Therapist mindfulness and subjective vitality: the role of psychological wellbeing and compassion satisfaction.

BACKGROUND: Mindfulness and vitality are related constructs in the literature; however, mindfulness and vitality have not been fully examined in the literature, specifically with mental health therapists. AIMS: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between mindfulness and vitality among a sample of licensed mental health clinicians. Compassion satisfaction (CS) and psychological wellbeing are further explored as mechanisms by which a therapist may experience vitality and the impact mindfulness may have on these mechanisms. METHODS: Mediation analyses were utilized to understand the relationship between mindfulness and vitality and the indirect paths of psychological wellbeing and CS. RESULTS: Results indicate that therapists with greater mindfulness report more vitality, higher overall psychological wellbeing and higher CS. As expected, the relationship between mindfulness and vitality was mediated by psychological wellbeing and CS. Results support the existing research on the relationship between mindfulness and vitality. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the importance of psychological wellbeing and CS has implications for addressing the high incidences of the negative impact of therapeutic work.

Single nucleotide polymorphisms, apoptosis, and the development of severe late adverse effects after radiotherapy.

PURPOSE: Evidence has accumulated in recent years suggestive of a genetic basis for a susceptibility to the development of radiation injury after cancer radiotherapy. The purpose of this study was to assess whether patients with severe radiation-induced sequelae (RIS; i.e., National Cancer Institute/CTCv3.0 grade, > or =3) display both a low capacity of radiation-induced CD8 lymphocyte apoptosis (RILA) in vitro and possess certain single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) located in candidate genes associated with the response of cells to radiation. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: DNA was isolated from blood samples obtained from patients (n = 399) included in the Swiss prospective study evaluating the predictive effect of in vitro RILA and RIS. SNPs in the ATM, SOD2, XRCC1, XRCC3, TGFB1, and RAD21 genes were screened in patients who experienced severe RIS (group A, n = 16) and control subjects who did not manifest any evidence of RIS (group B, n = 18). RESULTS: Overall, 13 and 21 patients were found to possess a total of <4 and > or =4 SNPs in the candidate genes. The median (range) RILA in group A was 9.4% (5.3-16.5) and 94% (95% confidence interval, 70-100) of the patients (15 of 16) had > or =4 SNPs. In group B, median (range) RILA was 25.7% (20.2-43.2) and 33% (95% confidence interval, 13-59) of patients (6 of 18) had > or =4 SNPs (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that patients with severe RIS possess 4 or more SNPs in candidate genes and low radiation-induced CD8 lymphocyte apoptosis in vitro.

Screening for ATM sequence alterations in African-American women diagnosed with breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Women who are heterozygous for variants in the ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene, ATM carriers, have been reported to be at increased risk for breast cancer compared with women who do not posses an alteration in this gene. Aside from BRCA1 and BRCA2, there are few data on breast cancer susceptibility genes in African-American women. The goal of this study was to determine whether there is evidence that ATM is a breast cancer susceptibility gene in African-American women. METHODS: One hundred thirty two African-American women were screened for ATM sequence alterations. Thirty-seven (28%) were women with a histological diagnosis of breast cancer (cases). These women were not selected on the basis of a breast cancer family history. Ninety-five (72%) were age-matched women who had not been diagnosed with breast cancer (controls). Genetic variants were identified using denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC). RESULTS: Twenty-three of the 37 (62%) cases possessed at least one ATM variant. Fifty-eight of the 95 (61%) (P = 0.54) age-matched controls harbored at least one ATM variant. For subjects specifically possessing missense variants, 46% of cases and 48% of controls had these types of sequence variants. In addition, 19% of cases and 34% of controls possessed multiple ATM sequence variants (P = 0.07). The most common polymorphisms were the 378 T --> A which was seen in 19% of cases and 27% of controls (P = 0.22), 5557 G --> A identified in 22% of cases and 18% of controls (p = 0.40), 2685 A --> G which was detected in 11% of cases and 6% of controls (P = 0.22), and 1254 A --> G which was found in 3% of cases and 9% of controls (P = 0.36). Hence, there were no significant differences in any of the genetic variants detected between the case and control subjects. CONCLUSION: We found no statistically significant differences in the overall frequency of ATM variants, nor any specific variant type or group, between African-American women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer compared with an age-matched cohort of African-American women who did not have breast cancer. ATM, therefore, does not appear to represent a breast cancer susceptibility gene in the general African-American population.

