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. 2009 Nov 24;1:1–16.

Rarity of Somatic Mutation and Frequency of Normal Sequence Variation Detected in Sporadic Colon Adenocarcinoma Using High-Throughput cDNA Sequencing

Takatsugu Kan 1, Bogdan C Paun 1, Yuriko Mori 1, Fumiaki Sato 1, Zhe Jin 1, James P Hamilton 1, Tetsuo Ito 1, Yulan Cheng 1, Stefan David 1, Alexandru V Olaru 1, Jian Yang 1, Rachana Agarwal 1, John M Abraham 1, Stephen J Meltzer 1,
PMCID: PMC2287164  NIHMSID: NIHMS38164  PMID: 18389087

Abstract

We performed high-throughput cDNA sequencing in colorectal adenocarcinoma and matching normal colorectal epithelium. All six hundred three genes in the UCSC database that were expressed in colon cancers and contained open reading frames of 1000 nucleotides or less were selected for study (total basepairs/bp, 366,686). 304,350 of these 366,686 bp (83.0%) were amplified and sequenced successfully. Seventy-eight sequence variants present in germline (i.e. normal) as well as matching somatic (i.e. tumor) DNA were discovered, yielding a frequency of 1 variant per 3,902 bp. Fifty-one of these sequence variants were homozygous (26 synonymous, 25 non-synonymous), while 27 were heterozygous (11 synonymous, 16 non-synonymous). Cancer tissue contained only one sequence-altered allele of the gene ATP50, which was present heterozygously alongside the wild-type allele in matching normal epithelium. Despite this relatively large number of bp and genes sequenced, no somatic mutations unique to tumor were found. High-throughput cDNA sequencing is a practical approach for detecting novel sequence variations and alterations in human tumors, such as those of the colon.

Introduction

It is widely believed that somatic as well as germline mutations play important roles in the origin and progression of colorectal cancers (Calvert and Frucht, 2002). Many genes have been investigated for mutation to elucidate mechanisms of colorectal cancer development, with these investigations demonstrating the involvement of mutations in colorectal carcinogenesis and progression. Samuels et al. reported that PIK3CA, a catalytic subunit of the class IA phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases, was somatically mutated in 32% of colorectal cancers, resulting in the attenuation of apoptosis and facilitated tumor invasion(Samuels et al. 2004). A comprehensive study entitled, “The Tyrosine Phosphatome” was accomplished by sequencing all genes involved in tyrosine phosphorylation in a large cancer cohort consisting of 175 colorectal cancer patients(Wang et al. 2004). Most mutational studies, however, have been preoccupied with the prevalence of somatic mutations in a specific single candidate gene in relatively small colorectal cancer patient cohorts. Recently, Sjoblom et al. reported the genome-wide frequencies of somatically mutated genes in human breast and colorectal cancers(Sjoblom et al. 2006). However, the methods these used were extremely expensive, time-consuming, and labor-intensive for a typical laboratory to perform. More practical strategies, amenable to smaller laboratories with more conservative budgets, would be of great value in the continuing quest to answer questions in the fields of tumor genomics and mutatomics. To this end, we present herein a circumscribed, practical mutational study employing high-throughput cDNA sequencing in colon adenocarcinoma, in which we demonstrate the eminent feasibility and results of determining sequence variation efficiently and at low cost.

Materials and Methods

Tissue samples

Colorectal cancer and its matching normal colonic mucosa from a patient undergoing surgical resection at the Baltimore VA Hospital after signing informed research consent was used for this study. Clinicopathological data were as follows: 75 year-old male; moderately-differentiated colorectal adenocarcinoma of the ascending colon; tumor size, 2.5 × 1.1 × 0.5 cm; TNM stage (Fifth Edition of the TNM classification of the UICC, 1997), T2N0MX, without any other malignancies. Both colorectal adenocarcinoma and normal colonic epithelium (obtained at the location within the surgically resected specimen furthest from the tumor) were cut into smaller pieces and frozen in liquid nitrogen immediately after removal. A frozen aliquot of each specimen was crushed into pieces and lysed immediately in either TRIZOL reagent (Invitrogen Corp., Carlsbad, CA,) to extract total RNA, or lysis buffer of a DNeasy Tissue kit (QIAGEN Inc., Valencia, CA) to extract DNA, according to these manufacturers’ instructions.

Cell lines

HeLa S3, HT29, HCT15, HCT116, LoVo, CaCo2, LS174T, LS411N, and DLD1, purchased from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), and KYSE30, 70, 110, 150, 220, 410, 770, 850 and OE33, obtained from Dr. Yutaka Shimada at Kyoto University in Japan (Shimada et al. 1992), were enrolled in the current study in order to validate our findings in the ATP50 gene. Culture conditions for each cell line were according to ATCC and the establisher’s recommendations. All cell lines were supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum plus an appropriate concentration of penicillin and streptomycin.

Gene selection

To increase our chances of successfully amplifying and sequencing cDNAs, we restricted our study to genes that are known to be expressed in colorectal cancer cells, based on a gene expression database at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) [http://genome.ucsc.edu/index.html]. From among this gene set, we selected a subset of genes (approximately 600) containing open reading frames (ORFs) 1000 nucleotides or shorter in length. To automate design of the large number of primer sets required, we developed an in-house primer design algorithm based on the publicly available primer design software program, Primer3 (http://frodo.wi.mit.edu/cgi-bin/primer3/primer3_www_slow.cgi). PCR products were designed to range from 300 to 500 bp in length. ORFs of cDNAs longer than 500 bp were divided into 2 or 3 fragments; primers were then designed with adjacent fragments overlapped, in order to completely cover these longer ORFs. Finally, for each heterozygous sequence alteration, genomic DNA primers (available on request) were designed to confirm cDNA sequencing results.

