Medical Genetics Unit, S.Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Center for Studies on Hereditary Cancer, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
Eur J Hum Genet. 2018 Mar;26(3):387-395. doi: 10.1038/s41431-017-0086-y. Epub 2018 Jan 24.
Germline variants in the APC gene cause familial adenomatous polyposis. Inherited variants in MutYH, POLE, POLD1, NTHL1, and MSH3 genes and somatic APC mosaicism have been reported as alternative causes of polyposis. However, ~30-50% of cases of polyposis remain genetically unsolved. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the genetic causes of unexplained adenomatous polyposis. Eight sporadic cases with >20 adenomatous polyps by 35 years of age or >50 adenomatous polyps by 55 years of age, and no causative germline variants in APC and/or MutYH, were enrolled from a cohort of 56 subjects with adenomatous colorectal polyposis. APC gene mosaicism was investigated on DNA from colonic adenomas by Sanger sequencing or Whole Exome Sequencing (WES). Mosaicism extension to other tissues (peripheral blood, saliva, hair follicles) was evaluated using Sanger sequencing and/or digital PCR. APC second hit was investigated in adenomas from mosaic patients. WES was performed on DNA from peripheral blood to identify additional polyposis candidate variants. We identified APC mosaicism in 50% of patients. In three cases mosaicism was restricted to the colon, while in one it also extended to the duodenum and saliva. One patient without APC mosaicism, carrying an APC in-frame deletion of uncertain significance, was found to harbor rare germline variants in OGG1, POLQ, and EXO1 genes. In conclusion, our restrictive selection criteria improved the detection of mosaic APC patients. In addition, we showed for the first time that an oligogenic inheritance of rare variants might have a cooperative role in sporadic colorectal polyposis onset.
种系 APC 基因突变导致家族性腺瘤性息肉病。已报道 MutYH、POLE、POLD1、NTHL1 和 MSH3 基因突变和 APC 基因体嵌合性是引起息肉病的其他原因。然而,约 30-50%的息肉病病例的遗传原因仍未得到解决。因此,本研究旨在探讨不明原因的腺瘤性息肉病的遗传原因。从 56 名结直肠腺瘤性息肉病患者的队列中招募了 8 名年龄在 35 岁时>20 个腺瘤性息肉或 55 岁时>50 个腺瘤性息肉、APC 和/或 MutYH 中无致病种系变异的散发性病例。通过 Sanger 测序或全外显子组测序(WES)对结肠腺瘤中的 APC 基因嵌合性进行了研究。使用 Sanger 测序和/或数字 PCR 评估其他组织(外周血、唾液、毛囊)的嵌合性扩展。对嵌合患者的腺瘤进行 APC 二次打击研究。对来自外周血的 DNA 进行 WES 以鉴定其他息肉候选变异。我们在 50%的患者中发现了 APC 嵌合性。在 3 例中,嵌合性仅局限于结肠,而在 1 例中,还扩展到十二指肠和唾液。一名未发现 APC 嵌合性、携带意义未明的 APC 框内缺失的患者,被发现携带 OGG1、POLQ 和 EXO1 基因的罕见种系变异。总之,我们严格的选择标准提高了对嵌合 APC 患者的检测。此外,我们首次表明,罕见变异的寡基因遗传可能在散发性结直肠息肉病的发病中具有协同作用。