We have demonstrated previously that glucose repression of mitochondrial biogenesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae involves the control of the turnover of mRNAs for the iron protein (Ip) and flavoprotein (Fp) subunits of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH). Their half-lives are >60 min in the presence of a nonfermentable carbon source (YPG medium) and <5 min in glucose (YPD medium). This is a rare example in yeast in which the half-life of an mRNA can be controlled by manipulating external conditions. In our current studies, a series of Ip transcripts with internal deletions as well as chimeric transcripts with heterologous sequences (internally or at the ends) have been examined, and we established that the 5'-untranslated region (5' UTR) of the Ip mRNA contains a major determinant controlling its differential turnover in YPG and YPD. Furthermore, the 5' exonuclease encoded by the XRN1 gene is required for the rapid degradation of the Ip and Fp mRNAs upon the addition of glucose. In the presence of cycloheximide the nucleolytic degradation of the Ip mRNA can be slowed down by stalled ribosomes to allow the identification of intermediates. Such intermediates have lost their 5' ends but still retain their 3' UTRs. If protein synthesis is inhibited at an early initiation step by the use of a prtl mutation (affecting the initiation factor eIF3), the Ip and Fp mRNAs are very rapidly degraded even in YPG. Significantly, the arrest of translation by the introduction of a stable hairpin loop just upstream of the initiation codon does not alter the differential stability of the transcript in YPG and YPD.These observations suggest that a signaling pathway exists in which the external carbon source can control the turnover of mRNAs of specific mitochondrial proteins. Factors must be present that control either the activity or more likely the access of a nuclease to the select mRNAs. As a result, we propose that a competition between initiation of translation and nuclease action at the 5' end of the transcript determines the half-life of the Ip mRNA.

Purpose: Evidence has accumulated in recent years suggestive of a genetic basis for a susceptibility to the development of radiation injury after cancer radiotherapy. The purpose of this study was to assess whether patients with severe radiation-induced sequelae (RIS; i.e., National Cancer Institute/CTCv3.0 grade, z3) display both a low capacity of radiation-induced CD8 lymphocyte apoptosis (RILA) in vitro and possess certain single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) located in candidate genes associated with the response of cells to radiation. Experimental Design: DNA was isolated from blood samples obtained from patients (n = 399) included in the Swiss prospective study evaluating the predictive effect of in vitro RILA and RIS. SNPs in the ATM, SOD2, XRCC1, XRCC3, TGFB1, and RAD21 genes were screened in patients who experienced severe RIS (group A, n = 16) and control subjects who did not manifest any evidence of RIS (group B, n = 18). Results: Overall, 13 and 21 patients were found to possess a total of <4 and z4 SNPs in the candidate genes. The median (range) RILA in group A was 9.4% (5.3-16.5) and 94% (95% confidence interval, 70-100) of the patients (15 of 16) had z4 SNPs. In group B, median (range) RILA was 25.7% (20.2-43.2) and 33% (95% confidence interval, 13-59) of patients (6 of 18) had z4 SNPs (P < 0.001). Conclusions:The results of this study suggest that patients with severe RIS possess 4 or more SNPs in candidate genes and low radiation-induced CD8 lymphocyte apoptosis in vitro.

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The objective of this study was to determine whether an association exists between certain single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which have previously been linked with adverse normal tissue effects resulting from radiotherapy, and the development of radiation injury resulting from radiotherapy for prostate cancer. A total of 135 consecutive patients with clinically localized prostate cancer and a minimum of 1 year of follow-up who had been treated with radiation therapy, either brachytherapy alone or in combination with external-beam radiotherapy, with or without hormone therapy, were genotyped for SNPs in SOD2, XRCC1 and XRCC3. Three common late tissue toxicities were investigated: late rectal bleeding, urinary morbidity, and erectile dysfunction. Patients with the XRCC1 rs25489 G/A (Arg280His) genotype were more likely to develop erectile dysfunction after irradiation than patients who had the G/G genotype (67% compared to 24%; P=0.048). In addition, patients who had the SOD2 rs4880 T/C (Val16Ala) genotype exhibited a significant increase in grade 2 late rectal bleeding compared to patients who had either the C/C or T/T genotype for this SNP (8% compared to 0%; P=0.02). Finally, patients with the combination of the SOD2 rs4880 C/T genotype and XRCC3 rs861539 T/C (Thr241Met) genotype experienced a significant increase in grade 2 late rectal bleeding compared to patients without this particular genotypic arrangement (14% compared to 1%; P=0.002). These results suggest that SNPs in the SOD2, XRCC1 and XRCC3 genes are associated with the development of late radiation injury in patients treated with radiation therapy for prostate adenocarcinoma.

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Epidemiologic studies of breast and other cancers are increasingly turning toward large, multi-center designs in order to obtain adequate power to detect low-penetrance susceptibility alleles. The size of such studies often makes it necessary to distribute the genetic screening efforts to multiple sites. Careful standardization of screening methodology and quality control across sites is required for such multi-center screening designs to be efficient. In this report, we illustrate our approach to these challenges in the context of the WECARE (Women's Environment, Cancer and Radiation Epidemiology) Study, a multi-center population-based genetic epidemiologic study of women with unilateral and bilateral breast cancer. We provide optimized conditions for screening the ataxia-telangiectasia gene (ATM) for variation by denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) and describe the results of two independent quality control studies at four international centers employing these conditions. Finally, we report novel mutations in the ATM gene identified both in patients with ataxia-telangiectasia and in patients with unilateral or bilateral breast cancer.

Between 5% and 10% of women who survive a first primary breast cancer will subsequently develop a second primary cancer in the contralateral breast. The Women's Environment, Cancer, and Radiation Epidemiology Study was designed to identify genetic and environmental determinants of contralateral breast cancer (CBC). In this study, 708 women with asynchronous CBC served as cases and 1,397 women with unilateral breast cancer served as controls. ATM, a serinethreonine kinase, controls the cellular response to DNA double-strand breaks, and has been implicated in breast cancer risk. Complete mutation screening of the ATM gene in all 2,105 study participants identified 240 distinct sequence variants; only 15 were observed in >1% of subjects. Among the rare variants, deleterious alleles resulting in loss of ATM function were associated with a nonsignificant increase in risk of CBC. In contrast, carriers of common variants had a statistically significant reduction in risk of CBC. Four of these 15 variants were individually associated with a significantly decreased risk of second primary breast cancer [c.1899-55T>G, rate ratio (RR), 0.5; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.3-0.8; c.3161C>G, RR, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.3-0.9; c.5558A>T, RR, 0.2; 95% CI, 0.1-0.6; c.6348-54T>C RR, 0.2; 95% CI, 0.1-0.8]. These data suggest that some alleles of ATM may exert an antineoplastic effect, perhaps by altering the activity of ATM as an initiator of DNA damage responses or a regulator of p53. [Cancer Res 2008;68(16):6486-91]