title: Novel dominant mutations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae MSH6.
abstract: Inherited mutations in the mismatch repair (MMR) genes MSH2 and MLH1 are found in most hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer (HNPCC) patients studied. Eukaryotic MMR uses two partially redundant mispair-recognition complexes, Msh2p-Msh6p and Msh2p-Msh3p (ref.2) Inactivation of MSH2 causes high rates of accumulation of both base-substitution and frameshift mutations. Mutations in MSH6 or MSH3 cause partial defects in MMR, with inactivation of MSH6 resulting in high rates of base-substitution mutations and low rates of frameshift mutations; inactivation of MSH3 results in low rates of frameshift mutations. These different mutator phenotypes provide an explanation for the observation that MSH2 mutations are common in HNPCC families, whereas mutations in MSH3 and MSH6 are rare. We have identified novel missense mutations in Saccharomyces cerevisiae MSH6 that appear to inactivate both Msh2p-Msh6p- and Msh2p-Msh3p-dependent MMR. Our work suggests that such mutations may underlie some cases of inherited cancer susceptibility similar to those caused by MSH2 mutations.
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Department of Medicine and Cancer Center, University of California San Diego Medical School, La Jolla, California, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Das Gupta
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Kolodner
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D020137:Base Pair Mismatch; D003123:Colorectal Neoplasms, Hereditary Nonpolyposis / Q000235:genetics; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005799:Genes, Dominant; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics*; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D005656:Fungal Proteins; C098790:MSH6 protein, S cerevisiae; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins