PTCH/SMO gene mutations in odontogenic keratocysts and drug interventions.

BACKGROUND: Odontogenic keratocysts (OKCs) are odontogenic jaw lesions that cause destruction and dysfunction of the jawbone. OKCs can be sporadic or associated with nevoid basic cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS). However, the factors that initiate OKCs and the mechanism of cyst formation remain unclear. Here, we investigated the impact of PTCH1 and SMO mutations on disease progression, as well as the effects of sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling pathway inhibitors GDC-0449 and GANT61 on OKC fibroblasts. METHODS: Eight sporadic OKC fibroblasts without gene mutations were used as the control, and six NBCCS-related fibroblasts were cultured in vitro. The effect of PTCH1 non-truncated mutation 3499G>A (p.G1167R) and SMO c.2081C>G (p.P694R) mutation on OKC fibroblast proliferation was examined by EdU assay. CCK8 and wound-healing assays detected the effects of OKC fibroblasts carrying PTCH1 c.3499G>A (p.G1167R) and SMO c.2081C>G (p.P694R) mutations on the proliferation and migration of HaCaT cells after co-culture. Quantitative real-time PCR detected the effects of GDC-0449 or GANT61 on the SHH signaling pathway in NBCCS-related OKCs with PTCH1 truncated mutations and PTCH1 c.3499G>A (p.G1167R) and/or SMO c.2081C>G (p.P694R) mutations. RESULTS: PTCH1 c.3499G>A (p.G1167R) and SMO c.2081C>G (p.P694R) promoted the proliferation of OKC fibroblasts. The proliferation and migration of HaCaT cells were affected by NBCCS-related OKC fibroblasts carrying PTCH1 c.3499G>A (p.G1167R) and SMO c.2081C>G (p.P694R) mutations. GDC-0449 significantly inhibited the SHH signaling pathway in NBCCS-related OKC fibroblasts with PTCH1 truncated mutations. An NBCCS-related OKC carrying PTCH1 c.3499G>A (p.G1167R) and SMO c.2081C>G (p.P694R) mutations were resistant to GDC-0449 but inhibited by GANT61. CONCLUSIONS: Genetic mutations in OKC fibroblasts may affect the biological behavior of epithelial and stromal cells and cause disease. GDC-0449 could be used to treat OKCs, especially NBCCS-related OKCs with PTCH1 truncated mutations. SMO c.2081C>G (p.P694R) may lead to resistance to GDC-0449; however, GANT61 may be used as an alternative inhibitor.

PTCH1 alterations are frequent but other genetic alterations are rare in sporadic odontogenic keratocysts.

OBJECTIVE: Odontogenic keratocysts (OKCs) are benign jaw lesions with high growth potential and propensity for recurrence. Our previous study revealed that PTCH1 mutations, which were frequently detected in sporadic OKCs, might be underestimated due to the masking effect of the stromal components within the tested tissues. We aimed to confirm these results in larger scale and further present the unbiased view of the genomic basis of sporadic OKCs except PTCH1. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed PTCH1 mutations in additional 19 samples. Using whole-exome sequencing (WES), we further characterized the mutational landscape of five sporadic OKC samples lacking PTCH1 mutation and loss of heterozygosity (LOH). RESULTS: Combined with our previously reported 19 cases, thirty of 38 (79%) cases harbored PTCH1 mutations. Through whole-exome sequencing and integrative analysis, 22 novel mutations were confirmed among five PTCH1-negative samples. No recurrent mutations were identified in the WES samples and validation cohort of 10 OKCs. CONCLUSIONS: Our data further confirmed the frequent PTCH1 mutation and other rare genetic alterations in sporadic OKCs, highlighting the central role of SHH signaling pathway. In PTCH1-negative cases, other rare mutations scattered in a subset of OKCs were independent of the SHH pathway. These results suggested that an SHH inhibitor may be effective to treat the majority of OKCs.

