SNPs in the interleukin-12 signaling pathway are associated with breast cancer risk in Puerto Rican women.

Interleukin-12 (IL-12) is a proinflammatory cytokine that links innate and adaptive immune responses against tumor cells. Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in IL-12 genes have been associated with cancer risk. However, limited studies have assessed the role of IL-12 in breast cancer (BC) risk comprehensively, and these were done in European and Asian populations. Here, we evaluated the association of the IL-12 signaling pathway and BC risk in Puerto Rican women. A genetic association study was completed with 461 BC cases and 463 non-BC controls. By logistic regression, IL-12 signaling SNPs were associated with an increased BC risk, including rs2243123 (IL12A), rs3761041, rs401502 and rs404733 (IL12RB1), rs7849191 (JAK2), rs280500 (TYK2) and rs4274624 (STAT4). Conversely, other SNPs were associated with reduced BC risk including rs438421 (IL12RB1), rs6693065 (IL12RB2), rs10974947, and rs2274471 (JAK2), rs10168266 and rs925847 (STAT4), and rs2069718 (IFNG). Analyses based in hormone receptors such as estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors also revealed protective (for SNPs rs3212227-IL12B; rs3024896 and rs3821236-STAT4) and predisposing (for rs2069705-IFNG SNP) BC associations. Haplotype analysis showed a decreased BC risk for IL12B and STAT4 SNPs, whereas increased risk for IL12RB1 SNPs. This study suggests a role of the IL-12 signaling axis and BC risk. SNPs in this pathway may alter IL-12 induced anti-tumor responses and modulate BC predisposition in a population-specific context. Functional studies will be necessary to confirm these findings, which potentially may benefit IL-12 related immunotherapeutic approaches towards BC.

Germline variants in cancer genes in high-risk non-BRCA patients from Puerto Rico.

Inherited pathogenic variants in genes that confer moderate to high risk of breast cancer may explain up to 50% of familial breast cancer. This study aimed at identifying inherited pathogenic variants in breast cancer cases from Puerto Rico that were not linked to BRCA1 or BRCA2. Forty-eight breast cancer patients that met the clinical criteria for BRCA testing but had received a negative BRCA1/2 result were recruited. Fifty-three genes previously implicated in hereditary cancer predisposition were captured using the BROCA Agilent cancer risk panel followed by massively parallel sequencing. Missense variants of uncertain clinical significance in CHEK2 were evaluated using an in vitro kinase assays to determine their impact on function. Pathogenic variants were identified in CHEK2, MUTYH, and RAD51B in four breast cancer patients, which represented 8.3% of the cohort. We identified three rare missense variants of uncertain significance in CHEK2 and two variants (p.Pro484Leu and p.Glu239Lys) showed markedly decreased kinase activity in vitro comparable to a known pathogenic variant. Interestingly, the local ancestry at the RAD51B locus in the carrier of p.Arg47* was predicted to be of African origin. In this cohort, 12.5% of the BRCA-negative breast cancer patients were found to carry a known pathogenic variant or a variant affecting protein activity. This study reveals an unmet clinical need of genetic testing that could benefit a significant proportion of at-risk Latinas. It also highlights the complexity of Hispanic populations as pathogenic factors may originate from any of the ancestral populations that make up their genetic backgrounds.

A Recurrent BRCA2 Mutation Explains the Majority of Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome Cases in Puerto Rico.

Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer diagnosis in women and is responsible for considerable mortality among the women of Puerto Rico. However, there are few studies in Puerto Rico on the genetic factors influencing risk. To determine the contribution of pathogenic mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2, we sequenced these genes in 302 cases from two separate medical centers, who were not selected for age of onset or family history. We identified nine cases that are carriers of pathogenic germline mutation. This represents 2.9% of unselected cases and 5.6% of women meeting National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) criteria for BRCA testing. All of the identified pathogenic mutations were in the BRCA2 gene and the most common mutation is the p.Glu1308Ter (E1308X) mutation in BRCA2 found in eight out of nine cases, representing 89% of the pathogenic carriers. The E1308X mutation has been identified in breast and ovarian cancer families in Spain, and analysis of flanking DNA polymorphisms shows that all E1308X carriers occur on the same haplotype. This is consistent with BRCA2 E1308X being a founder mutation for the Puerto Rican population. These results will contribute to better inform genetic screening and counseling of breast and ovarian cancer cases in Puerto Rico and Puerto Rican populations in mainland United States.

