Pituitary adenomas are common in the general population, and understanding their molecular basis is of great interest. Combining chip-based technologies with genealogy data, we identified germline mutations in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor interacting protein (AIP) gene in individuals with pituitary adenoma predisposition (PAP). AIP acts in cytoplasmic retention of the latent form of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor and also has other functions. In a population-based series from Northern Finland, two AIP mutations account for 16% of all patients diagnosed with pituitary adenomas secreting growth hormone and for 40% of the subset of patients who were diagnosed when they were younger than 35 years of age. Typically, PAP patients do not display a strong family history of pituitary adenoma; thus, AIP is an example of a low-penetrance tumor susceptibility gene.

Serrated colorectal carcinomas (CRCs) are morphologically different from conventional CRCs and have been proposed to follow a distinct pathway of CRC formation. Despite studies of single molecular events in this tumor type, the diagnosis of serrated CRC relies on morphology and the putative unique biological character of these tumors has not been established. Here we show that the gene expression profiling of 37 CRCs separated serrated and conventional CRCs into two distinct branches in unsupervised hierarchical clustering (P-value 7.8 Â 10 À7 ), and revealed 201 differentially expressed genes representing potential biomarkers for serrated CRC. Immunohistochemistry was utilized to verify the key findings in the 37 CRCs examined by expression profiling, and a separate validation set of 37 serrated and 86 conventional CRCs was examined to evaluate the candidate biomarkers in an extended sample material. Ephrin receptor B2, hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha and patched appeared as proteins important for genesis of serrated CRC. This study establishes serrated CRCs as a biologically distinct subclass of CRC and represents a step forward in the molecular classification of these cancers. The study also provides a platform to understand the molecular basis of serrated CRC and in long term may contribute to the development of specific treatment options for this tumor type.

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The receptor tyrosine kinase EPHB2 has recently been shown to be a direct transcriptional target of TCF/B-catenin. Premalignant lesions of the colon express high levels of EPHB2 but the expression of this kinase is reduced or lost in most colorectal carcinomas. In addition, inactivation of EPHB2 has been shown to accelerate tumorigenesis initiated by APC mutation in the colon and rectum. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms responsible for the inactivation of EPHB2 in colorectal tumors. We show here the presence of mutations in repetitive sequences in exon 17 of EPHB2 in 6 of 29 adenomas with microsatellite instability (MSI), and 101 of 246 MSI carcinomas (21% and 41%, respectively). Moreover, we found EPHB2 promoter hypermethylation in 54 of the 101 colorectal tumors studied (53%). Importantly, EPHB2 expression was restored after treatment of EPHB2-methylated colon cancer cells with the DNA methyltransferase inhibitor 5-aza-2V-deoxycytidine. In conclusion, in this study, we elucidate the molecular mechanisms of inactivation of EPHB2 and show for the first time the high incidence of frameshift mutations in MSI colorectal tumors and aberrant methylation of the regulatory sequences of this important tumor suppressor gene. (Cancer Res 2005; 65(22): 10170-3)

Protection of telomeres 1 (POT1) proteins in various organisms bind telomeres and regulate their structure and function. In contrast to mice carrying two distinct POT1 genes encoding two POT1 proteins (POT1a and POT1b), humans have the single POT1 gene. In addition to full-length POT1 protein (variant v1), the human POT1 gene encodes four other variants due to alternative RNA splicing (variants v2, v3, v4, and v5), whose functions are poorly understood. The functional analyses of the NH 2 -terminally and COOH-terminally truncated POT1 variants in this study showed that neither the single-stranded telomere-binding ability of the NH 2 -terminal oligonucleotide-binding (OB) folds nor the telomerasedependent telomere elongation activity mediated by the COOH-terminal TPP1-interacting domain was telomere protective by itself. Importantly, a COOH-terminally truncated variant (v5), which consists of the NH 2 -terminal OB folds and the central region of unknown function, was found to protect telomeres and prevent cellular senescence as efficiently as v1. Our data revealed mechanistic and functional differences between v1 and v5: (a) v1, but not v5, functions through the maintenance of telomeric 3 ¶ overhangs; (b) p53 is indispensable to v5 knockdown-induced senescence; and (c) v5 functions at only a fraction of telomeres to prevent DNA damage signaling. Furthermore, v5 was preferentially expressed in mismatch repair (MMR)-deficient cells and tumor tissues, suggesting its role in chromosome stability associated with MMR deficiency. This study highlights a human-specific complexity in telomere protection and damage signaling conferred by functionally distinct isoforms from the single

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) II, CA IX, and CA XII are expressed in various neoplasias and have been linked to tumorigenesis. We examined their expression in three different groups of colorectal cancer [i.e., microsatellite stable (MSS), microsatellite instable (MSI), and hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC)]. First, we analyzed gene expression profiles of 113 specimens by a microarray method to study the expression of various CA isozymes in the subgroups of colorectal cancer. The results indicated that mRNAs for CA II and CA XII are down-regulated and CA IX mRNA is up-regulated in all three tumor categories when compared with the normal tissue. The up-regulation of CA IX was greatest in the HNPCC group. For more information, 77 specimens were immunohistochemically stained to study the levels of CA II, CA IX, and CA XII. Immunohistochemical analyses further confirmed that the subgroups express CA II, CA IX, and CA XII differentially, and the HNPCC tumors express high levels of CA IX. Expression of these CAs did not correlate to Dukes stage or grade of differentiation. Our results show that CAs are differentially expressed in the subgroups of colorectal cancer, and CA IX expression seems to be very high in most cases of HNPCC. CA IX could be a potential diagnostic and therapeutic target in HNPCC. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2007;16(9):1760–6)

Background: Ephrin receptor B2 (EPHB2) has recently been proposed as a novel tumor suppressor gene in colorectal cancer (CRC). Inactivation of the gene has been shown to correlate with progression of colorectal tumorigenesis, and somatic mutations have been reported in both colorectal and prostate tumors.

Heterozygous mutations in the fumarase (FH) gene cause the tumor predisposition syndrome hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer (MIM 605839). While most families segregate a benign phenotype of multiple leiomyomas, others display a phenotype with early-onset renal cancer and leiomyosarcoma. Modifier genes may play a role in this, but an alternative explanation is simple genotype-phenotype association. FH mutations predisposing to cancer appear to be truncating or in fully conserved amino acids, suggesting that mutations severely affecting FH activity might predispose to malignancy. In the present study, we analyzed 2 conserved fumarase mutations in yeast. H153R has been described in 3 cancer predisposition families; whereas all 3 reported K187R families have displayed the benign phenotype. Examining H153R and K187R should clarify whether cancerrelated FH mutations differ from their benign phenotype-associated counterparts. Yeast strains containing the 2 mutations, and knockout and wild type (WT) references, were created and the growth phenotypes studied on selected carbon sources to assess mitochondrial function. Additionally, Fum1 protein production and activity were measured, and the strains were subjected to transcriptional profiling. On nonfermentable lactate medium, the fumarase knockout strains did not grow, whereas the mutants showed no differences, as compared to WT yeast. Although both mutant strains produced fumarase, a considerable decrease in enzyme activity was seen in mutants with respect to WT. Transcription of the majority of Krebs cycle enzymes was downregulated in response to mutations in fumarase. In conclusion, both mutants displayed some, albeit greatly reduced, fumarase activity. This activity was sufficient to support normal growth on nonfermentable carbon source, unlike the deletion phenotype, demonstrating the significance of the residual activity. The findings support the hypothesis that modifier gene(s), rather than phenotype-genotype effects, display a major role in determining tumor phenotypes in families segregating FH mutations. ' 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.