Mouse Caspase-9 ELISA Kit

We report a novel CASP9 germline mutation that may increase susceptibility to the development of brain tumors. We identified this mutation in a family in which three brain tumors had developed within three generations, including two anaplastic astrocytomas occurring in cousins. The cousins were diagnosed at similar ages (29 and 31 years), and their tumors showed similar histological features. Genetic analysis revealed somatic IDH1 and TP53 mutations in both tumors. However, no germline TP53 mutations were detected, despite the fact that this family fulfills the criteria of Li-Fraumeni-like syndrome. Whole exome sequencing revealed a germline stop-gain mutation (R65X) in the CASP9 gene, which encodes caspase-9, a key molecule for the p53-dependent mitochondrial death pathway. This mutation was also detected in DNA extracted from blood samples from the two siblings who were each a parent of one of the affected cousins. Caspase-9 immunohistochemistry showed the absence of caspase-9 immunoreactivity in the anaplastic astrocytomas and normal brain tissues of the cousins. These observations suggest that CASP9 germline mutations may have played a role at least in part to the susceptibility of development of gliomas in this Li-Fraumeni-like family lacking a TP53 germline mutation.

Bladder cancer is the fourth most common malignancy in men and the eighth most common in women in western countries. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes that regulate telomere maintenance, mitosis, inflammation, and apoptosis have not been assessed extensively for this disease. Using a population-based study with 832 bladder cancer cases and 1,191 controls, we assessed genetic variation in relation to cancer susceptibility or survival. Findings included an increased risk associated with variants in the methyl-metabolism gene, MTHFD2 (OR 1.7 95% CI 1.3-2.3), the telomerase TEP1 (OR 1.8 95% CI 1.2-2.6) and decreased risk associated with the inflammatory response gene variant IL8RB (OR 0.6 95% CI 0.5-0.9) compared to wild-type. Shorter survival was associated with apoptotic gene variants, including CASP9 (HR 1.8 95% CI 1.1-3.0). Variants in the detoxification gene EPHX1 experienced longer survival (HR 0.4 (95% CI 0.2-0.8). These genes can now be assessed in multiple study populations to identify and validate SNPs appropriate for clinical use.