RT-PCR

Total RNA extracted from colorectal adenocarcinoma and normal colonic epithelium was reverse-transcribed using a SuperScript III First-Strand kit (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA), and respective cDNA pools were made. RT-PCR was performed using an AccuPrime Supermix I Kit (Invitrogen). The PCR protocol was as follows: 1 min at 96 °C followed by 35 cycles of 30 sec at 94 °C, 45 sec at 58 °C, and 1 min at 72 °C. Secondary PCR was performed on purified template from the first RT-PCR product, using the same protocol.

Sequencing

A BigDye Terminator v3.1 Kit (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA) was used for the sequencing reaction, and sequence products were read on an SCE 9610 automated 96-capillary sequencer (Spectruby BaseSpectrum v2.10 (SpectruMedix) and analyzed with Mutation Surveyor v2.2 (SoftGenetics LLC, State College, PA). Each time candidate sequence alterations were discovered in cDNA from colorectal cancer tissue, identical procedures were followed in matched normal epitheliam to confirm whether or not they represented somatic alterations. After candidate alterations were confirmed, the entire procedure was repeated separately on a fresh aliquot of cDNA from both the cancer and normal specimens in order to exclude amplification or technical errors due to two-stage PCR. Genomic DNA sequencing was also performed on heterozygous sequence variants to confirm that identical sequence alterations were present in genomic DNA.

Methylation-specific PCR (MSP)

Because the gene ATP50 was apparently mutated, raising the possibility that it was a tumor suppressor gene, we evaluated this gene for alternative inactivation via promoter hypermethylation. MSP primer sequences of ATP50 for the methylated reaction were: forward (5′-CGAGTGGGAGC-GATTTAGGAC-3′) and reverse (5′-AACGC-CAAAATTACGACACG-3′), which amplify a 94-bp product. β-actin was selected as an internal control gene, using previously published MSP primers (Eads et al. 2001). CpGenome Universal Methylated DNA (Chemicon International, Inc., Temecula, CA) was used as a positive control. The detailed MSP procedure has been previously published (Sato et al. 2002).

Microsatellite instability (MSI) assay

MSI at each locus was determined by analyses of the length of each PCR-amplified microsatellite. MSI status was confirmed by MSI assays at five consensus loci (BAT25, BAT26, D2S123, D5S346, and D17S250) according to criteria from a National Cancer Institute workshop (Boland et al. 1998). Detailed procedures were as previously described (Mori et al. 2001).

Results

Project overview

A total of 603 genes (S-Table 1) were selected based on their length (under 1,000 bp) and their predicted expression in colorectal cancers according to the UCSC database. One thousand thirty-eight primer pairs (available on request) were designed to cover the entire ORFs (total bp, 366,687) of these 603 genes. Sequence data from 862 (83.0%) of these 1,038 primer sets were successfully analyzed, meaning that approximately 304,350 total bp were successfully sequenced (all primer sets for RT-PCR and cDNA sequencing are available on request).

S-Table-1.

Gene list

GenBank Accession No. Gene Symbol GenBank Accession No. Gene Symbol GenBank Accession No. Gene Symbol
NM_000100.2 CSTB NM_198057.1 TSC22D3 NM_002811.3 PSMD7
NM_000999.2 RPL38 NM_022652.2 DUSP6 NM_002812.3 PSMD8
NM_001827.1 CKS2 NM_021121.2 EEF1B2 NM_002813.4 PSMD9
NM_001863.3 COX6B1 NM_001412.2 EIF1AX NM_170750.1 PSMD10
NM_001866.2 COX7B NM_004094.3 EIF2S1 NM_004577.3 PSPH
NM_001867.2 COX7C NM_001423.1 EMP1 NM_175847.1 PTBP1
NM_002489.2 NDUFA4 NM_001424.3 EMP2 NM_198974.1 PTK9
NM_002491.1 NDUFB3 NM_001425.1 EMP3 NM_002823.2 PTMA
NM_002966.1 S100A10 NM_207168.1 ENSA NM_002824.4 PTMS
NM_003009.2 SEPW1 NM_001005915.1 ERBB3 NM_133377.1 RAD1
NM_003063.1 SLN NM_001983.2 ERCC1 NM_153824.1 PYCR1
NM_003095.1 SNRPF NM_001984.1 ESD NM_000320.1 QDPR
NM_003133.1 SRP9 NM_001439.1 EXTL2 NM_004161.3 RAB1A
NM_003498.3 SNN NM_001997.2 FAU NM_004162.3 RAB5A
NM_003746.1 DYNLL1 NM_005247.2 FGF3 NM_002868.2 RAB5B
NM_003860.2 BANF1 NM_002007.1 FGF4 NM_198896.1 RAB6A
NM_003945.3 ATP6V0E NM_002010.1 FGF9 NM_002870.2 RAB13
NM_004045.2 ATOX1 NM_023108.1 FGFR1 NM_183235.1 RAB27A
NM_004485.2 GNG4 NM_001449.3 FHL1 NM_201434.1 RAB5C
NM_004541.2 NDUFA1 NM_054014.1 FKBP1A NM_198829.1 RAC1
NM_004772.1 C5orf13 NM_002013.2 FKBP3 NM_002872.3 RAC2
NM_005274.1 GNG5 NM_016725.1 FOLR1 NM_133630.1 RAD51L3
NM_005517.2 HMGN2 NM_004477.1 FRG1 NM_002881.2 RALB
NM_005694.1 COX17 NM_000146.2 FTL NM_006325.2 RAN
NM_005770.3 SERF2 NM_198903.1 GABRG2 NM_002884.1 RAP1A
NM_005887.1 DLEU1 NM_000166.2 GJB1 NM_015646.3 RAP1B
NM_005949.1 MT1F NM_024009.2 GJB3 NM_032626.5 RBBP6
NM_005954.2 MT3 NM_002061.2 GCLM NM_181558.1 RFC3
NM_005978.3 S100A2 NM_006708.1 GLO1 NM_181578.1 RFC5
NM_006156.1 NEDD8 NM_002066.1 GML NM_134427.1 RGS3
NM_006274.2 CCL19 NM_016592.1 GNAS NM_005614.2 RHEB
NM_006304.1 SHFM1 NM_005301.2 GPR35 NM_000326.3 RLBP1
NM_006353.2 HMGN4 NM_002083.2 GPX2 NM_002938.2 RNF4
NM_006698.2 BLCAP NM_002084.2 GPX3 NM_183045.1 RNF6
NM_006829.2 C10orf116 NM_203506.1 GRB2 NM_002946.3 RPA2
NM_007233.1 TP53AP1 NM_001512.2 GSTA4 NM_002947.3 RPA3
NM_007281.1 SCRG1 NM_147149.1 GSTM4 NM_033301.1 RPL8
NM_012456.1 TIMM10 NM_145871.1 GSTZ1 NM_033251.1 RPL13
NM_012458.2 TIMM13 NM_004492.1 GTF2A2 NM_000985.2 RPL17
NM_012460.2 TIMM9 NM_002095.3 GTF2E2 NM_000984.3 RPL23A
NM_013332.1 HIG2 NM_000858.3 GUK1 NM_000992.2 RPL29
NM_013343.1 LOH3CR2A NM_005318.2 H1F0 NM_001001.3 RPL36AL
NM_014041.1 SPCS1 NM_002106.3 H2AFZ NM_021029.3 RPL36A
NM_014051.2 TMEM14A NM_005324.3 H3F3B NM_001002.3 RPLP0
NM_014221.1 MTCP1 NM_005326.3 HAGH NM_002949.2 MRPL12
NM_014356.2 C6orf123 NM_005327.1 HADHSC NM_001007.3 RPS4X
NM_014445.2 SERP1 NM_005330.3 HBE1 NM_001015.3 RPS11
NM_014624.3 S100A6 NM_004494.1 HDGF NM_001019.3 RPS15A
NM_014792.2 KIAA0125 NM_139011.1 HFE NM_001020.3 RPS16
NM_016096.2 ZNF706 NM_005340.3 HINT1 NM_001022.3 RPS19
NM_016305.1 SS18L2 NM_002118.3 HLA-DMB NM_001023.2 RPS20
NM_016565.2 CHCHD8 NM_002128.3 HMGB1 NM_001025.3 RPS23
NM_020142.3 LOC56901 NM_002129.2 HMGB2 NM_002960.1 S100A3
NM_020179.1 FN5 NM_004965.6 HMGN1 NM_005620.1 S100A11
NM_020181.1 C14orf162 NM_002131.2 HMGA1 NM_000664.3 ACACA
NM_020248.1 CTNNBIP1 NM_173158.1 NR4A1 NM_198970.1 AES
NM_020408.3 C6orf149 NM_002136.1 HNRPA1 NM_001636.1 SLC25A6
NM_021104.1 RPL41 NM_031314.1 HNRPC NM_001001787.1 ATP1B1
NM_021127.1 PMAIP1 NM_002138.3 HNRPD NM_001687.4 ATP5D
NM_021177.3 LSM2 NM_021644.2 HNRPH3 NM_001002256.1 ATP5G3
NM_023937.2 MRPL34 NM_006896.2 HOXA7 NM_004047.2 ATP6V0B
NM_031286.2 SH3BGRL3 NM_153715.1 HOXA10 NM_198589.1 BSG
NM_031287.2 SF3B5 NM_156037.1 HOXB6 NM_004927.2 MRPL49
NM_032412.2 ORF1-FL49 NM_004502.2 HOXB7 NM_006136.2 CAPZA2
NM_032574.1 LOC84661 NM_024016.2 HOXB8 NM_022845.2 CBFB
