Association Between Genetic Determinants of Peak Height Velocity During Puberty and Predisposition to Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis
SPINE
Authors: Mao, Saihu; Xu, Leilei; Zhu, Zezhang; Qian, Bangping; Qiao, Jun; Yi, Long; Qiu, Yong
Abstract
Study Design. An association study to comprehensively clarify variations of genetic determinants of peak height velocity (PHV) during puberty in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Objective. To investigate whether the genetic determinants of timing and magnitude of PHV during puberty are associated with the susceptibility or curve progression of the female patients with AIS. Summary of Background Data. An involvement of abnormal pubertal growth pattern in the etiopathogenesis of AIS has been implicated in previous studies. However, there is no clear consensus on the anthropometric variations of stature or growth rate. The recent advance in the longitudinally identified genetic determinants of PHV offers new opportunities to facilitate analysis of the association of pubertal growth with the susceptibility or curve severity of AIS. Methods. A gene-based association study was conducted using 9 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in or near SOCS2, SF3B4/SV2A, C17orf67, CABLES1, DOT1L, CDK6, C6orf106, and LIN28B with confirmed association with PHV, peak growth age, or adult height. A total of 500 patients with AIS and 494 age-matched healthy controls were genotyped using the PCR-based Invader assay. Case-control study and case-only study were performed to define the contribution of the 9 SNPs to predisposition and curve severity of AIS. Results. Strong associations between rs12459350 in DOT1L, rs4794665 in C17orf67, and susceptibility of AIS were found, with the PHV increasing allele G of rs12459350 and PHV/adult height increasing allele A of rs4794665 both being significant predisposition alleles of AIS (P = 0.001 for rs12459350, odds ratio = 1.16, 95% confidence interval = 1.06-1.27; P = 0.006 for rs4794665, odd ratio = 1.33, 95% confidence interval = 1.09-1.62). None of the genotyped SNPs was associated with curve severity in patients with AIS. Conclusion. Polymorphisms of the rs4794665 in C17orf67 and rs12459350 in DOT1L were associated with combined predisposition to AIS susceptibility and higher pubertal PHV, which strongly mirrored the anthropometric findings of taller pubertal stature and accelerated growth rate described in AIS.
The Cables1 Gene in Glucocorticoid Regulation of Pituitary Corticotrope Growth and Cushing Disease
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY & METABOLISM
Authors: Roussel-Gervais, Audrey; Couture, Catherine; Langlais, David; Takayasu, Shinobu; Balsalobre, Aurelio; Rueda, Bo R.; Zukerberg, Lawrence R.; Figarella-Branger, Dominique; Brue, Thierry; Drouin, Jacques
Abstract
Context: Cushing disease (CD) is due to pituitary corticotrope adenomas that produce unrestrained ACTH secretion and have lost the negative feedback exerted by glucocorticoids (GCs). GCs also restrain corticotrope proliferation, and the mechanisms of this inhibition are poorly understood. Objective: The aim of the study was to identify cell cycle regulatory genes that are regulated by GCs and the glucocorticoid receptor and to assess regulatory genes that have a rate-limiting action on corticotrope proliferation and may be disregulated in CD. Design: The mouse corticotrope tumor cells AtT-20 were used to identify GC-regulated genes that contribute to control of cell cycle progression. Surgery sections from patients with CD were used to assess expression of CABLES1 in corticotrope adenomas. Methods: Gene expression profiling, small interfering RNA knockdowns, cell cycle analyses, and genetic manipulations were performed in AtT-20 cells. Sequencing of chromatin immunoprecipitation for pituitary-restricted transcription factors and RNA polymerase II were used to identify regulatory elements and genes that bind GR and are direct transcriptional targets. A panel of previously well-characterized corticotrope adenomas was used to correlate expression of CABLES1 with that of other markers. Results: GCs altered expression of 3 positive and 3 negative regulators of cell cycle progression. Two Myc genes (L-Myc and N-Myc) and E2F2 are repressed by GCs, whereas genes for the negative regulators of the cell cycle, Gadd45 beta, Gadd45 gamma, and Cables1 are activated by GCs. Cables1 small interfering RNA knockdown strongly stimulates AtT-20 cell proliferation and antagonizes the growth inhibition produced by GCs. The Gadd45 and Cables1 genes have the hallmarks of direct GC targets. CABLES1 is expressed in normal human pituitary cells, but expression is lost in similar to 55% of corticotrope adenomas, and this is strongly correlated with the loss of p27(Kip1) expression. Conclusions: CABLES1 is a critical regulator of corticotrope proliferation that defines a pathway often inactivated in CD and links proliferation to GC resistance.