CMTM3 inhibits cell growth and migration and predicts favorable survival in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Downregulation of CKLF-like MARVEL transmembrane domain-containing member 3 (CMTM3) has been reported in a number of human tumors. However, the role of CMTM3 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains largely unknown. In this study, we showed that the expression of CMTM3 was significantly reduced in OSCC cell lines and primary tumor specimens (P < 0.001). Methylation-specific PCR showed hypermethylation in CMTM3 promoter in a significant proportion of tumor tissues (61 %). The expression of CMTM3 was associated with T stage, lymph node metastasis, tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage, and recurrence of OSCC patients (P < 0.05, n = 201). More importantly, CMTM3 expression was associated with the prognosis of OSCC patients (P < 0.001) and was an independent prognostic factor (hazard ratio = 0.593, 95 % confidence interval, 0.272-1.292; P = 0.039). Overexpression of CMTM3 inhibited the growth and migration of OSCC cells. In vivo experiments also showed that the growth of OSCC xenografts in nude mice was significantly inhibited by CMTM3 overexpression. These findings indicate that downregulation of CMTM3 due to promoter hypermethylation contributed to the proliferation and migration of OSCC cells and suggest that CMTM3 is an independent prognostic factor for the evaluation of the survival of OSCC patients.

The BRAF p.V600E mutation is a common event in ameloblastomas but is absent in odontogenic keratocysts.

OBJECTIVE: Odontogenic keratocysts (OKCs) are jaw lesions with a tendency to recur. PTCH1 gene mutations are common events in most OKCs; however, other genetic alterations underlying OKC pathogenesis have not yet been elucidated. BRAF p.V600E mutations have recently been detected in some odontogenic tumors, such as ameloblastoma and ameloblastic fibroma, although their involvement in OKC is still unclear. In this study we aimed to clarify the presence and/or frequency of BRAF p.V600E mutations in OKCs. STUDY DESIGN: Thirty-five cases of OKCs, 13 of which were associated with Gorlin syndrome, were evaluated for BRAF p.V600E mutations by direct sequencing of the formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded, and frozen tissue samples. Seventeen cases of ameloblastoma and six cases of dentinogenic ghost cell tumor were also included in this study for comparative purposes. RESULTS: BRAF p.V600E mutations were not detected in any of the OKCs or dentinogenic ghost cell tumors. In contrast, 14 of 17 cases of ameloblastoma (82.35%) were proven to harbor BRAF p.V600E mutations. CONCLUSION: BRAF p.V600E mutations were common in ameloblastomas, as previously reported, but were absent in OKCs and dentinogenic ghost cell tumors. These results further confirmed the noninvolvement of BRAF in OKCs and suggested different pathogenic mechanisms involved in various odontogenic lesions.

Effect of the sonic hedgehog inhibitor GDC-0449 on an in vitro isogenic cellular model simulating odontogenic keratocysts.

Odontogenic keratocysts (OKCs) are common cystic lesions of odontogenic epithelial origin that can occur sporadically or in association with naevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS). OKCs are locally aggressive, cause marked destruction of the jaw bones and have a propensity to recur. PTCH1 mutations (at ∼80%) are frequently detected in the epithelia of both NBCCS-related and sporadic OKCs, suggesting that PTCH1 inactivation might constitutively activate sonic hedgehog (SHH) signalling and play a major role in disease pathogenesis. Thus, small molecule inhibitors of SHH signalling might represent a new treatment strategy for OKCs. However, studies on the molecular mechanisms associated with OKCs have been hampered by limited epithelial cell yields during OKC explant culture. Here, we constructed an isogenic PTCH1R135X/+ cellular model of PTCH1 inactivation by introducing a heterozygous mutation, namely, c.403C>T (p.R135X), which has been identified in OKC patients, into a human embryonic stem cell line using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated 9 (Cas9) system. This was followed by the induction of epithelial differentiation. Using this in vitro isogenic cellular model, we verified that the PTCH1R135X/+ heterozygous mutation causes ligand-independent activation of SHH signalling due to PTCH1 haploinsufficiency. This activation was found to be downregulated in a dose-dependent manner by the SHH pathway inhibitor GDC-0449. In addition, through inhibition of activated SHH signalling, the enhanced proliferation observed in these induced cells was suppressed, suggesting that GDC-0449 might represent an effective inhibitor of the SHH pathway for use during OKC treatment.

Heterozygous PTCH1 Mutations Impact the Bone Metabolism in Patients With Nevoid Basal Cell Carcinoma Syndrome Likely by Regulating SPARC Expression.

Nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS) is an autosomal dominant disorder characterized by bone and skin abnormalities and a predisposition to various tumors. Keratocystic odontogenic tumors (KCOTs), which are common tumors of the jaw that cause extensive damage to the jawbone, are usually accompanied with NBCCS. Germline PTCH1 mutations in NBCCS tumorigenesis have been frequently studied; however, little is known regarding the pathogenesis of bone abnormalities in this disease. This study sought to investigate the mechanism underlying heterozygous PTCH1 mutation-mediated abnormal bone metabolism in patients with NBCCS. Stromal cells were isolated from the fibrous capsules of patients with NBCCS-associated or non-syndromic keratocystic odontogenic tumors and non-syndromic tumor stromal cells without PTCH1 mutations served as controls. Germline PTCH1 heterozygous mutations were confirmed in all NBCCS samples and differential protein expression was identified using tandem mass tag-labeled proteomics analysis. Our findings revealed that osteonectin/SPARC expression was significantly downregulated in syndromic stromal cells compared with non-syndromic stromal cells. SPARC expression was even lower in stromal cells carrying PTCH1 protein truncation mutations. PTCH1 siRNA transfection demonstrated that SPARC downregulation correlates with decreased PTCH1 expression. Furthermore, exogenous SPARC promoted osteogenic differentiation of syndromic stromal cells with enhanced development of calcium nodules. In addition, bone mineral density tests showed that patients with NBCCS exhibit weak bone mass compared with sex- and age-matched controls. This study indicates that germline PTCH1 heterozygous mutations play a major role in bone metabolism in patients with NBCCS, in particular in those with PTCH1 protein truncation mutations. SPARC may represent an important downstream modulator of PTCH1 mediation of bone metabolism. Thus, bone mineral density monitoring is critical for patients with NBCCS for prevention of osteoporosis. In addition, surgical procedures on syndromic-associated KCOTs should be performed with consideration of the weaker bone mass in such patients. © 2016 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.

Underestimated PTCH1 mutation rate in sporadic keratocystic odontogenic tumors.

OBJECTIVES: Keratocystic odontogenic tumors (KCOTs) are benign cystic lesions of the jaws that occur sporadically in isolation or in association with nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS). The protein patched homolog 1 gene (PTCH1) is associated with NBCCS development and tumor genesis associated with this syndrome. However, previous studies have revealed that more than 85% of syndromic KCOTs and less than 30% of sporadic KCOTs harbor PTCH1 mutations. The significantly lower PTCH1 mutation rates observed in sporadic KCOTs suggest that they serve a minor role in pathogenesis. We aimed to discern the importance of PTCH1 mutations in sporadic KCOTs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PTCH1 mutational analysis was performed with 19 new sporadic KCOT cases by direct sequencing of epithelial lining samples separated from fibrous capsules. Using this approach, we further reexamined 9 sporadic KCOTs that were previously reported to lack PTCH1 mutations by our group. RESULTS: Nineteen PTCH1 mutations were detected in patient samples from 16/19 new cases (84%) all these mutations were absent in fibrous tissues and peripheral blood specimens from the same patients. We also identified four PTCH1 mutations in 3/9 patients (33%) that were previously undetected. DISCUSSION: These data indicated that PTCH1 mutations occur in sporadic KCOTs at a higher rate than previously suspected, owing to the masking effects of the attached stromal tissues in the test samples. These results suggest that the PTCH1 gene plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of sporadic KCOTs, which is comparable to that observed in NBCCS patients.

The large intracellular loop of ptch1 mediates the non-canonical Hedgehog pathway through cyclin B1 in nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome.

Mutations in the transmembrane receptor patched homolog 1 (Homo sapiens) (ptch1) are responsible for nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS), an autosomal dominant disorder that causes developmental abnormalities and predisposes the affected individuals to cancer. Many of these mutations, including mutations in the C-terminus of the large intracellular loop (ICL) of ptch1 (p.C727VfsX745 and p.S733IfsX736), result in the premature truncation of the protein. The ptch1­C727VfsX745 and ptch1-S733IfsX736 mutations have been identified in patients with NBCCS­associated keratocystic odontogenic tumors (KCOTs). In the present study, we found that the molecular mechanisms regulated by the non-canonical Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway through cyclin B1 are involved in the pathogenesis of NBCCS-associated KCOTs. In contrast to wild-type ptch1, ptch1-C727VfsX745 and ptch1­S733IfsX736 clearly exhibited reduced binding to cyclin B1. Moreover, the cells expressing these two mutations demonstrated an increase in cell cycle progression and these two mutation constructs failed to inhibit cell proliferation. In addition, the mutants enhanced the activity of glioma-associated oncogene family zinc finger 1 (GLI1), a downstream reporter of Hh signaling. Thus, our data suggest that the non-canonical Hh pathway mediated through ptch1 and cyclin B1 is involved in the pathogenesis of NBCCS-associated KCOTs. The C-terminus of ICL in ptch1 may also be a potential therapeutic target in the treatment of this disease.