title: Functional polymorphism in the 5'-UTR of CR2 is associated with susceptibility to nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a squamous cell cancer endemic in Southern China and Southeast Asia. It has been shown that inflammatory and immune responses during EBV infection contribute to the development of NPC. The complement receptor 2 (CR2) gene plays central roles during inflammatory and immune responses and, therefore, is a good candidate susceptibility gene for NPC. We performed PCR-based sequencing to identify multiple single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the exon regions of the CR2 gene in a Cantonese population. Two SNPs were screened in 528 NPC patients and 408 normal individuals to perform a case-control study matched according to age, gender and residence. Furthermore, we cloned the entire 5'-UTR and entire CR2 promoter into a luciferase report system and compared the luciferase activities between the different allelic constructs. A SNP in the 5'-UTR of CR2 (24 T/C, rs3813946) showed a significant association (P<0.01) with NPC in the Cantonese population studied. The subjects were categorized into 2 age groups: group 1, age ≤45 years and group 2, age >45 years. In group 1, the allelic frequencies of 24 T/C in the patients were significantly different from those of the controls (P=0.0034). The odds ratio (OR=1.81) also indicated a higher risk of NPC in individuals who carried the minor allele C. All constructs exerted allelic differences on luciferase activities, but only the susceptible allele +24C construct showed increased activity. Our findings implicate CR2 as a susceptibility gene for NPC and suggest that enhanced CR2 expression may be involved in the oncogenesis and development of NPC.
authors.affiliation: College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Jun-Fang
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Qi-Rui
authors.initials: QR
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hong-Bing
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Xue-Gang
authors.initials: XG
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Xin-Xi
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Hai-De
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Yin Yao
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Shugart
authors.forename: Wei-Hua
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Jia
mesh_terms: D020121:5' Untranslated Regions / Q000235:genetics*; D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D002277:Carcinoma; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D020031:Epstein-Barr Virus Infections; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000077274:Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D017464:Receptors, Complement 3d / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D017464:Receptors, Complement 3d