TGFB1 single nucleotide polymorphisms are associated with adverse quality of life in prostate cancer patients treated with radiotherapy.

PURPOSE: To investigate whether the presence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located within TGFB1 might be predictive for the development of adverse quality-of-life outcomes in prostate cancer patients treated with radiotherapy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A total of 141 prostate cancer patients treated with radiotherapy were screened for SNPs in TGFB1 using DNA sequencing. Three quality-of-life outcomes were investigated: (1) prospective decline in erectile function, (2) urinary quality of life, and (3) rectal bleeding. Median follow-up was 51.3 months (range, 12-138 months; SD, 24.4 months). RESULTS: Those patients who possessed either the T/T genotype at position -509, the C/C genotype at position 869 (pro/pro, codon 10) or the G/C genotype at position 915 (arg/pro, codon 25) were significantly associated with the development of a decline in erectile function compared with those who did not have these genotypes: 56% (9 of 16) vs. 24% (11 of 45) (p = 0.02). In addition, patients with the -509 T/T genotype had a significantly increased risk of developing late rectal bleeding compared with those who had either the C/T or C/C genotype at this position: 55% (6 of 11) vs. 26% (34 of 130) (p = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Possession of certain TGFB1 genotypes is associated with the development of both erectile dysfunction and late rectal bleeding in patients treated with radiotherapy for prostate cancer. Therefore, identification of patients harboring these genotypes may represent a means to predict which men are most likely to suffer from poor quality-of-life outcomes after radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

Association of single nucleotide polymorphisms in SOD2, XRCC1 and XRCC3 with susceptibility for the development of adverse effects resulting from radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

The objective of this study was to determine whether an association exists between certain single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which have previously been linked with adverse normal tissue effects resulting from radiotherapy, and the development of radiation injury resulting from radiotherapy for prostate cancer. A total of 135 consecutive patients with clinically localized prostate cancer and a minimum of 1 year of follow-up who had been treated with radiation therapy, either brachytherapy alone or in combination with external-beam radiotherapy, with or without hormone therapy, were genotyped for SNPs in SOD2, XRCC1 and XRCC3. Three common late tissue toxicities were investigated: late rectal bleeding, urinary morbidity, and erectile dysfunction. Patients with the XRCC1 rs25489 G/A (Arg280His) genotype were more likely to develop erectile dysfunction after irradiation than patients who had the G/G genotype (67% compared to 24%; P=0.048). In addition, patients who had the SOD2 rs4880 T/C (Val16Ala) genotype exhibited a significant increase in grade 2 late rectal bleeding compared to patients who had either the C/C or T/T genotype for this SNP (8% compared to 0%; P=0.02). Finally, patients with the combination of the SOD2 rs4880 C/T genotype and XRCC3 rs861539 T/C (Thr241Met) genotype experienced a significant increase in grade 2 late rectal bleeding compared to patients without this particular genotypic arrangement (14% compared to 1%; P=0.002). These results suggest that SNPs in the SOD2, XRCC1 and XRCC3 genes are associated with the development of late radiation injury in patients treated with radiation therapy for prostate adenocarcinoma.

p53 gene mutations in SKH-1 mouse tumors differentially induced by UVB and combined subcarcinogenic benzo[a]pyrene and UVA.

We compared the frequency and spectra of p53 mutations in skin tumors from UVB-irradiated and benzo(a)pyrene-UVA-treated SKH-1 mice. Analysis of p53 mutations using a combination of polymerase chain reaction, denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography, and sequencing shows that the frequency and spectrum of p53 mutations in BaP-UVA-induced tumors are quite different from those in UVB-induced tumors. SKH-1 mice were treated with BaP-UVA or UVB for 30 weeks after which skin tumors were collected for analysis of p53 mutations. Among the 11 BaP-UVA-induced tumors with diameters of 5-10 mm, two displayed mutations in exon 8 yielding a mutation frequency of 18.2%. In contrast, the mutation frequency among BaP-UVA-induced tumors was 10.5%. In UVB-induced tumors, the mutation frequency in exon 8 was highly correlated with tumor size. A total of 77.8% of tumors with diameters larger than 10 mm contained p53 mutations. The overall mutation frequency among UVB-induced tumors was 17.9% in exon 8 and only 3.8% in exon 5. Hotspots for p53 mutation in UVB-induced tumors were found at codons 128 and 149 (exon 5), and at codons 268, 270, 271 and 273-276 (exon 8). In addition to widely recognized C-->T missense mutations, there were also tandem CC-->AG changes coupled with either an insertion of T, a C-->G substitution or G-->C/T mutations. All of the mutations were found at tri- or tetra-pyrimidine sites. Thirty-nine per cent of all p53 mutations occurred at codons 274 and 275; 53% occurred at codons 268-271. Two multiple mutation clusters were located at codons 268-271 and 274-276. Both BaP-UVA and UVB caused C-->T transitions at codon 275 in exon 8. A C-->T mutation at codon 294 was induced only by BaP-UVA treatment. In contrast to UVB treatment, BaP-UVA treatment did not induce any mutations in exon 5. We show that individually subcarcinogenic levels of BaP and UVA synergistically induce a novel p53-mutation fingerprint. This fingerprint could serve as a prognostic indicator for the development of BaP-UVA-induced skin tumors.

