Genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) identified associations between markers within the solute carrier family 14 (urea transporter), member 1 (SLC14A1) gene and risk of bladder cancer. SLC14A1 ...defines the Kidd blood groups in erythrocytes and is also involved in concentration of the urine in the kidney. We evaluated the association between a representative genetic variant (rs10775480) of SLC14A1 and urine concentration, as measured by urinary specific gravity (USG), in a subset of 275 population‐based controls enrolled in the New England Bladder Cancer Study. Overnight urine samples were collected, and USG was measured using refractometry. Analysis of covariance was used to estimate adjusted least square means for USG in relation to rs10775480. We also examined the mRNA expression of both urea transporters, SLC14A1 and SLC14A2, in a panel of human tissues. USG was decreased with each copy of the rs10775480 risk T allele (p‐trend = 0.011) with a significant difference observed for CC vs. TT genotypes (p‐valuetukey = 0.024). RNA‐sequencing in the bladder tissue showed high expression of SLC14A1 and the absence of SLC14A2, while both transporters were expressed in the kidney. We suggest that the molecular phenotype of this GWAS finding is the genotype‐specific biological activity of SLC14A1 in the bladder tissue. Our data suggest that SLC14A1 could be a unique urea transporter in the bladder that has the ability to influence urine concentration and that this mechanism might explain the increased bladder cancer susceptibility associated with rs10775480.
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Changes in the urea transporter gene SLC14A1 can increase risk of bladder cancer. Mice lacking the gene have lower urine concentration than wild‐type mice, prompting the question of whether bladder cancer risk may result from the changes in the ability of SLC14A1 to transport urea and concentrate the urine. In this study, the authors compared urine concentration with the presence of a particular variant of SLC14A1 in people enrolled in a bladder cancer study. They found that the bladder cancer gene variant did associate with lower urine concentration, suggesting that SLC14A1 could be a unique urea transporter that can influence urine concentration.
Cancer genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified many common genetic markers located in non-coding regions of the genome. Two notable examples are the multi-cancer susceptibility ...regions, 8q24.2 and 11q13.3. Since these GWAS signals localize to gene-poor regions, we investigated genetic variants within pre-microRNA (pre-miRNA) transcripts as a possible link between the GWAS findings and the associated molecular phenotypes. Across the two regions, which contain 37 miRNAs genes, we explored genetic variants by surveying public databases and conducting targeted resequencing. Specifically, we investigated one common single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) within miR-1206 on 8q24.2 and two SNPs within miR-612 on 11q13.3. Though these variants are not correlated with known GWAS signals, we conjectured that they might be important for function of corresponding miRNAs. To test the functional significance of these genetic variants, we cloned both allelic forms of miR-1206 and miR-612 pre-miRNA into expression vectors and assessed biogenesis of mature miRNA-forms. The two SNPs within miR-612 significantly affected expression of mature miR-612 in a cell-type specific manner; enhancement in prostate cancer cell lines, reduction in colon cancer cells, and no effect in breast cancer cell lines. The SNP within miR-1206 also affected expression of mature miR-1206, but not in a cell-type specific manner. Future studies should identify targets of miR-1206 and miR-612 and help understand the biological roles of these miRNAs and their possible role in carcinogenesis.
polymorphisms are inversely associated with the risk of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and cirrhosis, two major risk factors for developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To further ...explore these inverse associations and their molecular underpinnings, we analyzed
polymorphisms represented by the
genotype (presence of rs368234815-dG or rs12979860-T alleles) in HCV patients: 2969 from Japan and 2931 from Taiwan.
genotype was associated with an increased risk of HCV-related HCC (OR=1.28, 95%CI=1.07-1.52, P=0.0058) in the general population of Japanese patients, but not in Taiwanese patients who achieved treatment-induced viral clearance.