No Evidence for the Pathogenicity of the BRCA2 c.6937 + 594T>G Deep Intronic Variant: A Case-Control Analysis.

BACKGROUND: The role of deep intronic variants in hereditary cancer susceptibility has been largely understudied. Previously, the BRCA2 c.6937 + 594T>G variant has been shown to preferentially promote the inclusion of a 95 nucleotide cryptic exon and to introduce a premature termination codon. Our objective was to further assess the pathogenicity of the BRCA2 c.6937 + 594T>G deep intronic variant. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We examined the association between BRCA2 c.6937 + 594T>G and breast cancer (BC) risk in 464 BC cases and 497 noncancer controls from Puerto Rico. RESULTS: The overall frequency of the G allele was 2.1% in this population. There was no association between the TG/GG genotypes and BC risk in the uncorrected model and after correcting for confounders. There was only one carrier of the GG genotype. This individual did not have personal or family history of cancer and did not meet the National Comprehensive Cancer Network criteria for hereditary cancer genetic testing. CONCLUSIONS: Although previous work has demonstrated that the BRCA2 c.6937 + 594T>G variant affects splicing, this association study does not support a pathogenic role for the BRCA2 c.6937 + 594T>G intronic variant in breast and ovarian cancer syndrome susceptibility. Furthermore, it emphasizes the need to take into account multiple diverse populations in association studies for the assessment of variant pathogenicity.

Catalase binds Grb2 in tumor cells when stimulated with serum or ligands for integrin receptors.

Recent studies have demonstrated that H(2)O(2) acts as a second messenger of mitogenic signaling and that catalase is under the regulation of PKA and PKC signaling. Here we examined whether catalase binds any mitogenic signaling molecules. Our results indicated that serum stimulation of HeLa, Caco-2, and LiSa-2 cells, but not BJ-1 and primary human bronchial epithelial cells, resulted in catalase binding to Grb2. Whereas serum deprivation, butyrate, and herbimycin-A negatively regulated the binding, an extended culture of confluent Caco-2 cells resulted in binding of an additional but as yet unidentified molecule to the Grb2-catalase complex. Expression of active catalase nearly 15-fold over control level in Tet-off HeLa cells substantially increased binding to Grb2, and this was sensitive to 3-aminotriazole, a specific catalase inhibitor. Furthermore, fibrinogen, fibronectin, and laminin, but not collagen types I to V, hyaluronic acid, elastin, insulin, EGF, IGF-I, PDGF, or NGF, resulted in binding similar to that of serum. A mutation of tyrosine to phenylalanine at 447 abolished the binding capability of catalase to Grb2 in vitro. These results support the view that catalase (447)Tyr-Val-Asn-Val binds Grb2 upon phosphorylation in tumor cells when stimulated with serum or ligands for integrin receptors. This is the first report demonstrating that catalase binds a SH2 domain of the molecule and participates in integrin signaling.

SHP2 binds catalase and acquires a hydrogen peroxide-resistant phosphatase activity via integrin-signaling.

Here, we examined whether catalase binds SHP2 and alters SHP2 susceptibility to H2O2. Our results indicated that serum and fibrinogen commonly evoked catalase binding to SHP2 in HeLa and A549 cells in a herbimycin-A and TNFalpha sensitive manner. Expression of active catalase nearly 15-fold over control levels in tet-off HeLa cells substantially increased the SHP2 binding, and the catalase-associated SHP2 displayed significantly high phosphatase activities with a H2O2-resistance compared to those with little catalase. Site-directed mutagenesis at 280 abolished the binding capability of catalase to SHP2-SH2 in vitro. These results suggest that catalase-280pYIQV binds SHP2 via integrin-signaling to increase a H2O2-resistant SHP2 activity.