A genetically determined dose-volume histogram predicts for rectal bleeding among patients treated with prostate brachytherapy.

PURPOSE: To examine whether possession of genetic alterations in the ATM (ataxia telangiectasia) gene is associated with rectal bleeding in a dose-dependent and volume-dependent manner. METHODS AND MATERIALS: One hundred eight prostate cancer patients who underwent brachytherapy using either an (125)I implant, a (103)Pd implant, or the combination of external beam radiotherapy with a (103)Pd implant and had a minimum of 1 year follow-up were screened for DNA sequence variations in the 62 coding exons of the ATM gene using denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography. Rectal dose was reported as the volume (in cubic centimeters) of rectum receiving the brachytherapy prescription dose. The two-sided Fisher exact test was used to compare differences in proportions. RESULTS: A significant correlation between the presence of any ATM sequence alteration and Grade 1 to 2 proctitis was obtained when the radiation dose to rectal tissue was quantified. Rectal bleeding occurred in 4 of 13 patients (31%) with a variant versus 1 of 23 (4%) without a genetic alteration for patients who had <0.7 cm(3) of rectal tissue receiving the implant prescription dose (p = 0.05). Of patients in whom 0.7-1.4 cm(3) of the rectum received the implant prescription, 4 of 11 (36%) with an ATM alteration exhibited Grade 1 to 2 proctitis, whereas 1 of 21 (5%) without a variant (p = 0.04) developed this radiation-induced late effect. CONCLUSIONS: The possession of genetic variants in the ATM gene is associated with the development of radiation-induced proctitis after prostate cancer radiotherapy for patients who receive the full prescription dose to either a low or a moderate volume of rectal tissue.

Possession of ATM sequence variants as predictor for late normal tissue responses in breast cancer patients treated with radiotherapy.

PURPOSE: The ATM gene product is a central component of cell cycle regulation and genomic surveillance. We hypothesized that DNA sequence alterations in ATM predict for adverse effects after external beam radiotherapy for early breast cancer. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A total of 131 patients with a minimum of 2 years follow-up who had undergone breast-conserving surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy were screened for sequence alterations in ATM using DNA from blood lymphocytes. Genetic variants were identified using denaturing high performance liquid chromatography. The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group late morbidity scoring schemes for skin and subcutaneous tissues were applied to quantify the radiation-induced effects. RESULTS: Of the 131 patients, 51 possessed ATM sequence alterations located within exons or in short intron regions flanking each exon that encompass putative splice site regions. Of these 51 patients, 21 (41%) exhibited a minimum of a Grade 2 late radiation response. In contrast, of the 80 patients without an ATM sequence variation, only 18 (23%) had radiation-induced adverse responses, for an odds ratio of 2.4 (95% confidence interval, 1.1-5.2). Fifteen patients were heterozygous for the G-->A polymorphism at nucleotide 5557, which causes substitution of asparagine for aspartic acid at position 1853 of the ATM protein. Of these 15 patients, 8 (53%) exhibited a Grade 2-4 late response compared with 31 (27%) of the 116 patients without this alteration, for an odds ratio of 3.1 (95% confidence interval, 1.1-9.4). CONCLUSION: Sequence variants located in the ATM gene, in particular the 5557 G-->A polymorphism, may predict for late adverse radiation responses in breast cancer patients.

