No abstract

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in developed countries. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have successfully identified novel susceptibility loci for colorectal cancer. To follow-up on these findings, and try to identify novel colorectal cancer susceptibility loci, we present results for genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of colorectal cancer (2,906 cases, 3,416 controls) that have not previously published main associations. Specifically, we calculated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using log-additive models for each study. In order to improve our power to detect novel colorectal cancer susceptibility loci, we performed a meta-analysis combining the results across studies. We selected the most statistically significant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for replication using 10 independent studies (8,161 cases and 9,101 controls). We again used a meta-analysis to summarize results for the replication studies alone, and for a combined analysis of GWAS and replication studies. We measured 10 SNPs previously identified in colorectal cancer susceptibility loci and found eight to be associated with colorectal cancer (p-value range: 0.02 to 1.8 × 10−8). When we excluded studies that have previously published on these SNPs, five SNPs remained significant at p<0.05 in the combined analysis. No novel susceptibility loci were significant in the replication study after adjustment for multiple testing, and none reached genome-wide significance from a combined analysis of GWAS and replication. We observed marginally significant evidence for a second independent SNP in the BMP2 region at chromosomal location 20p12 (rs4813802; replication p-value 0.03; combined p-value 7.3 × 10−5). In a region on 5p33.15, which includes the coding regions of the TERT-CLPTM1L genes and has been identified in GWAS to be associated with susceptibility to at least seven other cancers, we observed a marginally significant association with rs2853668 (replication p-value 0.03; combined p-value 1.9 × 10−4). Our study suggests a complex nature of the contribution of common genetic variants to risk for colorectal cancer.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified over a dozen loci associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk. Here we examined potential effect-modification between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at 10 of these loci and probable or established environmental risk factors for CRC in 7,016 CRC cases and 9,723 controls from nine cohort and case-control studies. We used meta-analysis of an efficient empirical-Bayes estimator to detect potential multiplicative interactions between each of the SNPs [rs16892766 at 8q23.3 (EIF3H/UTP23); rs6983267 at 8q24 (MYC); rs10795668 at 10p14 (FLJ3802842); rs3802842 at11q23 (LOC120376); rs4444235 at 14q22.2 (BMP4); rs4779584 at15q13 (GREM1); rs9929218 at16q22.1 (CDH1); rs4939827 at18q21 (SMAD7); rs10411210 at19q13.1 (RHPN2); and rs961253 at 20p12.3 (BMP2)] and select major CRC risk factors (sex, body mass index, height, smoking status, aspirin/non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use, alcohol use, and dietary intake of calcium, folate, red meat, processed meat, vegetables, fruit, and fiber). The strongest statistical evidence for a gene-environment interaction across studies was for vegetable consumption and rs16892766, located on chromosome 8q23.3, near the EIF3H and UTP23 genes (nominal p-interaction =1.3×10–4; adjusted p-value 0.02). The magnitude of the main effect of the SNP increased with increasing levels of vegetable consumption. No other interactions were statistically significant after adjusting for multiple comparisons. Overall, the association of most CRC susceptibility loci identified in initial GWAS appears to be invariant to the other risk factors considered; however, our results suggest potential modification of the rs16892766 effect by vegetable consumption.

Obligate intracellular parasites of the phylum Apicomplexa exhibit gliding motility, a unique form of substrate-dependent locomotion essential for host cell invasion and shown to involve the parasite actin cytoskeleton and myosin motor(s). Toxoplasma gondii has been shown to express three class XIV myosins, TgM-A, -B, and -C. We identified an additional such myosin, TgM-D, and completed the sequences of a related Plasmodium falciparum myosin, PfM-A. Despite divergent structural features, TgM-A purified from parasites bound actin in an ATP-dependent manner. Isoform-specific antibodies revealed that TgM-A and recombinant mycTgM-A were localized right beneath the plasma membrane, and subcellular fractionation indicated a tight membrane association. Recombinant TgM-D also had a peripheral although not as sharply defined localization. Truncation of their respective tail domains abolished peripheral localization and tight membrane association. Conversely, fusion of the tails to green fluorescent protein (GFP) was sufficient to confer plasma membrane localization and sedimentability. The peripheral localization of TgM-A and of the GFP-tail fusion did not depend on an intact F-actin cytoskeleton, and the GFP chimera did not localize to the plasma membrane of HeLa cells. Finally, we showed that the specific localization determinants were in the very C terminus of the TgM-A tail, and site-directed mutagenesis revealed two essential arginine residues. We discuss the evidence for a proteinaceous plasma membrane receptor and the implications for the invasion process.

Background & Aims An association between gastric cancer and the rs2294008 (C>T) polymorphism in the prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA) gene has been reported for several Asian populations. We set out to determine whether such an association exists in Caucasians. Methods We genotyped 166 relatives of gastric cancer patients, including 43 H pylori-infected subjects with hypochlorhydria and gastric atrophy, 65 infected subjects without these abnormalities, 58 H pylori-negative relatives, and 100 population controls. Additionally, a population-based study of chronic atrophic gastritis provided 533 cases and 1054 controls. We then genotyped 2 population-based case-control studies of upper gastrointestinal cancer: the first included 312 gastric cancer cases and 383 controls; the second included 309 gastric cancer cases, 159 esophageal cancer cases, and 211 controls. Odds ratios were computed from logistic models and adjusted for confounding variables. Results Carriage of the risk allele (T) of rs2294008 in PSCA was associated with chronic atrophic gastritis (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1–1.9) and non-cardia gastric cancer (OR = 1.9; 95% CI, 1.3– 2.8). The association was strongest for the diffuse histological-type (OR = 3.2; 95% CI, 1.2–10.7). An inverse association was observed between carriage of the risk allele and gastric cardia cancer (OR = 0.5; 95% CI, 0.3–0.9), esophageal adenocarcinoma (OR = 0.5; 95% CI, 0.3–0.9), and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OR = 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2–0.9). Conclusions The rs2294008 polymorphism in PSCA increases the risk of non-cardia gastric cancer and its precursors in Caucasians but protects against proximal cancers.

Copy number variants (CNVs), insertions, deletions and duplications, contribute considerably to human genetic variation and disease development. A recent study has characterized 100 CNVs including a deletion in the mitochondrial tumor suppressor gene 1 (MTUS1) lacking the coding exon 4. MTUS1 maps to chromosome 8p, a region frequently deleted and associated with disease progression in human cancers, including breast cancer (BC). To investigate the effect of the MTUS1 CNV on familial BC risk, we analyzed 593 BC patients and 732 control individuals using a case-control study design. We found a significant association of the deletion variant with a decreased risk for both familial and high-risk familial BC (odds ratio (OR) = 0.58, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.37-0.90, P = 0.01 and OR = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.23-0.74, P = 0.003), supporting its role in human cancer. To our knowledge, the present study is the first to determine the impact of a CNV in a tumor suppressor gene on cancer risk.

These findings suggest that T2D-related variants modify CRC risk independently and/or in an interactive manner according to the gender and the presence or absence of T2D.

A recent study on an Asian population reported a six-nucleotide insertion-deletion polymorphism (-652 6N del) in the CASP8 promoter region to be strongly associated with a decreased risk of multiple types of cancer, including breast cancer (BC). Here, we investigate the effect of this deletion in four independent large European BC case-control studies, including data from a total of 7,753 cases and 7,921 controls. The combined per allele odds ratio (OR) was 0.97 (95% confidence interval (CI), 95% CI = 0.93-1.02). The present result indicates that the CASP8 -652 6N del variant has no significant effect on BC risk in Europeans.