin-exposed prostate cancer cells. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that salinomycin inhibits prostate cancer cell growth and migration by reducing the expression of key prostate cancer oncogenes, inducing oxidative stress, decreasing the antioxidative capacity and cancer stem cell fraction