ATM sequence variants and risk of radiation-induced subcutaneous fibrosis after postmastectomy radiotherapy.

PURPOSE: To examine the hypothesis that women who are carriers of genetic alterations in the ATM gene are more likely to develop subcutaneous fibrosis after radiotherapy for treatment of breast cancer compared with patients who do not possess DNA sequence variations in this gene. METHODS AND MATERIALS: DNA samples isolated from fibroblast cell lines established from 41 women treated with postmastectomy radiotherapy for breast cancer were screened for genetic variants in ATM using denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC). A minimum follow-up of 2 years enabled analysis of late effects to generate dose-response curves and to estimate the dose that resulted in a 50% incidence of Grade 3 fibrosis (ED50). RESULTS: A total of 26 genetic alterations in the expressed portions of the ATM gene, or within 10 bases of each exon in regions encompassing putative splice sites, were detected in 22 patients. The ED50 (95% confidence interval) of 60.2 (55.7-65.1) Gy calculated for patients without a sequence variation did not differ significantly from the ED50 of 58.4 (54.0-63.1) Gy for the group of patients with any ATM sequence abnormality. The ED50 of 53.7 (50.2-57.5) Gy for those patients who were either homozygous or heterozygous for the G-->A polymorphism at nucleotide 5557, which results in substitution of asparagine for aspartic acid at position 1853 of the ATM protein, was substantially lower than the ED50 of 60.8 (57.0-64.8) Gy for patients not carriers of this sequence alteration. This resulted in an enhancement ratio (ratio of the ED50 values) of 1.13 (1.05-1.22), which was significantly greater than unity. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest an association between the ATM codon 1853 Asn/Asp and Asn/Asn genotypes with the development of Grade 3 fibrosis in breast cancer patients treated with radiotherapy.

Genetic predictors of adverse radiotherapy effects: the Gene-PARE project.

PURPOSE: The development of adverse effects resulting from the radiotherapy of cancer limits the use of this treatment modality. The validation of a test capable of predicting which patients would be most likely to develop adverse responses to radiation treatment, based on the possession of specific genetic variants, would therefore be of value. The purpose of the Genetic Predictors of Adverse Radiotherapy Effects (Gene-PARE) project is to help achieve this goal. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A continuously expanding biorepository has been created consisting of frozen lymphocytes and DNA isolated from patients treated with radiotherapy. In conjunction with this biorepository, a database is maintained with detailed clinical information pertaining to diagnosis, treatment, and outcome. The DNA samples are screened using denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) and the Surveyor nuclease assay for variants in ATM, TGFB1, XRCC1, XRCC3, SOD2, and hHR21. It is anticipated that additional genes that control the biologic response to radiation will be screened in future work. RESULTS: Evidence has been obtained that possession of variants in genes, the products of which play a role in radiation response, is predictive for the development of adverse effects after radiotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: It is anticipated that the Gene-PARE project will yield information that will allow radiation oncologists to use genetic data to optimize treatment on an individual basis.

ATM sequence variants are predictive of adverse radiotherapy response among patients treated for prostate cancer.

PURPOSE: To examine whether the presence of sequence variants in the ATM (mutated in ataxia-telangiectasia) gene is predictive for the development of radiation-induced adverse responses resulting from (125)I prostate brachytherapy for early-stage prostate cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-seven patients with a minimum of 1-year follow-up who underwent (125)I prostate brachytherapy of early-stage prostate cancer were screened for DNA sequence variations in all 62 coding exons of the ATM gene using denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography. The clinical course and postimplant dosimetry for each genetically characterized patient were obtained from a database of 2,020 patients implanted at Mount Sinai Hospital after 1990. RESULTS: Twenty-one ATM sequence alterations located within exons, or in short intronic regions flanking each exon, were found in 16 of the 37 patients screened. For this group, 10 of 16 (63%) exhibited at least one form of adverse response. In contrast, of the 21 patients who did not harbor an ATM sequence variation, only 3 of 21 (14%) manifested radiation-induced adverse responses (p = 0.005). Nine of the patients with sequence alterations specifically possessed missense mutations, which encode for amino acid substitutions and are therefore more likely to possess functional importance. For this group, 7 of 9 (78%) exhibited at least one form of adverse response. In contrast, of the 28 patients who did not have a missense alteration, only 6 of 28 (21%) manifested any form of adverse response to the radiotherapy (p = 0.004). Of the patients with missense variants, 5 of 9 (56%) exhibited late rectal bleeding vs. 1 of 28 (4%) without such alterations (p = 0.002). Of those patients who were at risk for developing erectile dysfunction, 5 of 8 (63%) patients with missense mutations developed prospectively evaluated erectile dysfunction as opposed to 2 of 20 (10%) without these sequence alterations (p = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Possession of sequence variants in the ATM gene, particularly those that encode for an amino acid substitution, is predictive for the development of adverse radiotherapy responses among patients treated with (125)I prostate brachytherapy.

