Wang, Liewei

Abstract Catechol O-methyltransferase (COMT)-catalyzed methylation of catecholestrogens has been proposed to play a protective role in estrogen-induced genotoxic carcinogenesis. We have taken a comprehensive approach to test the hypothesis that genetic variation in COMT might influence breast cancer risk. Fifteen COMT single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) selected on the basis of in-depth resequencing of the COMT gene were genotyped in 1,482 DNA samples from a Mayo Clinic breast cancer case control study. Two common SNPs in the distal promoter for membrane-bound (MB) COMT, rs2020917 and rs737865, were associated with breast cancer risk reduction in premenopausal women in the Mayo Clinic study, with allele-specific odds ratios (OR) of 0.70 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.52–0.95] and 0.68 (95% CI, 0.51–0.92), respectively. These two SNPs were then subjected to functional genomic analysis and were genotyped in an additional 3,683 DNA samples from two independent case control studies (GENICA and GESBC). Functional genomic experiments showed that these SNPs could up-regulate transcription and that they altered DNA-protein binding patterns. Furthermore, substrate kinetic and exon array analyses suggested a role for MB-COMT in catecholestrogen inactivation. The GENICA results were similar to the Mayo case control observations, with ORs of 0.85 (95% CI, 0.72–1.00) and 0.85 (95% CI, 0.72–1.01) for the two SNPs. No significant effect was observed in the GESBC study. These studies showed that two SNPs in the COMT distal promoter were associated with breast cancer risk reduction in two of three case control studies, compatible with the results of functional genomic experiments, suggesting a role for MB-COMT in breast cancer risk. [Cancer Res 2008;68(14):5997–6005]

Abstract Purpose: The proteasome is a multisubunit cellular organelle that functions as a nonlysosomal threonine protease. Proteasomes play a critical role in the degradation of proteins, regulating a variety of cellular processes, and they are also the target for antineoplastic proteasome inhibitors. Genetic variation in proteasome subunits could influence both proteasome function and response to drug therapy. Experimental Design: We resequenced genes encoding the three active proteasome β subunits using 240 DNA samples from four ethnic groups and the β5 subunit gene in 79 DNA samples from multiple myeloma patients who had been treated with the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib. Resequencing was followed by functional studies of polymorphisms identified in the coding region and 3′-flanking region (3′-FR) of PSMB5, the gene encoding the target for clinically useful proteasome inhibitors. Results: Resequencing of 240 DNA samples identified a series of novel ethnic-specific polymorphisms that are not represented in public databases. The PSMB5 3′-FR 1042 G allele significantly increased transcription during reporter gene studies, observations confirmed by genotype-phenotype correlations between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in PSMB5 and mRNA expression in the 240 lymphoblastoid cell lines from which the resequenced DNA was obtained. Studies with patient DNA samples identified additional novel PSMB5 polymorphisms, including a SNP and an insertion in the 3′-FR. Reporter-gene studies indicated that these two novel polymorphisms might decrease transcription. Conclusions: These results show that nonsynonymous coding SNPs in the PSMB5 gene did not show significant effects on proteasome activity, but SNPs did influence transcription. Future studies might focus on regulatory region polymorphisms.

Pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics involve the study of the role of inheritance in individual variation in drug response, a phenotype that varies from potentially life-threatening adverse drug reactions to equally serious lack of therapeutic efficacy. This discipline evolved from the convergence of rapid advances in molecular pharmacology and genomics. Originally, pharmacogenetic studies focused on monogenic traits, often involving genetic variation in drug metabolism. However, contemporary studies increasingly involve entire “pathways” encoding proteins that influence both pharmacokinetics—factors that influence the concentration of a drug reaching its target(s)—and pharmacodynamics, the drug target itself, as well as genome-wide approaches. Pharmacogenomics is also increasingly moving across the “translational interface” into the clinic and is being incorporated into the drug development process and the governmental regulation of that process. However, significant challenges remain to be overcome if pharmacogenetics-pharmacogenomics is to achieve its full potential as a major medical application of genomic science.

Abstract Aromatase [cytochrome P450 19 (CYP19)] is a critical enzyme for estrogen biosynthesis, and aromatase inhibitors are of increasing importance in the treatment of breast cancer. We set out to identify and characterize genetic polymorphisms in the aromatase gene, CYP19, as a step toward pharmacogenomic studies of aromatase inhibitors. Specifically, we “resequenced” all coding exons, all upstream untranslated exons plus their presumed core promoter regions, all exon-intron splice junctions, and a portion of the 3′-untranslated region of CYP19 using 240 DNA samples from four ethnic groups. Eighty-eight polymorphisms were identified, resulting in 44 haplotypes. Functional genomic studies were done with the four nonsynonymous coding single nucleotide polymorphisms (cSNP) that we observed, two of which were novel. Those cSNPs altered the following amino acids: Trp39Arg, Thr201Met, Arg264Cys, and Met364Thr. The Cys264, Thr364, and double variant Arg39Cys264 allozymes showed significant decreases in levels of activity and immunoreactive protein when compared with the wild-type (WT) enzyme after transient expression in COS-1 cells. A slight decrease in protein level was also observed for the Arg39 allozyme, whereas Met201 displayed no significant changes in either activity or protein level when compared with the WT enzyme. There was also a 4-fold increase in apparent Km value for Thr364 with androstenedione as substrate. Of the recombinant allozymes, only the double mutant (Arg39Cys264) displayed a significant change from the WT enzyme in inhibitor constant for the aromatase inhibitors exemestane and letrozole. These observations indicate that genetic variation in CYP19 might contribute to variation in the pathophysiology of estrogen-dependent disease.

Thiopurine S -methyltransferase (TPMT) catalyzes the S-methylation of thiopurine drugs. TPMT genetic polymorphisms represent a striking example of the potential clinical value of pharmacogenetics. Subjects homozygous for TPMT * 3A , the most common variant allele for low activity, an allele that encodes a protein with two changes in amino acid sequence, are at greatly increased risk for life-threatening toxicity when treated with standard doses of thiopurines. These subjects have virtually undetectable levels of TPMT protein. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that TPMT * 3A might result in protein misfolding and aggregation. We observed that TPMT * 3A forms aggresomes in cultured cells and that it aggregates in vitro , functional mechanisms not previously described in pharmacogenetics. Furthermore, there was a correlation among TPMT half-life values in rabbit reticulocyte lysate, aggresome formation in COS-1 cells, and protein aggregation in vitro for the three variant allozymes encoded by alleles that include the two TPMT * 3A single-nucleotide polymorphisms. These observations were compatible with a common structural explanation for all of these effects, a conclusion supported by size-exclusion chromatography and CD spectroscopy. The results of these experiments provide insight into a unique pharmacogenetic mechanism by which common polymorphisms affect TPMT protein function and, as a result, therapeutic response to thiopurine drugs.