NM_032747.1 USMG5 NM_014620.2 HOXC4 NM_001760.2 CCND3
NM_052871.2 MGC4677 NM_153693.1 HOXC6 NM_171827.1 p32/CD8A
NM_052971.1 LEAP-2 NM_006897.1 HOXC9 NM_001773.1 CD34
NM_080677.1 DYNLL2 NM_014212.2 HOXC11 NM_000611.4 CD59
NM_138448.2 ACYP2 NM_024501.1 HOXD1 NM_001780.3 CD63
NM_139286.3 CDC26 NM_134421.1 HPCAL1 NM_004359.1 CDC34
NM_194327.1 GALIG NM_182638.1 HPS1 NM_058197.2 p16/CDKN2A
NM_198835.1 ACACA NM_005524.2 HES1 NM_001280.1 CIRBP
NM_020115.3 ACRV1 NM_198431.1 HSPA4 NM_001833.1 CLTA
NM_001124.1 ADM NM_001540.2 HSPB1 NM_022645.2 CSH2
NM_000674.1 ADORA1 NM_005528.1 DNAJC4 NM_012140.3 SLC25A10
NM_000676.2 ADORA2B NM_181353.1 ID1 NM_148979.1 CTSH
NM_001630.1 ANXA8 NM_002166.4 ID2 NM_000396.2 CTSK
NM_001154.2 ANXA5 NM_174856.1 IDH3B NM_001336.2 CTSZ
NM_080649.1 APEX1 NM_004508.2 IDI1 NM_001915.2 CYB561
NM_000041.2 APOE NM_005533.2 IFI35 NM_004418.2 DUSP2
NM_152876.1 FAS NM_021068.1 IFNA4 NM_004427.2 PHC2
NM_000486.3 AQP2 NM_000612.2 IGF2 NM_001970.3 EIF5A
NM_053286.1 AQP6 NM_001552.1 IGFBP4 NM_001419.2 ELAVL1
NM_001659.1 ARF3 NM_000576.2 IL1B NM_198194.1 STOM
NM_001660.2 ARF4 NM_172200.1 IL15RA NM_202001.1 ERCC1
NM_001663.2 ARF6 NM_005536.2 IMPA1 NM_023110.1 FGFR1
NM_001664.2 RHOA NM_014214.1 IMPA2 NM_201557.1 FHL2
NM_004040.2 RHOB NM_198219.1 ING1 NM_004468.3 FHL3
NM_175744.3 RHOC NM_198337.1 INSIG1 NM_057092.1 FKBP2
NM_005168.2 RND3 NM_002198.1 IRF1 NM_016730.1 FOLR1
NM_001665.2 rho G NM_004030.1 IRF7 NM_004477.1 FRG1
NM_004309.3 ARHGDIA NM_181493.1 ITPA NM_002032.1 FTH1
NM_001177.3 ARL1 NM_002228.3 JUN NM_002035.1 FVT1
NM_004311.2 ARL3 NM_002231.2 CD82 NM_001487.1 BLOC1S1
NM_004314.1 ART1 NM_004137.2 KCNMB1 NM_004483.3 GCSH
NM_032468.2 ASPH NM_033360.2 KRAS NM_004124.2 GMFB
NM_005171.2 ATF1 NM_002295.2 RPSA NM_000581.2 GPX1
NM_004024.2 ATF3 NM_005563.3 STMN1 NM_002085.1 GPX4
NM_001677.3 ATP1B1 NM_005564.2 LCN2 NM_147148.1 GSTM4
NM_001679.2 ATP1B3 NM_005566.1 LDHA NM_002095.3 GTF2E2
NM_001001977.1 ATP5E NM_201544.1 LGALS8 NM_002107.3 H3F3A
NM_001002015.1 ATP5F1 NM_004987.3 LIMS1 NM_005342.1 HMGB3
NM_005175.2 ATP5G1 NM_005574.2 LMO2 NM_002133.1 HMOX1
NM_001002258.1 ATP5G3 NM_002346.1 LY6E NM_002134.2 HMOX2
NM_001003701.1 ATP5J NM_002353.1 TACSTD2 NM_156036.1 HOXB6
NM_001694.2 ATP6V0C NM_014220.1 TM4SF1 NM_024017.3 HOXB9
NM_001697.2 ATP5O NM_002354.1 TACSTD1 NM_000194.1 HPRT1
NM_004322.2 BAD NM_030885.2 MAP4 NM_005343.2 HRAS
NM_053056.1 CCND1 NM_203378.1 MB NM_174856.1 IDH3B
NM_138578.1 BCL2L1 NM_002386.2 MC1R NM_000628.3 IL10RB
NM_004050.2 BCL2L2 NM_182763.1 MCL1 NM_181431.1 FOXK2
NM_000713.1 BLVRB NM_012328.1 DNAJB9 NM_181468.1 ITGB4BP
NM_005180.5 PCGF4 NM_005370.4 RAB8A NM_201543.1 LGALS8
NM_004331.2 BNIP3L NM_177524.1 MEST NM_002359.2 MAFG
NM_032515.3 BOK NM_005371.3 METTL1 NM_004528.2 MGST3
NM_004332.1 BPHL NM_017459.1 MFAP2 NM_022792.2 MMP19
NM_007306.1 BRCA1 NM_145791.1 MGST1 NM_002448.1 MSX1
NM_198590.1 BSG NM_002413.3 MGST2 NM_005962.3 MXI1
NM_001207.3 BTF3 NM_002414.3 CD99 NM_079424.1 MYL6
NM_001731.1 BTG1 NM_002415.1 MIF NM_032104.1 PPP1R12B
NM_007311.2 BZRP NM_022791.2 MMP19 NM_004547.4 NDUFB4
NM_172369.1 C1QG NM_002434.1 MPG NM_182739.1 NDUFB6
NM_001217.2 CA11 NM_021126.3 MPST NM_005005.1 NDUFB9
NM_000387.3 SLC25A20 NM_012331.2 MSRA NM_020529.1 NFKBIA
NM_006888.2 CALM1 NM_002451.3 MTAP NM_002520.4 NPM1
NM_005184.1 CALM3 NM_015675.1 GADD45B NM_002607.2 PDGFA
NM_005185.2 CALML3 NM_001002841.1 (MYL4 NM_005022.2 PFN1
NM_001745.2 CAMLG NM_079423.1 MYL6 NM_000942.4 PPIB
NM_001003962.1 CAPNS1 NM_002478.3 MYOD1 NM_206873.1 PPP1CA
NM_004346.2 CASP3 NM_032103.1 PPP1R12B NM_183079.1 PRNP
NM_001755.2 CBFB NM_005594.2 NACA NM_002765.2 PRPS2
NM_004059.3 CCBL1 NM_182744.1 NBL1 NM_145888.1 KLK10
NM_001759.2 CCND2 NM_014222.2 NDUFA8 NM_002790.2 PSMA5