Designing and implementing quality control for multi-center screening of mutations in the ATM gene among women with breast cancer.

Epidemiologic studies of breast and other cancers are increasingly turning toward large, multi-center designs in order to obtain adequate power to detect low-penetrance susceptibility alleles. The size of such studies often makes it necessary to distribute the genetic screening efforts to multiple sites. Careful standardization of screening methodology and quality control across sites is required for such multi-center screening designs to be efficient. In this report, we illustrate our approach to these challenges in the context of the WECARE (Women's Environment, Cancer and Radiation Epidemiology) Study, a multi-center population-based genetic epidemiologic study of women with unilateral and bilateral breast cancer. We provide optimized conditions for screening the ataxia-telangiectasia gene (ATM) for variation by denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) and describe the results of two independent quality control studies at four international centers employing these conditions. Finally, we report novel mutations in the ATM gene identified both in patients with ataxia-telangiectasia and in patients with unilateral or bilateral breast cancer.

ATM mutations in female breast cancer patients predict for an increase in radiation-induced late effects.

PURPOSE: Mutation of the ATM gene may be associated with enhanced radiosensitivity and increased radiation-induced morbidity. Denaturing high performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) is a powerful new technique proven to be sensitive and accurate in the detection of missense mutations, as well as small deletions and insertions. We screened female breast cancer patients for evidence of ATM gene alterations using DHPLC. This study attempted to determine whether breast cancer patients who develop severe radiotherapy (RT)-induced effects are more likely to possess ATM mutations than patients who display normal radiation responses. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Forty-six patients with early-stage breast carcinoma underwent limited surgery and adjuvant RT. DNA was isolated from blood lymphocytes, and each coding exon of the ATM gene was amplified using polymerase chain reaction. Genetic variants were identified using DHPLC by comparing test patterns with a known wild-type pattern. All variants were subjected to DNA sequencing and compared with wild-type sequences for evidence of a mutation. A retrospective review was performed, and the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group/European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer acute and late morbidity scoring schemes for skin and subcutaneous normal tissues were applied to quantify the radiation-induced effects. RESULTS: Nine ATM mutations were identified in 6 patients (8 novel and 1 rare). The median follow-up was 3.2 years (range 1.3-10.3). A significant correlation between ATM mutation status and the development of Grade 3-4 subcutaneous late effects was found. All 3 of the patients (100%) who manifested Grade 3-4 subcutaneous late sequelae possessed ATM mutations, whereas only 3 (7%) of the 43 patients who did not develop this form of severe toxicity harbored an ATM mutation (p = 0.001). One ATM mutation carrier developed Grade 4 soft tissue necrosis after RT and required hyperbaric oxygen. All 3 patients manifesting Grade 3-4 late subcutaneous responses in fact harbored 2 ATM mutations. In contrast, none of the 3 ATM carriers who had a single mutation developed a severe subcutaneous reaction. ATM mutation status did not predict for a significant increase in early effects. Of the 23 patients with Grade 2-3 moist desquamation, 4 (17%) had an ATM mutation compared with 2 (9%) of 23 patients without desquamation (p = 0.7). CONCLUSION: Possession of an ATM mutation, particularly when 2 are present, may be predictive of an increase in subcutaneous late tissue effects after RT for breast cancer and may subsequently prove to be a relative contraindication to standard management. These patients may be better served with reduced doses of radiation. Equivalent local control remains to be tested, but this germline alteration may radiosensitize normal tissues, as well as the tumor itself. DHPLC is effective in the identification of these patients. A larger study is required to confirm these findings.

Techniques and pitfalls in the detection of pathogenic mitochondrial DNA mutations.

