No abstract

Deletions involving regions of chromosome 10 occur in the vast majority (> 90%) of human glioblastoma multiformes. A region at chromosome 10q23-24 was implicated to contain a tumour suppressor gene and the identification of homozygous deletions in four glioma cell lines further refined the location. We have identified a gene, designated MMAC1, that spans these deletions and encodes a widely expressed 5.5-kb mRNA. The predicted MMAC1 protein contains sequence motifs with significant homology to the catalytic domain of protein phosphatases and to the cytoskeletal proteins, tensin and auxilin. MMAC1 coding-region mutations were observed in a number of glioma, prostate, kidney and breast carcinoma cell lines or tumour specimens. Our results identify a strong candidate tumour suppressor gene at chromosome 10q23.3, whose loss of function appears to be associated with the oncogenesis of multiple human cancers.

A putative tumor suppressor locus on the short arm of human chromosome 9 has been localized to a region of less than 40 kilobases by means of homozygous deletions in melanoma cell lines. This region contained a gene, Multiple Tumor Suppressor 1 (MTS1), that encodes a previously identified inhibitor (p16) of cyclin-dependent kinase 4. MTS1 was homozygously deleted at high frequency in cell lines derived from tumors of lung, breast, brain, bone, skin, bladder, kidney, ovary, and lymphocyte. Melanoma cell lines that carried at least one copy of MTS1 frequently carried nonsense, missense, or frameshift mutations in the gene. These findings suggest that MTS1 mutations are involved in tumor formation in a wide range of tissues.

Communicated by David GoldgarThe tumor suppressor gene TP53 is frequently mutated in human cancers. More than 75% of all mutations are missense substitutions that have been extensively analyzed in various yeast and human cell assays. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) TP53 database (www-p53.iarc.fr) compiles all genetic variations that have been reported in TP53. Here, we present recent database developments that include new annotations on the functional properties of mutant proteins, and we perform a systematic analysis of the database to determine the functional properties that contribute to the occurrence of mutational ''hotspots'' in different cancer types and to the phenotype of tumors. This analysis showed that loss of transactivation capacity is a key factor for the selection of missense mutations, and that difference in mutation frequencies is closely related to nucleotide substitution rates along TP53 coding sequence. An interesting new finding is that in patients with an inherited missense mutation, the age at onset of tumors was related to the functional severity of the mutation, mutations with total loss of transactivation activity being associated with earlier cancer onset compared to mutations that retain partial transactivation capacity. Furthermore, 80% of the most common mutants show a capacity to exert dominant-negative effect (DNE) over wild-type p53, compared to only 45% of the less frequent mutants studied, suggesting that DNE may play a role in shaping mutation patterns. These results provide new insights into the factors that shape mutation patterns and influence mutation phenotype, which may have clinical interest. Hum Mutat 28(6), 622-629, 2007. Published 2007

The genome of the japonica subspecies of rice, an important cereal and model monocot, was sequenced and assembled by whole-genome shotgun sequencing. The assembled sequence covers 93% of the 420-megabase genome. Gene predictions on the assembled sequence suggest that the genome contains 32,000 to 50,000 genes. Homologs of 98% of the known maize, wheat, and barley proteins are found in rice. Synteny and gene homology between rice and the other cereal genomes are extensive, whereas synteny with Arabidopsis is limited. Assignment of candidate rice orthologs to Arabidopsis genes is possible in many cases. The rice genome sequence provides a foundation for the improvement of cereals, our most important crops.