genotype was also associated with a decreased risk of cirrhosis (OR=0.66, 95%CI=0.46-0.93, P=0.018, in Taiwanese patients). We then engineered HepG2 cells to inducibly express IFN-λ4 in the presence or absence of interferon lambda receptor 1 (IFNLR1). Induction of IFN-λ4 resulted in its intracellular accumulation, mainly in lysosomes and late endosomes, and increased ER stress, leading to apoptosis and reduced proliferation. We identified the very-low-density lipoprotein receptor (
), which facilitates HCV entry into hepatocytes, as a transcript induced by IFN-λ4 but not IFN-λ3. Our results suggest that the molecular mechanisms underlying the anti-cirrhotic but pro-HCV associations observed for
polymorphisms are, at least in part, contributed by intracellular accumulation of IFN-λ4 causing ER stress in hepatic cells.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes COVID-19, utilizes angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) for entry into target cells. ACE2 has been proposed as an ...interferon-stimulated gene (ISG). Thus, interferon-induced variability in ACE2 expression levels could be important for susceptibility to COVID-19 or its outcomes. Here, we report the discovery of a novel, transcriptionally independent truncated isoform of ACE2, which we designate as deltaACE2 (dACE2). We demonstrate that dACE2, but not ACE2, is an ISG. In The Cancer Genome Atlas, the expression of dACE2 was enriched in squamous tumors of the respiratory, gastrointestinal and urogenital tracts. In vitro, dACE2, which lacks 356 amino-terminal amino acids, was non-functional in binding the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and as a carboxypeptidase. Our results suggest that the ISG-type induction of dACE2 in IFN-high conditions created by treatments, an inflammatory tumor microenvironment or viral co-infections is unlikely to increase the cellular entry of SARS-CoV-2 and promote infection.
Sexually transmitted infections can reach the prostate gland where their harmful effects are mediated by innate immunity, including interferons. Humans are polymorphic for the germline dinucleotide ...variant, rs368234815-TT/ΔG, in the
gene encoding interferon λ4. Since the
ΔG allele has been linked to impaired viral clearance, we hypothesized that potential exposure to sexually transmitted pathogens, as assessed by the number of lifetime sexual partners, may increase prostate cancer risk in an
ΔG-dependent manner. Accordingly, we find that men with 10 or more sexual partners and at least one copy of
ΔG have a significantly increased risk of prostate cancer while those with the same number of partners but lacking
ΔG do not. Moreover, a test for effect modification shows a positive interaction between the number of lifetime partners and
ΔG in the development of aggressive prostate cancer. Based on these findings, we conclude that a gene-environment interaction between
ΔG and sexual activity may increase the risk of prostate cancer.
A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs6983267, located within the 8q24 region, is strongly associated with risk of colorectal and prostate cancer. It has been suggested that the mechanism of this ...association is related to differential interaction of TCF7L2 protein (previously known as TCF-4) with alleles of rs6983267, influencing the expression of a well-known oncogene, MYC, located 335 Kb telomeric. Here, we tested the correlation between mRNA expression of MYC and several alternatively spliced forms of TCF7L2 in 117 non-cancer colon samples. We observed a strong correlation (r = 0.60, p < 10(-6)) between expression of MYC and a unique splicing form of TCF7L2. The level of MYC expression in these samples was associated with expression of some TCF7L2 splicing forms but not with genotypes of rs6983267, or interaction of rs6983267 with TCF7L2 expression. These findings suggest that some splicing forms of TCF7L2 may be functionally important for regulation of MYC expression in colon tissue but this regulation is not directly dependent on rs6983267.
Numerous genetic association studies have implicated the KIAA0319 gene on human chromosome 6p22 in dyslexia susceptibility. The causative variant(s) remains unknown but may modulate gene expression, ...given that (1) a dyslexia-associated haplotype has been implicated in the reduced expression of KIAA0319, and (2) the strongest association has been found for the region spanning exon 1 of KIAA0319. Here, we test the hypothesis that variant(s) responsible for reduced KIAA0319 expression resides on the risk haplotype close to the gene's transcription start site. We identified seven single-nucleotide polymorphisms on the risk haplotype immediately upstream of KIAA0319 and determined that three of these are strongly associated with multiple reading-related traits. Using luciferase-expressing constructs containing the KIAA0319 upstream region, we characterized the minimal promoter and additional putative transcriptional regulator regions. This revealed that the minor allele of rs9461045, which shows the strongest association with dyslexia in our sample (max p-value = 0.0001), confers reduced luciferase expression in both neuronal and non-neuronal cell lines. Additionally, we found that the presence of this rs9461045 dyslexia-associated allele creates a nuclear protein-binding site, likely for the transcriptional silencer OCT-1. Knocking down OCT-1 expression in the neuronal cell line SHSY5Y using an siRNA restores KIAA0319 expression from the risk haplotype to nearly that seen from the non-risk haplotype. Our study thus pinpoints a common variant as altering the function of a dyslexia candidate gene and provides an illustrative example of the strategic approach needed to dissect the molecular basis of complex genetic traits.
Higher vitamin D status was not beneficially associated with responses to therapy; if anything, patients with higher vitamin D concentrations were less likely to attain SVR. Our data do not support a ...role for vitamin D supplementation as an adjuvant therapy for HCV.
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