Mutations in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) are now recognized as major contributors to human pathologies and possibly to normal aging. A large number of rearrangements and point mutations in protein coding and tRNA genes have been identified in patients with mitochondrial disorders. In this review, we discuss genotype-phenotype correlations in mitochondrial diseases and common techniques used to identify pathogenic mtDNA mutations in human tissues. Although most of these approaches employ standard molecular biology tools, the co-existence of wild-type and mutated mtDNA (mtDNA heteroplasmy) in diseased tissues complicates both the detection and accurate determination of the size of the mutated fractions. To address these problems, novel approaches were developed and are discussed in this review.

The yeast Ess1 prolyl isomerase controls Swi6 and Whi5 nuclear localization.

The Ess1 prolyl isomerase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae and its human ortholog, Pin1, play critical roles in transcription by regulating RNA polymerase II. In human cells, Pin1 also regulates a variety of signaling proteins, and Pin1 misexpression is linked to several human diseases. To gain insight into Ess1/Pin1 function, we carried out a synthetic genetic array screen to identify novel targets of Ess1 in yeast. We identified potential targets of Ess1 in transcription, stress, and cell-cycle pathways. We focused on the cell-cycle regulators Swi6 and Whi5, both of which show highly regulated nucleocytoplasmic shuttling during the cell cycle. Surprisingly, Ess1 did not control their transcription but instead was necessary for their nuclear localization. Ess1 associated with Swi6 and Whi5 in vivo and bound directly to peptides corresponding to their nuclear localization sequences in vitro. Binding by Ess1 was significant only if the Swi6 and Whi5 peptides were phosphorylated at Ser-Pro motifs, the target sites of cyclin-dependent kinases. On the basis of these results, we propose a model in which Ess1 induces a conformational switch (cis-trans isomerization) at phospho-Ser-Pro sites within the nuclear targeting sequences of Swi6 and Whi5. This switch would promote nuclear entry and/or retention during late M and G1 phases and might work by stimulating dephosphorylation at these sites by the Cdc14 phosphatase. This is the first study to identify targets of Ess1 in yeast other than RNA polymerase II.

Role of Ess1 in growth, morphogenetic switching, and RNA polymerase II transcription in Candida albicans.

Candida albicans is a fungal pathogen that causes potentially fatal infections among immune-compromised individuals. The emergence of drug resistant C. albicans strains makes it important to identify new antifungal drug targets. Among potential targets are enzymes known as peptidyl-prolyl cis/trans isomerases (PPIases) that catalyze isomerization of peptide bonds preceding proline. We are investigating a PPIase called Ess1, which is conserved in all major human pathogenic fungi. Previously, we reported that C. albicans Ess1 is essential for growth and morphogenetic switching. In the present study, we re-evaluated these findings using more rigorous genetic analyses, including the use of additional CaESS1 mutant alleles, distinct marker genes, and the engineering of suitably-matched isogenic control strains. The results confirm that CaEss1 is essential for growth in C. albicans, but show that reduction of CaESS1 gene dosage by half (δ/+) does not interfere with morphogenetic switching. However, further reduction of CaEss1 levels using a conditional allele does reduce morphogenetic switching. We also examine the role of the linker α-helix that distinguishes C. albicans Ess1 from the human Pin1 enzyme, and present results of a genome-wide transcriptome analysis. The latter analysis indicates that CaEss1 has a conserved role in regulation of RNA polymerase II function, and is required for efficient termination of small nucleolar RNAs and repression of cryptic transcription in C. albicans.

Multiple roles for the Ess1 prolyl isomerase in the RNA polymerase II transcription cycle.

The Ess1 prolyl isomerase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae regulates RNA polymerase II (pol II) by isomerizing peptide bonds within the pol II carboxy-terminal domain (CTD) heptapeptide repeat (YSPTSPS). Ess1 preferentially targets the Ser5-Pro6 bond when Ser5 is phosphorylated. Conformational changes in the CTD induced by Ess1 control the recruitment of essential cofactors to the pol II complex and may facilitate the ordered transition between initiation, elongation, termination, and RNA processing. Here, we show that Ess1 associates with the phospho-Ser5 form of polymerase in vivo, is present along the entire length of coding genes, and is critical for regulating the phosphorylation of Ser7 within the CTD. In addition, Ess1 represses the initiation of cryptic unstable transcripts (CUTs) and is required for efficient termination of mRNA transcription. Analysis using strains lacking nonsense-mediated decay suggests that as many as half of all yeast genes depend on Ess1 for efficient termination. Finally, we show that Ess1 is required for trimethylation of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4). Thus, Ess1 has direct effects on RNA polymerase transcription by controlling cofactor binding via conformationally induced changes in the CTD and indirect effects by influencing chromatin modification.

