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R Kolodner

Publications and source records attributed to R Kolodner.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Germline characterization of early-aged onset of hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer.

OBJECTIVES: Hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) is characterized by the early onset of colorectal cancer (approximately 40 years). Adolescent colorectal cancer is unusual in HNPCC families. We speculated that some DNA mismatch repair germline mutations might be associated with early onset of disease. STUDY DESIGN: Genomic DNA was extracted from members of a kindred with virulent HNPCC fitting the Amsterdam Criteria for HNPCC and sequenced for 2 DNA mismatch repair genes, hMSH2 and hMLH1. A sigmoid adenocarcinoma from the 14-year-old proband was analyzed for highfrequency microsatellite instability and immunostained for DNA mismatch repair gene expression. RESULTS: A germline mutation was identified at nucleotide 676 (codon 226) of the hMLH1 gene. The C to T transition created a nonsense mutation, truncating the hMLH1 protein. This mutation also alters the splice donor sequence, because nucleotide 676 is 2 base pairs from the 3' end of the exon 8. The proband's tumor demonstrated high-frequency microsatellite instability and displayed loss of hMLH1 expression, indicating bi-allelic inactivation of hMLH1. CONCLUSIONS: A complex mutation of hMLH1 at codon 226 is associated with adolescent onset of colorectal cancer in an HNPCC family. Genetic screening of other suspected HNPCC families with unusually young members with cancer might reveal certain genotypes with particularly virulent forms of this disease.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗
PubMed1999

Mammalian MutS homologue 5 is required for chromosome pairing in meiosis.

MSH5 (MutS homologue 5) is a member of a family of proteins known to be involved in DNA mismatch repair. Germline mutations in MSH2, MLH1 and GTBP (also known as MSH6) cause hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer (HNPCC) or Lynch syndrome. Inactivation of Msh2, Mlh1, Gtmbp (also known as Msh6) or Pms2 in mice leads to hereditary predisposition to intestinal and other cancers. Early studies in yeast revealed a role for some of these proteins, including Msh5, in meiosis. Gene targeting studies in mice confirmed roles for Mlh1 and Pms2 in mammalian meiosis. To assess the role of Msh5 in mammals, we generated and characterized mice with a null mutation in Msh5. Msh5-/- mice are viable but sterile. Meiosis in these mice is affected due to the disruption of chromosome pairing in prophase I. We found that this meiotic failure leads to a diminution in testicular size and a complete loss of ovarian structures. Our results show that normal Msh5 function is essential for meiotic progression and, in females, gonadal maintenance.

Animals↗
PubMed1999

A common MSH2 mutation in English and North American HNPCC families: origin, phenotypic expression, and sex specific differences in colorectal cancer.

The frequency, origin, and phenotypic expression of a germline MSH2 gene mutation previously identified in seven kindreds with hereditary non-polyposis cancer syndrome (HNPCC) was investigated. The mutation (A-->T at nt943+3) disrupts the 3' splice site of exon 5 leading to the deletion of this exon from MSH2 mRNA and represents the only frequent MSH2 mutation so far reported. Although this mutation was initially detected in four of 33 colorectal cancer families analysed from eastern England, more extensive analysis has reduced the frequency to four of 52 (8%) English HNPCC kindreds analysed. In contrast, the MSH2 mutation was identified in 10 of 20 (50%) separately identified colorectal families from Newfoundland. To investigate the origin of this mutation in colorectal cancer families from England (n=4), Newfoundland (n=10), and the United States (n=3), haplotype analysis using microsatellite markers linked to MSH2 was performed. Within the English and US families there was little evidence for a recent common origin of the MSH2 splice site mutation in most families. In contrast, a common haplotype was identified at the two flanking markers (CA5 and D2S288) in eight of the Newfoundland families. These findings suggested a founder effect within Newfoundland similar to that reported by others for two MLH1 mutations in Finnish HNPCC families. We calculated age related risks of all, colorectal, endometrial, and ovarian cancers in nt943+3 A-->T MSH2 mutation carriers (n=76) for all patients and for men and women separately. For both sexes combined, the penetrances at age 60 years for all cancers and for colorectal cancer were 0.86 and 0.57, respectively. The risk of colorectal cancer was significantly higher (p<0.01) in males than females (0.63 v 0.30 and 0.84 v 0.44 at ages 50 and 60 years, respectively). For females there was a high risk of endometrial cancer (0.5 at age 60 years) and premenopausal ovarian cancer (0.2 at 50 years). These intersex differences in colorectal cancer risks have implications for screening programmes and for attempts to identify colorectal cancer susceptibility modifiers.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1998