NM_199246.1 CCNG1 NM_004548.1 NDUFB10 NM_152255.1 PSMA7
NM_001239.2 CCNH NM_004549.3 NDUFC2 NM_176783.1 PSME1
NM_001763.1 CD1A NM_002496.1 NDUFS8 NM_183236.1 RAB27A
NM_000733.2 CD3E NM_181827.1 NF2 NM_004583.2 RAB5C
NM_001769.2 CD9 NM_001001716.1 NFKBIB NM_133629.1 RAD51L3
NM_005191.2 CD80 NM_005008.2 NHP2L1 NM_021033.4 RAP2A
NM_152942.1 TNFRSF8 NM_198175.1 NM23A/NME1 NM_002899.2 RBP1
NM_001244.2 TNFSF8 NM_000904.1 NQO2 NM_000976.2 RPL12
NM_001001392.1 CD44 NM_000270.1 NP NM_001016.2 RPS12
NM_198793.1 CD47 NM_199185.1 NPM1 NM_000331.2 SAA1
NM_000560.2 CD53 NM_006172.1 NPPA NM_005981.3 TSPAN31
NM_203330.1 CD59 NM_002524.2 NRAS NM_002970.1 SAT
NM_004357.3 CD151 NM_004559.2 YBX1 NM_006745.2 SC4MOL
NM_001786.2 CDC2 NM_007105.1 SLC22A18AS NM_006746.3 SCML1
NM_033534.1 CDC2L2 NM_005602.4 CLDN11 NM_001037.3 SCN1B
NM_052827.1 CDK2 NM_175568.1 P2RX4 NM_003000.1 SDHB
NM_000075.2 CDK4 NM_175081.1 P2RX5 NM_183352.1 SEC13L1
NM_078467.1 CDKN1A NM_002567.2 PBP NM_014563.2 TRAPPC2
NM_004064.2 CDKN1B NM_002573.2 PAFAH1B3 NM_003016.2 SFRS2
NM_000077.3 CDKN2A NM_181696.1 PRDX1 NM_152235.1 SFRS8
NM_078626.1 CDKN2C NM_000281.2 TCF1/PCBD1 NM_004593.1 SFRS10
NM_005195.2 CEBPD NM_032403.1 PCDHGC3 NM_173217.1 ST6GAL1
NM_001806.2 CEBPG NM_002592.2 PCNA NM_170679.1 SKP1A
NM_001809.2 CENPA NM_033023.1 PDGFA NM_005984.1 SLC25A1
NM_004365.2 CETN3 NM_002608.1 PDGFB NM_022875.1 SMN2
NM_005507.2 CFL1 NM_213612.1 SLC25A3 NM_004596.3 SNRPA
NM_001817.1 CEACAM4 NM_002642.3 PIGC NM_198216.1 SNRPB
NM_152253.1 CHKB NM_002648.2 PIM1 NM_198220.1 SNRPB2
NM_013324.4 CISH NM_006224.2 PITPNA NM_177542.1 SNRPD2
NM_001281.2 CKAP1 NM_002653.3 PITX1 NM_004175.3 SNRPD3
NM_001284.2 AP3S1 NM_000929.1 PLA2G5 NM_022807.2 SNRPN
NM_001288.4 CLIC1 NM_001005376.1 PLAUR NM_000454.4 SOD1
NM_001291.2 CLK2 NM_021910.1 FXYD3 NM_006943.2 SOX12
NM_001293.1 CLNS1A NM_021105.1 PLSCR1 NM_001047.1 SRD5A1
NM_007097.2 CLTB NM_153321.1 PMP22 NM_003132.1 SRM
NM_004368.2 CNN2 NM_174930.2 PMS2L5 NM_003135.1 SRP19
NM_007310.1 COMT NM_001003686.1 PMS2L3 NM_003144.2 SSR1
NM_001300.3 KLF6 NM_022716.1 PRRX1 NM_003155.1 STC1
NM_001861.2 OX4I1 NM_002696.1 POLR2G NM_177528.1 SULT1A2
NM_001305.3 CLDN4 NM_006232.2 POLR2H NM_004177.3 STX3A
NM_001306.2 CLDN3 NM_006233.4 POLR2I NM_004604.3 STX4A
NM_001307.3 CLDN7 NM_021129.2 PPA1 NM_003164.2 STX5A
NM_001878.2 CRABP2 NM_203430.1 PPIA NM_177534.1 SULT1A1
NM_004379.2 CREB1 NM_000943.4 PPIC NM_003166.2 SULT1A3
NM_001310.2 CREBL2 NM_177951.1 PPM1A NM_181491.1 SURF5
NM_181571.1 CREM NM_177969.1 PPM1B NM_014231.3 VAMP1
NM_005206.3 CRK NM_206877.1 PPP1CB NM_014232.1 VAMP2
NM_005207.2 CRKL NM_002710.1 PPP1CC NM_005638.3 SYBL1
NM_001889.2 CRYZ NM_006241.3 PPP1R2 NM_006754.2 SYPL1
NM_139014.1 MAPK14 NM_002715.1 PPP2CA NM_003187.3 TAF9
NM_177436.1 CSE1L NM_178002.1 PR 53/PPP2R4 NM_005643.2 TAF11
NM_022644.2 CSH2 NM_000945.3 PPP3R1 NM_172208.1 TAPBP
NM_177560.2 CSNK2A1 NM_005399.3 PRKAB2 NM_134324.1 TARBP2
NM_001320.5 CSNK2B NM_207578.1 PRKACB NM_201437.1 TCEA1
NM_001321.1 CSRP2 NM_212461.1 PRKAG1 NM_213648.1 TCF7
NM_000396.2 CTSK NM_138981.1 MAPK10 NM_181738.1 PRDX2
NM_004394.1 DAP NM_002756.2 MAP2K3 NM_201443.1 TEAD4
NM_020548.4 DBI NM_002764.2 PRPS1 NM_003201.1 TFAM
NM_001924.2 GADD45A NM_139277.1 KLK7 NM_174886.1 TGIF
NM_004083.4 DDIT3 NM_002774.2 KLK6 NM_003255.3 TIMP2
NM_001355.2 DDT NM_213633.1 PSG4 NM_003270.2 TSPAN6
NM_030655.2 DDX11 NM_203287.1 PSG11 NM_003271.3 TSPAN4
NM_213566.1 DFFA NM_148976.1 PSMA1 NM_021137.3 TNFAIP1
NM_000791.2 DHFR NM_002789.3 PSMA4 NM_000363.3 TNNI3
NM_007326.1 CYB5R3 NM_002791.1 PSMA6 NM_005079.1 TPD52
NM_138281.1 DLX4 NM_002794.3 PSMB2 NM_003287.2 TPD52L1
NM_203316.1 DPAGT1 NM_002801.2 PSMB10 NM_199362.1 TPD52L2

