Germline MEN1 mutations in sixteen Japanese families with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1).
OBJECTIVE
Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN1) is a syndrome of endocrine tumors involving the parathyroids, anterior pituitary and enteropancreatic neuroendocrine tissues, and is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. Recently, the gene responsible for this syndrome, MEN1, was positionally cloned in 11q13. We aimed to assess the significance of MEN1 gene diagnostics in families with MEN1.


METHODS
Sixteen probands of familial MEN1 and their 40 family members were subjected to the study.


METHODS
Full-length sequencing of the open reading frame and exon-intron boundaries in the MEN1 gene was performed with probands of familial MEN1. Family members were examined for the identified mutation in the proband.


RESULTS
We identified heterozygous germline mutations of the MEN1 gene in all of 16 Japanese MEN1 families examined, achieving the highest detectability of MEN1 mutations in familial MEN1 among studies that examined more than 10 families. Eleven kinds of the identified MEN1 germline mutations were novel. More than half were nonsense or frameshift mutations resulting in a premature stop codon (9/15; 60%), and no mutation hot spots or no apparent genotype-phenotype relationships were observed, in support of the results of other studies. We identified 40 mutant MEN1 gene carriers and 16 non-carriers in the course of the present study in those families.


CONCLUSIONS
Analysis of the germline mutations in the MEN1 gene, providing significantly useful clinical information to probands and family members of MEN1, should be considered as a standard procedure and categorized as belonging to Group 1 cancer predisposition testing by the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Hai
N
N
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Kyoto University School of Medicine, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.
Aoki
N
N
Matsuda
A
A
Mori
T
T
Kosugi
S
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018761:Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 1 / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D010282:Parathyroid Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D017931:DNA Primers; C105373:MEN1 protein, human; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D004247:DNA