The evolutionarily conserved zinc finger motif in the largest subunit of human replication protein A is required for DNA replication and mismatch repair but not for nucleotide excision repair.

The largest subunit of the replication protein A (RPA) contains an evolutionarily conserved zinc finger motif that lies outside of the domains required for binding to single-stranded DNA or forming the RPA holocomplex. In previous studies, we showed that a point mutation in this motif (RPAm) cannot support SV40 DNA replication. We have now investigated the role of this motif in several steps of DNA replication and in two DNA repair pathways. RPAm associates with T antigen, assists the unwinding of double-stranded DNA at an origin of replication, stimulates DNA polymerases alpha and delta, and supports the formation of the initial short Okazaki fragments. However, the synthesis of a leading strand and later Okazaki fragments is impaired. In contrast, RPAm can function well during the incision step of nucleotide excision repair and in a full repair synthesis reaction, with either UV-damaged or cisplatin-adducted DNA. Two deletion mutants of the Rpa1 subunit (eliminating amino acids 1-278 or 222-411) were not functional in nucleotide excision repair. We report for the first time that wild type RPA is required for a mismatch repair reaction in vitro. Neither the deletion mutants nor RPAm can support this reaction. Therefore, the zinc finger of the largest subunit of RPA is required for a function that is essential for DNA replication and mismatch repair but not for nucleotide excision repair.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1997

Mutation in the mismatch repair gene Msh6 causes cancer susceptibility.

Mice carrying a null mutation in the mismatch repair gene Msh6 were generated by gene targeting. Cells that were homozygous for the mutation did not produce any detectable MSH6 protein, and extracts prepared from these cells were defective for repair of single nucleotide mismatches. Repair of 1, 2, and 4 nucleotide insertion/deletion mismatches was unaffected. Mice that were homozygous for the mutation had a reduced life span. The mice developed a spectrum of tumors, the most predominant of which were gastrointestinal tumors and B- as well as T-cell lymphomas. The tumors did not show any microsatellite instability. We conclude that MSH6 mutations, like those in some other members of the family of mismatch repair genes, lead to cancer susceptibility, and germline mutations in this gene may be associated with a cancer predisposition syndrome that does not show microsatellite instability.

Adenomatous Polyposis Coli Protein↗
PubMed1997

Methylation of the hMLH1 promoter correlates with lack of expression of hMLH1 in sporadic colon tumors and mismatch repair-defective human tumor cell lines.

Somatic mutations in DNA mismatch repair genes have been observed in sporadic tumors as well as cell lines and xenografts derived from such tumors implicating genetic defects of mismatch repair genes in the development of such tumors. However, the proportion of sporadic tumors in which mismatch repair genes have been inactivated has not been determined accurately. We have analyzed 66 sporadic colorectal tumors for the expression of hMLH1 by immunohistochemistry and identified 4 tumors that do not express hMLH1. These four colorectal tumors, a colon tumor cell line (SW48) and an endometrial tumor cell line (AN3CA), did not express hMLH1, despite the absence of mutations in its coding sequence. Cytosine methylation of the hMLH1 promoter region was found in these four colorectal tumors, whereas cytosine methylation of the hMLH1 promoter region was absent in adjacent normal tissue or in nine tumors that expressed hMLH1. In addition, cytosine methylation of the hMLH1 promoter region was observed in the SW48 and AN3CA cell lines that do not express hMLH1 but not in four tumor cell lines known to express hMLH1 mRNA. Our data indicate that DNA methylation is likely to be a common mode of mismatch repair gene inactivation in sporadic tumors.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗
PubMed1996

hMSH2 forms specific mispair-binding complexes with hMSH3 and hMSH6.