Sequence variants

Seventy-eight sequence variants within 50 genes were found among the 603 genes studied (Table 1) (S-Table 2 for detailed information). Thus, the frequency of sequence variants was 1 per 3,902 bp (78 total variants/304,350 total bp). Of these 78 sequence alterations, 51 were homozygous (26 synonymous, 25 non-synonymous) and 27 were heterozygous (11 synonymous, 16 non-synonymous). All sequence alterations were detected in both colorectal cancer tissue and matched normal colonic epithelium, with the exception of an alteration in the gene ATP50 (NM_001697), which manifested a unique expression mechanism (Fig. 1). Forty-four sequence alterations had been previously reported, but 34 sequence alterations were completely novel, having never been reported in the SNP database at The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).

Table 1.

Sequence variants

Homozygous Heterozygous
Synonymous Non-synonymous Synonymous Non-synonymous
Number of alterations 26 25 11 16

S-Table 2.

Sequence variants

Homozygous alteration Heterozygous alteration
GenBank Accession No. Gene Symbol Synonymous alteration NCBI SNP Database Non-Synonymous alteration NCBI SNP Database Synonymous alteration NCBI SNP Database Non-Synonymous alteration NCBI SNP Database
NM_000320 QDPR Leu132Leu G396A, rs2597775
NM_000331 SAA1 C209T, Ala70Val rs1136743
T224C, Val75Ala rs1136747
NM_001007 RPS4X Leu164Leu G492A, rs7580
NM_001020 RPS16 Gly5Gly C15T, rs17626
T27G, Ser9Ser rs17628
NM_001047 SRD5A1 A309AG, Pro103Pro rs3822430
G348GA, Ala116Ala rs8192186
NM_001320 CSNK2B Tyr46Tyr T138C, rs14365
NM_001636 SLC25A6 Phe136Phe T408C, rs7205
NM_001697 ATP50 Gly36Gly T108C, rs17728665 A218AG, Lys73Arg *
NM_001760 CCND3 T775TG, Ser259Ala rs1051130
NM_001817 CEACAM4 T668A, Val223Glu. *
NM_001861 COX4I1 G7GA, Ala3Thr rs17855751
NM_001889 CRYZ Gly18Gly G54A, rs4650284 T138C, Gly46Gly *
NM_002131 HMGA1 Ser2Ser T6C, * G49A, Glu17Lys *
G78T, Arg26Arg * G112A, Gly38Arg *
C255A, Gly85Gly * Pro48Leu C143T, *
C217T, Arg73Gly *
C236T, A237G, *
Pro79Leu G286A, *
Glu96Lys
NM_002136 HNRPA1 Gly248Gly C744T, *
NM_002414 CD99 C369CT, Ala121Ala rs4575010
NM_002642 PIGC Gly89Gly T267C, rs2230471
NM_002813 PSMD9 T50C, Val17Ala rs2230681
NM_003144 SSR1 C388T, His130Tyr *
NM_003255 TIMP2 G303GA, Ser101Ser rs2277698
NM_004064 CDKN1B T326TG, Val109Gly rs2066827
NM_004137 KCNMB1 G193GA, Glu65Lys rs11739136
NM_004175 SNRPD3 Ala101Ala T303C, rs3176991
NM_004365 CETN3 G28GC, Val10Leu rs4873
NM_004468 FHL3 Pro180Pro G540A, rs7366048
NM_004549 NDUFC2 C136CG, Leu46Val rs8875
NM_005171 ATF1 C327CT, Tyr109Tyr rs1129406
NM_005191 CD80 G135GA, rs2228017
Val45Val
NM_005301 GPR35 G85GA, Ala29Thr. A880AC, *rs3749172
NM_005342 HMGB3 Asn186Lys C558G, * Ser294Arg
NM_005594 NACA T543TA, Ile181Ile rs4788
NM_005984 SLC25A1 Lys277Lys A831G, *
NM_006353 HMGN4 Gly66Gly G198A rs4871
NM_006896 HOXA7 Ala32Ala T96G, rs2301720 G52A, Ala18Thr rs2301721
NM_007310 COMT His12His C36T, rs4633 G322A, Val108Met rs4680
NM_007311 BZRP His53Arg A158G, Ala68Ala rs6971 G204GA, rs6972
NM_012328 DNAJB9 Pro61Pro G183A, rs1043615
NM_013332 HIG2 Glu28Glu A84G, *
NM_014212 HOXC11 Ser12Ser T36G, rs4759315
NM_014232 VAMP2 T346A, Ser116Thr *
NM_021068 IFNA4 A146AC, *
His49Pro G178GC, *
Gly60Arg T190TA, *
Phe64Ile G187GC, rs3203576
NM_024009 GJB3 Glu63Gln C357CT, *
Asn119Asn
NM_033251 RPL13 G334A, Ala112Thr rs9930567
NM_052871 MGC4677 G28T, Ala10Ser rs28673896 C12CT, Thr4Thr * C109CT, Arg37Cys *
NM_058197 CDKN2A Arg54Gly A160T, *
NM_145888 KLK10 A318C, Gly106Gly rs2075688 T347C, Leu116Pro *
C336G, Thr112Thr rs1061368
G423A, Leu141Leu rs2075689 `
NM_172200 IL15RA C248T, Pro83Leu ` *
A337C, Thr113Pro *
NM_172369 C1QG Gly215Glu G644A, *
NM_181571 CREM Ile137Thr T410C, *
NM_198970 TEAD4 Pro194Leu C580CT, *
NM_201544 LGALS8 Met56Val. A166AG, rs1041937
G542GC, Gly181Ala *
*

