A mutation in the POT1 gene is responsible for cardiac angiosarcoma in TP53-negative Li-Fraumeni-like families

Cardiac angiosarcoma (CAS) is a rare malignant tumour whose genetic basis is unknown. Here we show, by whole-exome sequencing of a TP53-negative Li-Fraumeni-like (LFL) family including CAS cases, that a missense variant (p.R117C) in POT1 (protection of telomeres 1) gene is responsible for CAS. The same gene alteration is found in two other LFL families with CAS, supporting the causal effect of the identified mutation. We extend the analysis to TP53-negative LFL families with no CAS and find the same mutation in a breast AS family. The mutation is recently found once in 121,324 studied alleles in ExAC server but it is not described in any other database or found in 1,520 Spanish controls. In silico structural analysis suggests how the mutation disrupts POT1 structure. Functional and in vitro studies demonstrate that carriers of the mutation show reduced telomere-bound POT1 levels, abnormally long telomeres and increased telomere fragility

A mutation in the POT1 gene is responsible for cardiac angiosarcoma in TP53-negative Li-Fraumeni-like families

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.-- et al.Cardiac angiosarcoma (CAS) is a rare malignant tumour whose genetic basis is unknown. Here we show, by whole-exome sequencing of a TP53-negative Li-Fraumeni-like (LFL) family including CAS cases, that a missense variant (p.R117C) in POT1 (protection of telomeres 1) gene is responsible for CAS. The same gene alteration is found in two other LFL families with CAS, supporting the causal effect of the identified mutation. We extend the analysis to TP53-negative LFL families with no CAS and find the same mutation in a breast AS family. The mutation is recently found once in 121,324 studied alleles in ExAC server but it is not described in any other database or found in 1,520 Spanish controls. In silico structural analysis suggests how the mutation disrupts POT1 structure. Functional and in vitro studies demonstrate that carriers of the mutation show reduced telomere-bound POT1 levels, abnormally long telomeres and increased telomere fragility.We are grateful to T. de Lange (The Rockefeller University) and K. Collins (The University of California) for providing POT1 and TPP1 plasmids, respectively. J.B.’s laboratory is partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Health PI12/00070, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (INNPRONTA 2012) and the Spanish Research Network on Rare diseases (CIBERER). O.C. is granted by the CIBERER and C.B.-B. by the PI12/00070 supported by FEDER funds. P.G.-P. is partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Health PI11/0699, PI12/01941 and RD12/0042/0066. M.A.B.’s laboratory is funded with the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, projects SAF2008-05384 and 2007-A-200950 (TELOMARKER), European Research Council Advanced grant GA#232854, the Körber Foundation, Fundación Botín and Fundación Lilly. R.P.’ lab is partially funded by PI11/0949 Supported by FEDER funds.Peer Reviewe

A mutation in the POT1 gene is responsible for cardiac angiosarcoma in TP53-negative Li–Fraumeni-like families

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