The genetic and biochemical properties of three human MutS homologues, hMSH2, hMSH3, and hMSH6, have been examined. The full-length hMSH6 cDNA and genomic locus were isolated and characterized, and it was demonstrated that the hMSH6 gene consisted of 10 exons and mapped to chromosome 2p15-16. The hMSH3 cDNA was in some cases found to contain a 27-bp deletion resulting in a loss of nine amino acids, depending on the individual from which the cDNA was isolated. hMSH2, hMSH3, and hMSH6 all showed similar tissue-specific expression patterns. hMSH2 protein formed a complex with both hMSH3 and hMSH6 proteins, similar to protein complexes demonstrated by studies of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae MSH2, MSH3, and MSH6. hMSH2 was also found to form a homomultimer complex, but neither hMSH3 nor hMSH6 appear to interact with themselves or each other. Analysis of the mismatched nucleotide-binding specificity of the hMSH2-hMSH3 and hMSH2-hMSH6 protein complexes showed that they have overlapping but not identical binding specificity. These results help to explain the distribution of mutations in different mismatch-repair genes seen in hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1996

Redundancy of Saccharomyces cerevisiae MSH3 and MSH6 in MSH2-dependent mismatch repair.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes six genes, MSH1-6, which encode proteins related to the bacterial MutS protein. In this study the role of MSH2, MSH3, and MSH6 in mismatch repair has been examined by measuring the rate of accumulating mutations and mutation spectrum in strains containing different combinations of msh2, msh3, and msh6 mutations and by studying the physical interaction between the MSH2 protein and the MSH3 and MSH6 proteins. The results indicate that S. cerevisiae has two pathways of MSH2-dependent mismatch repair: one that recognized single-base mispairs and requires MSH2 and MSH6, and a second that recognizes insertion/deletion mispairs and requires a combination of either MSH2 and MSH6 or MSH2 and MSH3. The redundancy of MSH3 and MSH6 explains the greater prevalence of hmsh2 mutations in HNPCC families and suggests how the role of hmsh3 and hmsh6 mutations in cancer susceptibility could be analyzed.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1996

Saccharomyces cerevisiae pms2 mutations are alleles of MLH1, and pms2-2 corresponds to a hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal carcinoma-causing missense mutation.

A number of mutant Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains having phenotypes consistent with defects in DNA mismatch repair have been described, but not all have been extensively characterized. In this study we demonstrate that the pms2-1 and pms2-2 alleles arise from missense mutations in the MLH1 gene which inactivate MLH1. One of these alleles, pms2-2, causes the same amino acid substitution in a highly conserved region of the known MutL homologs as that caused by a proposed missense mutation observed in a Swedish hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal carcinoma kindred. This observation supports the functional significance of missense mutations found in hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal carcinoma kindreds and indicates that in some cases S. cerevisiae can serve as a useful model system for the analysis of such mutations.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗
PubMed1996

Majority of hMLH1 mutations responsible for hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer cluster at the exonic region 15-16.

Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) is a common autosomal dominant cancer susceptibility condition. Inherited mutations in at least four DNA mismatch repair genes, hMSH2, hMLH1, hPMS1, and hPMS2, are known to cause HNPCC. In this study we used denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) to screen for hMLH1 mutations in 34 unrelated HNPCC families (30 Dutch, 3 Italian, and 1 Danish). Ten novel pathogenic germ-line mutations (seven affecting splice sites, two frameshifts, and one in-frame deletion of a single amino acid) have been identified in 12 (35%) of these families. In a previous study, hMSH2 mutations were found in 21% of the same families. While the spectrum of mutations at the hMSH2 gene among HNPCC patients appears heterogeneous, a cluster of hMLH1 mutations has been found in the region encompassing exons 15 and 16, which accounts for 50% of all the independent hMLH1 mutations described to date and for > 20% of the unrelated HNPCC kindreds here analyzed. This unexpected finding has a great practical value in the clinical scenario of genetic services.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗
PubMed1995

Mutation screening in the hMLH1 gene in Swedish hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer families.

Hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer is caused by heritable defects in the DNA mismatch repair genes hMLH1, hMSH2, hPMS1, and hPMS2. We have used denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis to analyze the 19 exons and exon-intron borders of hMLH1 in 39 Swedish hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer families. Germline mutations were found in eight of these families: two splice mutations affecting exons 3 and 7, respectively, and six missense mutations, of which, four were in exon 2 and one each were in exons 1 and 16. The relatively high number of missense mutations raises several important clinical and technical issues. Such alterations can be identified only when using methods that target DNA or mRNA sequence alteration because they do not cause protein truncations detected by in vitro translation assays. Furthermore, the relationship between these missense mutations and the predisposition to colon cancer is difficult to determine without additional information; thus, genetic counseling based on mutation data is difficult.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗
PubMed1995

Electron microscopic visualization of RecT protein and its complexes with DNA.

Electron microscopy has been used to examine Escherichia coli RecT protein alone and in the complexes it forms with DNA substrates, with which it catalyzes strand exchange in vitro. Negative staining has revealed that the 33 kDa RecT protein monomers form open C-shaped and closed O-shaped particles. RecT protein monomers assemble into donut-shaped oligomers containing seven or eight protein monomers and rod-like structures. When bound to single-stranded DNA, RecT forms highly twisted nucleoprotein filaments that are 18 nm in diameter and have a helical pitch of 10 nm. When added to linear duplex DNA in the presence of active RecE protein (exonuclease VIII), filamentous nucleoprotein complexes are formed on the DNA ends and the DNA molecules are frequently cyclized through protein-protein interactions.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1995

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Msh2 protein specifically binds to duplex oligonucleotides containing mismatched DNA base pairs and insertions.

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae encodes four proteins, Msh1, Msh2, Msh3, Msh4, that show strong amino acid sequence similarity to MutS, a central component of the bacterial mutHLS mismatch repair system. MutS has been shown to recognize base pair mismatches in DNA in vitro. Previous studies have suggested that Msh2 is the major mismatch recognition protein in yeast. In this study, the 109-kD Msh2 polypeptide was overexpressed and purified to analyze its DNA-binding properties. This analysis demonstrated that Msh2 can bind selectively to duplex oligonucleotide substrates containing a G/T mismatch, 1- to 14-nucleotide insertion mismatches, and palindromic (12- to 14-nucleotide) insertion mismatches. A general trend was that the affinity of Msh2 for substrate was proportional to the size of the insertion mispair present (+14 PAL, +12 PAL > +14 > +8 > GT, +6, +4, +2, +1). Kinetic studies indicated that the specificity of Msh2 to mismatch substrates was a function of its ability to form stable complexes with mispair-containing duplex DNAs. These complexes decayed more slowly than Msh2 complexes formed with homoduplex DNA.

Base Composition↗
PubMed1994

Purification and characterization of the Escherichia coli RecO protein. Renaturation of complementary single-stranded DNA molecules catalyzed by the RecO protein.

The recO gene product is required for RecF pathway-mediated recombination and the repair of DNA damage after UV irradiation or mitomycin C exposure in Escherichia coli. In this study, the E. coli recO gene product was overexpressed and purified to at least 99% homogeneity. N-Terminal protein sequence analysis of the overexpressed 31 kDa polypeptide confirmed that this polypeptide was encoded by the recO gene. The N-terminal protein sequence of RecO also confirmed that the first 12 amino acids of functional RecO protein are encoded within the upstream era gene. The purified protein chromatographs with the same Stokes radius (25 A) as a globular protein having a molecular mass of 28 kDa, indicating that RecO is a monomer in solution. The purified RecO protein binds to both single-stranded and double-stranded DNA, and promotes renaturation of complementary single-stranded DNA molecules in the absence of any high energy cofactor. The rate constant for this reaction is independent of the concentration of DNA, suggesting that the reaction follows first-order reaction kinetics. In addition, this reaction is inhibited by 160 mM NaCl, requires Mg2+, and is not stimulated by ATP. These biochemical characteristics support a role for RecO protein in an early phase of homologous recombination.

Amino Acid Sequence↗