AbstractsBiology & Animal Science

MED12: a novel player in uterine leiomyomas

by Netta Mäkinen




Institution: University of Helsinki
Department: Haartman Institute
Year: 2015
Keywords: lääketieteellinen genetiikka
Record ID: 1134272
Full text PDF: http://hdl.handle.net/10138/152712


Abstract

Uterine leiomyomas, or fibroids, are benign tumors arising from the smooth muscle lining of the uterus, the myometrium. Although they represent one of the most common neoplasms in women with an estimated prevalence of 20-40% during the reproductive years, the molecular mechanisms underlying their tumorigenesis have remained relatively unknown. The aim of this thesis was to elucidate the molecular genetic characteristics of uterine leiomyomas using next-generation sequencing technology. Exome sequencing of 18 uterine leiomyomas and the respective normal myometrium from 17 Finnish (Caucasian) patients led to the identification of recurrent somatic mutations in mediator complex subunit 12 (MED12) gene. This, and further Sanger sequencing of 207 additional leiomyomas revealed that a remarkable 70% (159/225) of the tumors harbor MED12 mutations. MED12 is a component of the Mediator complex, which participates in the regulation of global as well as gene-specific transcription. All the observed mutations resided in exon 2 or the intron 1-exon 2 junction, an evolutionarily conserved region of the gene, suggesting that malfunction of the region contributes to tumorigenesis. This was the first time MED12 mutations have been implicated in human tumorigenesis. To validate the finding and determine the frequency of MED12 exon 2 mutations in another ethnic group, a series of 28 uterine leiomyomas from 18 South African patients underwent Sanger sequencing for the mutations. Altogether 50% (14/28) of the tumors displayed a mutation, indicating that MED12 mutations occur frequently also in uterine leiomyomas of South African women. Overall, the result confirms the role of these mutations in the growth and development of leiomyomas regardless of ethnicity. Original identification of MED12 exon 2 mutations took place in a series of histopathologically conventional uterine leiomyomas which account for approximately 90% of the tumors. To assess the frequency of MED12 mutations in rarer clinical leiomyoma subtypes, 103 histopathological uterine leiomyoma variants, as well as 34 uterine leiomyomas from 14 patients with hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer (HLRCC) syndrome, a disease caused by heterozygous germline mutations in fumarate hydratase (FH) gene, entered the study. Both the histopathological leiomyoma variants (17%; 18/103) and leiomyomas from HLRCC-patients (9%; 3/34) harbored MED12 mutations significantly less frequently than conventional leiomyomas (P less than 0.001), proposing that MED12 mutation positivity is a key characteristic of conventional leiomyomas. Of note, none of the MED12 mutation-positive tumors from HLRCC-patients displayed biallelic FH inactivation, a well-known attribute of tumors in HLRCC, suggesting that MED12 mutations and biallelic FH inactivation may be mutually exclusive. Exome sequencing of 27 uterine leiomyomas (12 MED12 mutation-negative and 15 MED12 mutation-positive) and their corresponding normal myometrium revealed no additional recurrent somatic mutations in either MED12…