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Song S, Koh Y, Kim S, Lee SM, Kim HU, Ko JM, Lee SH, Yoon SS, Park S. Systematic analysis of Mendelian disease-associated gene variants reveals new classes of cancer-predisposing genes. Genome Med 2023; 15:107. [PMID: 38143269 PMCID: PMC10749499 DOI: 10.1186/s13073-023-01252-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 12/26/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite the acceleration of somatic driver gene discovery facilitated by recent large-scale tumor sequencing data, the contribution of inherited variants remains largely unexplored, primarily focusing on previously known cancer predisposition genes (CPGs) due to the low statistical power associated with detecting rare pathogenic variant-phenotype associations. METHODS Here, we introduce a generalized log-regression model to measure the excess of pathogenic variants within genes in cancer patients compared to control samples. It aims to measure gene-level cancer risk enrichment by collapsing rare pathogenic variants after controlling the population differences across samples. RESULTS In this study, we investigate whether pathogenic variants in Mendelian disease-associated genes (OMIM genes) are enriched in cancer patients compared to controls. Utilizing data from PCAWG and the 1,000 Genomes Project, we identify 103 OMIM genes demonstrating significant enrichment of pathogenic variants in cancer samples (FDR 20%). Through an integrative approach considering three distinct properties, we classify these CPG-like OMIM genes into four clusters, indicating potential diverse mechanisms underlying tumor progression. Further, we explore the function of PAH (a key metabolic enzyme associated with Phenylketonuria), the gene exhibiting the highest prevalence of pathogenic variants in a pan-cancer (1.8%) compared to controls (0.6%). CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest a possible cancer progression mechanism through metabolic profile alterations. Overall, our data indicates that pathogenic OMIM gene variants contribute to cancer progression and introduces new CPG classifications potentially underpinning diverse tumorigenesis mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seulki Song
- Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea
- Structural Biology Program, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO), Calle de Melchor Fernández Almagro, 3, Madrid, 28029, Spain
| | - Youngil Koh
- Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea
- Biomedical Research Institute and Departments of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea
| | - Seokhyeon Kim
- Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea
| | - Sang Mi Lee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyun Uk Kim
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea.
| | - Jung Min Ko
- Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University Children's Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea.
| | - Se-Hoon Lee
- Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, 06351, Republic of Korea.
| | - Sung-Soo Yoon
- Cancer Research Institute, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea.
- Biomedical Research Institute and Departments of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea.
| | - Solip Park
- Structural Biology Program, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas (CNIO), Calle de Melchor Fernández Almagro, 3, Madrid, 28029, Spain.
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Hames A, Khan S, Gilliland C, Goldman L, Lo HW, Magda K, Keathley J. Carriers of autosomal recessive conditions: are they really 'unaffected?'. J Med Genet 2023; 61:1-7. [PMID: 37775265 DOI: 10.1136/jmg-2023-109563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 10/01/2023]
Abstract
Mendel's Law of Dominance suggests that recessive disease expression requires the inheritance of two mutated alleles as the dominant, wildtype allele suppresses disease presentation leading to the expression of physiological normal phenotypes. However, there is existing evidence that challenges this school of thought. Here, we summarise existing literature evaluating metabolic and health impacts among carriers of autosomal recessive conditions, focusing on phenylketonuria (PKU), classical homocystinuria, galactosemia and Usher syndrome as examples. Our findings suggest that carriers, often described as 'unaffected', may actually display attenuated symptoms for the recessive disease they are carrying. For instance, PKU is an inborn error of metabolism characterised by the build-up of plasma phenylalanine attributed to the deficiency of the phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) enzyme. While less severe, PKU carriers also exhibit this impaired enzymatic activity, leading to elevated plasma phenylalanine levels, especially after phenylalanine consumption. Related to these metabolic alterations in the PAH pathway, there is early evidence to suggest that PKU carriers may have compromised cognitive and mental health outcomes. Overall, research on the health and metabolic impacts of PKU carriers is sparse, with most studies conducted several decades ago. However, early evidence suggests that intermediate phenotypes among carriers of autosomal recessive conditions are plausible. The illustrated possible intermediate phenotypes observed among carriers necessitates future research to determine possible clinical implications among this population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amber Hames
- Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Guelph, Southwestern Ontario, Canada
| | - Sophia Khan
- Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Southwestern Ontario, Canada
| | - Clara Gilliland
- Department of Food Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Southwestern Ontario, Canada
| | - Lucy Goldman
- Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Southwestern Ontario, Canada
| | - Hillary Wh Lo
- Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, University of Guelph, Guelph, Southwestern Ontario, Canada
| | - Kevin Magda
- Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Southwestern Ontario, Canada
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Southwestern Ontario, Canada
| | - Justine Keathley
- Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Southwestern Ontario, Canada
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Truderung OAH, Sagi JC, Semsei AF, Szalai C. Melanoma susceptibility: an update on genetic and epigenetic findings. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR EPIDEMIOLOGY AND GENETICS 2021; 12:71-89. [PMID: 34853632 PMCID: PMC8611230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2021] [Accepted: 09/14/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Malignant melanoma is one of the most highly ranked cancers in terms of years of life lost. Hereditary melanoma with its increased familial susceptibility is thought to affect up to 12% of all melanoma patients. In the past, only a few high-penetrance genes associated with familial melanoma, such as CDKN2A and CDK4, have been clinically tested. However, findings now indicate that melanoma is a cancer most likely to develop not only due to high-penetrance variants but also due to polygenic inheritance patterns, leaving no clear division between the hereditary and sporadic development of malignant melanoma. Various pathogenic low-penetrance variants were recently discovered through genome-wide association studies, and are now translated into polygenic risk scores. These can show superior sensitivity rates for the prediction of melanoma susceptibility and related mixed cancer syndromes than risk scores based on phenotypic traits of the patients, with odds ratios of up to 5.7 for patients in risk groups. In addition to describing genetic findings, we also review the first results of epigenetic research showing constitutional methylation changes that alter the susceptibility to cutaneous melanoma and its risk factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ole AH Truderung
- Department of Genetics, Cell- and Immunobiology, Semmelweis UniversityH-1089 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Judit C Sagi
- Department of Genetics, Cell- and Immunobiology, Semmelweis UniversityH-1089 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Agnes F Semsei
- Department of Genetics, Cell- and Immunobiology, Semmelweis UniversityH-1089 Budapest, Hungary
| | - Csaba Szalai
- Department of Genetics, Cell- and Immunobiology, Semmelweis UniversityH-1089 Budapest, Hungary
- Heim Pal Children’s HospitalH-1089 Budapest, Hungary
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