No report found.

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

cDNA sequencing of ATP50. Two different alteration sites were detected. At the 108th nucleotide, colorectal cancer tissue had only a mutant cytosine nucleotide, while normal colon contained both a thymine (wild) and a cytosine (mutant). Both codons GGT and GGC encoded glycine (synonymous alteration). At the 218th mucleotide, colorectal cancer tissue had only a mutant guanine nucleotide, while normal tissue contained both an adenine (wild) and a guanine (mutant). AAA encoded lysine and AGA encoded arginine (non-synonymous alteration). Gly, glycine; Arg, arginine.

Tumor-specific regulation of gene expression

Tumor-specific regulation of gene expression was found for NM_001697 (ATP50, Homo sapiens ATP synthase, H+ transporting, mitochondrial F1 complex, O subunit). The sequence alterations T108C (GGT to GGC, homozygous, Gly36Gly) and A218G (AAA to AAG, homozygous, Lys73Arg) were observed only in cancer-derived cDNA, while the alterations T108TC (CGT and GGC, heterozygous, 36Gly) and A218AG (AAA and AAG, heterozygous, 73Lys and 73 Arg) were observed in cDNA from normal epithelium. Surprisingly, both T108TC (CGT and GGC, heterozygous, 36Gly) and A218AG (AAA and AAG, heterozygous, 73Lys and 73 Arg), which were identical to the two alterations observed in normal cDNA, were observed in genomic DNA from both cancer and normal tissue (Figures 2, 3). This result implied that the cancer exhibited monoallelic expression from the variant allele of ATP50, while the normal epithelium manifested biallelic heterozygous expression, i.e. from both the reported normal allele and our discovered variant mutant allele simultaneously.

Figure 2.

Figure 2.

Representative result of cDNA sequencing of ATP50 in normal and cancer tissues. The red box in the left panel shows the 36th codon, while the red box in the right panel shows the 73rd codon. All alterations were confirmed by both forward and reverse sequencing.

Figure 3.

Figure 3.

Genomic DNA sequencing of ATP50 in normal and cancer tissues. Upper panels, forward sequencing; lower panels, reverse sequencing. The red boxes show the 36th and 73rd codons. Both normal and colorectal cancer tissues contain identical heterozygosities at the 108th and 218th nucleotides.

MSP

One possible mechanism for monoallelic expression observed for ATP50 was DNA methylation of its promoter region. MSP showed, however, that there was no methylation of the ATP50 promoter in colorectal cancer (S-Fig. 1).

Somatic mutations

There were no somatic mutations found among the 603 genes studied or within the p53 gene.

MSI status

MSI assays showed that there was no microsatellite instability in genomic DNA (S-Fig. 2).

Discussion

In the current study, we assumed that if a mutant protein was involved in carcinogenesis or tumor progression, this mutant would be expressed and therefore detectable in tumor mRNA. i.e. we assumed that somatic mutations involved in carcinogenesis or tumor progression would be detectable by direct cDNA sequencing. By using this strategy, we avoided the need for sequencing each exon of genomic DNA, reasoning that genes which are never expressed in normal or malignant colon probably do not participate in colorectal carcinogenesis. We discovered 78 sequence variants (44 of which had been previously reported as single-nucleotide polymorphisms, but 34 of which had never been reported) among the 603 genes (304,350 bp of ORFs) studied.

Recently, Sjoblom T. et al. performed genome-wide sequencing in breast and colorectal cancers, revealing that an average of 52 mutations occurred in each colorectal cancer(Sjoblom et al. 2006). According to the article by Sjoblom et al. the somatic mutation frequency in colon cancers was 3.2 somatic mutations/Mb, on average (Table 1 of their paper). Therefore, the probability of our finding zero somatic mutations among the 603 genes (304,350 bp) that we studied was 37.76% (please see formula below), suggesting that our findings were statistically quite consistent with Sjoblom’s results:

Probability=(13.21,000,000)304,350=0.377599353

The Sjoblom team also defined “CAN-genes” (candidate cancer genes) as those that were frequently mutated in colorectal cancers, and found that 69 genes could be included in this category. Although the CAN-genes KRAS, GNAS and TP53 were studied by us, no somatic mutations were found in these genes. Furthermore, in addition to the genes mentioned above, NRAS, HRAS, p16, and p27 were included in the current study, but these genes also contained no somatic mutations. Finally, results of MSI assays revealed MS-stability (MSS), implying an absence of mutations in the major DNA mismatch repair genes (although these genes were not studied due to their long ORFs). It is possible that other molecular pathogenetic pathways were involved in this colorectal tumorigenesis, such as those containing APC, MCC, DCC, or the TGF-β cascade: these genes were also not examined in the current study due to ORF length.

