DNA mismatch repair deficiency is observed in about 10% to 15% of all colorectal carcinomas and in up to 90% of hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) patients. Tumors with mismatch repair defects acquire mutations in short repetitive DNA sequences, a phenomenon termed high-level microsatellite instability (MSI-H). The diagnosis of MSI-H in colon cancer is of increasing relevance, because MSI-H is an independent prognostic factor in colorectal cancer, seems to influence the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy, and is the most important molecular screening tool to identify HNPCC patients. To make MSI typing feasible for the routine pathology laboratory, highly reproducible and cost effective laboratory tests are required. Here, we describe a novel T 25 mononucleotide marker in the 3Vuntranslated region of the CASP2 gene (CAT25) that displayed a quasimonomorphic repeat pattern in normal tissue of 200 unrelated individuals of Caucasian origin. In addition, CAT25 was monomorphic also in all tested donors of African and Asian origin (n = 102 and n = 79, respectively) and thus differs from the most commonly used markers BAT25 and BAT26. Without the analysis of corresponding normal tissue, CAT25 correctly detected 56 of 57 colorectal cancer specimens classified as MSI-H by using the standard National Cancer Institute/International Collaborative Group-HNPCC marker panel. Combined with the standard markers BAT25 and BAT26 in a multiplex PCR, all MSI-H colorectal cancer samples were typed correctly. No falsepositive results were obtained in 60 non-MSI-H control colorectal cancer specimens. These data suggest that CAT25 should be included into novel marker panels for microsatellite testing thus allowing for a significant reduction of the complexity and costs of MSI typing. Moreover, CAT25 represents a highly promising marker for early detection of colorectal cancer in HNPCC germ line mutation carriers. (Cancer Res 2005; 65(18): 8072-8)

In the innate immune system, TLR2 plays a central role for the response to a wide variety of microbial and endogenous danger signals. A considerable number of genetic polymorphisms within the human TLR2 gene have been reported in non-coding and coding sequences. Except for the Arg753Gln variant, however, their clinical relevance is unclear and the assessment of the effects of amino acid substitutions on receptor function is lacking. In the present study, we have characterized all known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of TLR2 for their functional relevance in transiently transfected HEK293 cells subsequently exposed to a specific stimulus. Among the known non-synonymous SNPs in the TLR2 coding sequence, four SNPs (Thr411Ile, Tyr715stop, Tyr715Lys and Arg753Gln) were found to be functionally relevant in our experimental setting. In addition, we identified a new mutation Arg447stop leading to a premature stop codon in the extracellular portion of the receptor. TLR2-specific stimulation of whole blood from two heterozygote donors of this mutation resulted in a reduced secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Finally, we tested the prevalence of these functional genetic variants in 169 healthy individuals of Caucasian origin for the mutations in the extracellular domain and 106 individuals for the mutations in the intracellular domain of the receptor. Except for 10 heterozygote donors of the Arg753Gln variant determined to be prevalent in 9.4% of the tested individuals, none of the other SNPs was found in this population.

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