Variants in the ATM gene associated with a reduced risk of contralateral breast cancer.

Between 5% and 10% of women who survive a first primary breast cancer will subsequently develop a second primary cancer in the contralateral breast. The Women's Environment, Cancer, and Radiation Epidemiology Study was designed to identify genetic and environmental determinants of contralateral breast cancer (CBC). In this study, 708 women with asynchronous CBC served as cases and 1,397 women with unilateral breast cancer served as controls. ATM, a serine-threonine kinase, controls the cellular response to DNA double-strand breaks, and has been implicated in breast cancer risk. Complete mutation screening of the ATM gene in all 2,105 study participants identified 240 distinct sequence variants; only 15 were observed in >1% of subjects. Among the rare variants, deleterious alleles resulting in loss of ATM function were associated with a nonsignificant increase in risk of CBC. In contrast, carriers of common variants had a statistically significant reduction in risk of CBC. Four of these 15 variants were individually associated with a significantly decreased risk of second primary breast cancer [c.1899-55T>G, rate ratio (RR), 0.5; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.3-0.8; c.3161C>G, RR, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.3-0.9; c.5558A>T, RR, 0.2; 95% CI, 0.1-0.6; c.6348-54T>C RR, 0.2; 95% CI, 0.1-0.8]. These data suggest that some alleles of ATM may exert an antineoplastic effect, perhaps by altering the activity of ATM as an initiator of DNA damage responses or a regulator of p53.

Combined subcarcinogenic benzo[a]pyrene and UVA synergistically caused high tumor incidence and mutations in H-ras gene, but not p53, in SKH-1 hairless mouse skin.

Combined subcarcinogenic doses of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and UVA induced H-ras, but not p53, gene mutations 8 weeks before tumor emergence in SKH-1 mice. Neither UVA (40 kJ/m2) nor BaP (8 nmol) induced any tumors after mice were topically treated 3 times/week for 25 weeks. However, combined BaP-UVA treatment synergistically increased tumor incidence and multiplicity. All tumors induced by BaP-UVA were malignant. The epidermis was collected from mice treated for 2, 6 and 10 weeks. DNA from UVB- (0.3 kJ/m2) or BaP-UVA-(8 nmol and 40 kJ/m2-induced tumors was isolated and screened for H-ras and p53 mutations. Four types of point mutation, GGC-->GAC, GCC, GTC and CGC, occurred in UVB-induced tumors at H-ras codon 13; and one type of point mutation, GGA-->GAA, at codon 12. Treatment with either BaP alone or BaP-UVA for 10 weeks caused GGA-->GAA mutation at codon 12 or GGC-->GAC mutation at codon 13 in nontumor skin, respectively, as well as in tumors induced by BaP-UVA. All of the 10-week samples treated with either BaP or BaP-UVA showed detectable mutations at codons 12 and 13, but the genetic load was significantly higher in BaP-UVA-treated mice than in those exposed only to BaP. UVA alone induced mutations at codon 12 in only one-third of samples. G-->A mutations induced by BaP or BaP-UVA at position 38 of codon 13 have not been reported previously. C-->T transitions were detected in p53 hot spots of exon 8 in 2 of 19 BaP-UVA-induced tumors but were not found in nontumor skin.

Decreased mitochondrial tRNALys steady-state levels and aminoacylation are associated with the pathogenic G8313A mitochondrial DNA mutation.

Mutations in human mitochondrial tRNA genes cause a number of multisystemic disorders. A G-to-A transition at position 8313 (G8313A) transition in the mitochondrial tRNALys gene has been associated with a childhood syndrome characterized by gastrointestinal-system involvement and encephaloneuropathy. We have used transmitochondrial cybrid clones harbouring patient-derived mitochondrial DNA with the G8313A mutation for the study of the molecular pathogenesis. Our results showed that mutant mitochondrial cybrids respired poorly, and had severely defective mitochondrial protein synthesis and respiratory-chain-enzyme activity. Mutant cybrids also showed a marked decrease in tRNALys steady-state levels and aminoacylation, suggesting that these molecular abnormalities may underlie the pathogenesis of the mitochondrial G8313A mutation.