Approximately 24,000,000 bp among the entire genomic DNA sequence are reported as ORFs in the UCSC database. The average density of each SNP is once per 1.9 kilobases (i.e. 1,419,190 SNPs/2.7 gigabases of human genome sequence)(Sachidanandam et al. 2001). We sequenced 304,350 bp of ORFs (viz., 1.26% of the total ORFs in the UCSC database: 304,350 bp/24,000,000 bp) and discovered 78 sequence variants, yielding a frequency of 1 alteration per 3,902 bp (78/304,350 bp). Our observed sequence variant distribution may provide a basis with which to estimate the number of SNPs in a single individual with colon cancer. That is, the SNPs reported above are one possible subset of the entire database; there is no guarantee that a given individual will always harbor all SNPs in the database.

The human ATP50 gene (X83218, NM_001697), encoding a 213-amino acid ATP synthase OSCP subunit, is a key structural component of the stalk of the mitochondrial respiratory chain F1F0-ATP synthase, which is a vital element in the cellular pathway of energy conversion (Senior, 1988). Although a mutant strain of yeast in which the delta subunit of F1F0-ATP synthase had been inactivated by insertional mutagenesis showed little or no ATPase activity(Giraud and Velours, 1994), and dysfunction of ATP synthase can cause a variety of degenerative diseases(Wallace, 1994), there have been no previous reports detailing a relationship between ATP synthase and tumorigenesis. We found restricted monoallelic (i.e. monoallelically silenced) expression of an altered allele from ATP50 in our colon cancer tissue, which would be expected to exert the same effect as would a somatic mutation of this gene. Genomic DNA sequencing of ATP50 revealed that this monoallelic expression was not due to LOH. We therefore studied the methylation status of the CpG island in the promoter region of ATP50 by MSP, but we found no methylation of this region. Other epigenetic mechanisms, such as histone deacetylation, might have contributed to monoallelic expression of ATP50. There was no monoallelic expression of ATP50 in 20 cancer cell lines that we examined. Although monoallelic expression of this altered ATP50 allele may be involved in a subset of colorectal cancers, further study is required to clarify the potential functional role of this gene in carcinogenesis.

This study poses several advantages as well as limitations. Firstly, it has been reported that some synonymous mutations may influence the stability of mRNA(Duan and Antezana, 2003; Chamary and Hurst, 2005) because they affect the thermodynamic stability of mRNA secondary structures (Fitch, 1974; Klambt, 1975). Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is also known as a surveillance pathway that rapidly degrades mRNAs containing premature termination codons(Culbertson and Leeds, 2003; Amrani et al. 2006). These mechanisms may cause instability of mRNA, accelerate the degradation of mRNA, and consequently result in difficulty in detecting sequence alterations by cDNA sequencing. Since we used cDNA as our starting material for sequencing, we may have ignored some key genes because of RNA degradation. Nevertheless, many sequence variants were detected reasonably well in the current study, suggesting that degradation of mRNA occurred rarely, if at all, as a consequence of sequence alterations. Instead, we considered it more important to increase our chances of finding sequence alterations by using cDNA rather than genomic DNA because of the lower cost, time, and labor involved in sequencing cDNA, as well as the increased relevance of only studying genes that are expressed in the colon.

Secondly, it is conceivable that we lost some gene sequence information due to extremely low expression levels. Therefore, we employed two-stage PCR to increase our chances of successful sequencing, thereby achieving a relatively high success rate of 862/1,038 reactions, or 83.0%. Possibly, this result still may have included genes that were not expressed in our particular colorectal cancer, even though we used the UCSC database to select genes that were purportedly expressed in colorectal cancers. Our sequencing success rate appears favorable when compared to genomic DNA sequencing, where 92% of genes were successfully analyzed (Wang et al. 2004). The total number of exons sequenced in our study was 2107, implying that at least 2107 primer pairs would have been necessary to conduct this study had it been attempted by genomic DNA sequencing; in contrast, we accomplished this task using only 1038 primer sets for cDNA sequencing. This contrast demonstrates that our method is useful to explore mutations because it is not only more cost-effective, but also less demanding in time and labor.

Supplement Material

S-Figure 1. Result of MSP for ATP50. (A) Bisulfited DNA from cancer tissue, normal tissue, and HT29 were used. The MSPs for ATP50 were triplicated. The MSP product for ATP50 was 94 bp and beta actin was 133bp. (B) Universal methylated DNA was used for the positive control in various amounts. M.W., molecular weight.
bbi-2007-001f4.tif (10.8MB, tif)
S-Figure 2. A representative result of MSI typing. Both cancer and normal tissue showed microsatellite stable in the marker of D5S346 and D17S250. The similar results were obtained in the marker of D2S123, BAT25, and BAT26.
bbi-2007-001f5.tif (21.1MB, tif)

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by NIH grants CA77057, CA95323 and CA85069 (to S.J.M.).

Footnotes

Please note that this article may not be used for commercial purposes. For further information please refer to the copyright statement at http://www.la-press.com/copyright.htm

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Associated Data

This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.

Supplementary Materials

S-Figure 1. Result of MSP for ATP50. (A) Bisulfited DNA from cancer tissue, normal tissue, and HT29 were used. The MSPs for ATP50 were triplicated. The MSP product for ATP50 was 94 bp and beta actin was 133bp. (B) Universal methylated DNA was used for the positive control in various amounts. M.W., molecular weight.
bbi-2007-001f4.tif (10.8MB, tif)
S-Figure 2. A representative result of MSI typing. Both cancer and normal tissue showed microsatellite stable in the marker of D5S346 and D17S250. The similar results were obtained in the marker of D2S123, BAT25, and BAT26.
bbi-2007-001f5.tif (21.1MB, tif)

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