Somatic mutations of the thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor gene in feline hyperthyroidism: parallels with human hyperthyroidism.

Hyperthyroidism is the most common endocrinopathy in cats, and is both clinically and histopathologically very similar to human toxic nodular goitre (TNG). Molecular studies on human TNG have revealed the presence of mis-sense mutations in the thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) gene, most frequently in exon 10. Our hypothesis was that similar mutations exist in hyperthyroid cats. Genomic DNA was extracted from 134 hyperplastic/adenomatous nodules (from 50 hyperthyroid cats), and analysed for the presence of mutations in exon 10 of the TSHR gene. 11 different mutations were detected, one silent and 10 mis-sense, of which nine were somatic mutations. 28 of the 50 cats (67/134 nodules) had at least one mis-sense mutation. The mis-sense mutations were Met-452-->Thr in 17 cats (35 nodules), Ser-504-->Arg (two different mutational forms) in two cats (two nodules), Val-508-->Arg in one cat (three nodules), Arg-530-->Gln in one cat (two nodules), Val-557-->Leu in 13 cats (36 nodules), Thr-631-->Ala or Thr-631-->Phe (each mutation seen in one nodule of one cat), Asp-632-->Tyr in six cats (10 nodules) and Asp-632-->His in one cat (one nodule). Five of these mutations have been associated previously with human hyperthyroidism. Of the 41 cats for which more than one nodule was available, 14 had nodules with different mutations. The identification of a potential genetic basis for feline hyperthyroidism is novel, increases our understanding of the pathogenesis of this significant feline disease, and confirms its similarity to TNG.

S100A2 is strongly expressed in airway basal cells, preneoplastic bronchial lesions and primary non-small cell lung carcinomas.

S100A2 gene products were shown to be frequently and dramatically over-represented in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) lesions over normal tissue by microarray analysis. We have now analysed an independent series of NSCLC tumours and multiple matched normal bronchial epithelial sites by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry to investigate: whether this expression pattern can be confirmed and whether elevated expression is associated with tumour histology, clinical outcome or preneoplasia. In this second series, S100A2 was strongly expressed in 76% (35 out of 46) of tumours, more frequently in squamous cell than adenocarcinomas (P<0.002). This strong expression was not related to high-level gene amplification, but was associated in one of five informative cases with an allele-specific imbalance in transcript levels. Most tumours strongly expressed the DeltaNp63 transcript, the product of which is a putative regulator of S100A2 transcription and while all but one of the tumours positive for DeltaNp63 expressed S100A2, others negative for this regulator also expressed the gene. Contrary to the hypothesis that S100A2 is a tumour suppressor, no somatic mutations were identified in the coding sequence in 44 tumours. Furthermore, an examination of multiple tumour-free epithelial sites from 20 patients showed that strong expression was often associated with increasing levels of disorder in preinvasive bronchial lesions (P<0.0001).

METH-2 silencing and promoter hypermethylation in NSCLC.

The antiangiogenic factor METH-2 (ADAMTS-8) was identified in a previous dual-channel cDNA microarray analysis to be at least two-fold under-represented in 85% (28 out of 33) of primary non-small-cell lung carcinomas (NSCLCs). This observation has been validated in an independent series of NSCLCs and adjacent normal tissues by comparative multiplex RT-PCR, and METH-2 mRNA expression was dramatically reduced in all 23 tumour samples analysed. Immunohistochemical analysis of the same sample set demonstrated that METH-2 was strongly expressed in 14 out of 19 normal epithelial sites examined but only one out of 20 NSCLCs. DNA methylation analysis of the proximal promoter region of this gene revealed abnormal hypermethylation in 67% of the adenocarcinomas and 50% of squamous cell carcinomas, indicating that epigenetic mechanisms are involved in silencing this gene in NSCLC. No homozygous deletions of METH-2 were found in lung cancer cell lines. Allelic imbalance in METH-2 was assessed by an intronic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assay and observed in 44% of informative primary samples. In conclusion, the downregulation of METH-2 expression in primary NSCLC, often associated with promoter hypermethylation, is a frequent event, which may be related to the development of the disease.

Prenatal finding of a fetus with mosaicism for two balanced de novo chromosome rearrangements.

Karyotyping of a fetus with mild cerebral ventriculomegaly detected with ultrasound at 23 weeks revealed two apparently balanced structural rearrangements in mosaic form. Using conventional cytogenetics and FISH, the chromosomal constitution was identified as 46,XX,t(3;10)(p13;q21.1),inv(6)(p23q12)/46,XX. A 46,XX chromosome constitution was predominantly present in the skin whereas in the fetal blood the cell line with two balanced chromosome rearrangements was selectively retained. To the best of our knowledge this is the first prenatal case of mosaicism for two de novo balanced structural chromosome rearrangements to be reported.