A discovery study of daunorubicin induced cardiotoxicity in a sample of acute myeloid leukemia patients prioritizes P450 oxidoreductase polymorphisms as a potential risk factor.

Anthracyclines are very effective chemotherapeutic agents; however, their use is hampered by the treatment-induced cardiotoxicity. Genetic variants that help define patient's sensitivity to anthracyclines will greatly improve the design of optimal chemotherapeutic regimens. However, identification of such variants is hampered by the lack of analytical approaches that address the complex, multi-genic character of anthracycline induced cardiotoxicity (AIC). Here, using a multi-SNP based approach, we examined 60 genes coding for proteins involved in drug metabolism and efflux and identified the P450 oxidoreductase (POR) gene to be most strongly associated with daunorubicin induced cardiotoxicity in a population of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients (FDR adjusted p-value of 0.15). In this sample of cancer patients, variation in the POR gene is estimated to account for some 11.6% of the variability in the drop of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) after daunorubicin treatment, compared to the estimated 13.2% accounted for by the cumulative dose and ethnicity. In post-hoc analysis, this association was driven by 3 SNPs-the rs2868177, rs13240755, and rs4732513-through their linear interaction with cumulative daunorubicin dose. The unadjusted odds ratios (ORs) and confidence intervals (CIs) for rs2868177 and rs13240755 were estimated to be 1.89 (95% CI: 0.7435-4.819; p = 0.1756) and 3.18 (95% CI: 1.223-8.27; p = 0.01376), respectively. Although the contribution of POR variants is expected to be overestimated due to the multiple testing performed in this small pilot study, given that cumulative anthracycline dose is virtually the only factor used clinically to predict the risk of cardiotoxicity, the contribution that genetic analyses of POR can make to the assessment of this risk is worthy of follow up in future investigations.

Biomarkers for severity of spinal cord injury in the cerebrospinal fluid of rats.

One of the major challenges in management of spinal cord injury (SCI) is that the assessment of injury severity is often imprecise. Identification of reliable, easily quantifiable biomarkers that delineate the severity of the initial injury and that have prognostic value for the degree of functional recovery would significantly aid the clinician in the choice of potential treatments. To find such biomarkers we performed quantitative liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) analyses of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collected from rats 24 h after either a moderate or severe SCI. We identified a panel of 42 putative biomarkers of SCI, 10 of which represent potential biomarkers of SCI severity. Three of the candidate biomarkers, Ywhaz, Itih4, and Gpx3 were also validated by Western blot in a biological replicate of the injury. The putative biomarkers identified in this study may potentially be a valuable tool in the assessment of the extent of spinal cord damage.

Telomeric position effect--a third silencing mechanism in eukaryotes.

Eukaryotic chromosomes terminate in telomeres, complex nucleoprotein structures that are required for chromosome integrity that are implicated in cellular senescence and cancer. The chromatin at the telomere is unique with characteristics of both heterochromatin and euchromatin. The end of the chromosome is capped by a structure that protects the end and is required for maintaining proper chromosome length. Immediately proximal to the cap are the telomere associated satellite-like (TAS) sequences. Genes inserted into the TAS sequences are silenced indicating the chromatin environment is incompatible with transcription. This silencing phenomenon is called telomeric position effect (TPE). Two other silencing mechanisms have been identified in eukaryotes, suppressors position effect variegation [Su(var)s, greater than 30 members] and Polycomb group proteins (PcG, approximately 15 members). We tested a large number of each group for their ability to suppress TPE [Su(TPE)]. Our results showed that only three Su(var)s and only one PcG member are involved in TPE, suggesting silencing in the TAS sequences occurs via a novel silencing mechanism. Since, prior to this study, only five genes have been identified that are Su(TPE)s, we conducted a candidate screen for Su(TPE) in Drosophila by testing point mutations in, and deficiencies for, proteins involved in chromatin metabolism. Screening with point mutations identified seven new Su(TPE)s and the deficiencies identified 19 regions of the Drosophila genome that harbor suppressor mutations. Chromatin immunoprecipitation experiments on a subset of the new Su(TPE)s confirm they act directly on the gene inserted into the telomere. Since the Su(TPE)s do not overlap significantly with either PcGs or Su(var)s, and the candidates were selected because they are involved generally in chromatin metabolism and act at a wide variety of sites within the genome, we propose that the Su(TPE) represent a third, widely used, silencing mechanism in the eukaryotic genome.