Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the leading cause of death from gynecological malignancy in the developed world accounting for 4 percent of deaths from cancer in women1. We performed a three-phase genome-wide association study of EOC survival in 8,951 EOC cases with available survival time data, and a parallel association analysis of EOC susceptibility. Two SNPs at 19p13.11, rs8170 and rs2363956, showed evidence of association with survival (overall P=5×10−4 and 6×10−4), but did not replicate in phase 3. However, the same two SNPs demonstrated genome-wide significance for risk of serous EOC (P=3×10−9 and 4×10−11 respectively). Expression analysis of candidate genes at this locus in ovarian tumors supported a role for the BRCA1 interacting gene C19orf62, also known as MERIT40, which contains rs8170, in EOC development.
It has recently been discovered that cell-cycle gene transcription is regulated by a core complex named LINC that switches from a transcriptionally repressive complex in G 0 -G 1 with the p130 or p107 pocket proteins and E2F4 to a transcriptionally active complex in S-G 2 containing B-Myb. We have studied the function of LINC in F9 embryonal carcinoma cells, which are distinguished by a rapid cell cycle resulting from an extremely short G 1 phase. We show that suppressing expression of the LINC component, Lin-9, in F9 cells causes arrest in mitosis, and we have used this system to screen for transcriptional targets. In these cells, B-Myb was found in complexes with Lin-9 and several other LINC constituents, however, the pocket proteins did not associate with LINC unless F9 cells were differentiated. Lin-9 and B-Myb were both required for transcription of G 2 /M genes such as Cyclin B1 and Survivin. Moreover, B-Myb was demonstrated to recruit Lin-9 to the Survivin promoter through multiple Myb-binding sites. The demonstration that a B-Myb/ LINC complex is vital for progression through mitosis in cells lacking a G 1 /S checkpoint has implications for both undifferentiated embryonal cells and for cancers in which pocket protein function is compromised.
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