title: 'Cut from the same cloth': Shared microsatellite variants among cancers link to ectodermal tissues-neural tube and crest cells.
abstract: The pluripotent cells of the embryonic ectodermal tissues are known to be a precursor for multiple tumor types. The adaptability of these cells is a trait exploited by cancer. We previously described cancer-associated microsatellite loci (CAML) shared between glioblastoma (GBM) and lower-grade gliomas. Therefore, we hypothesized that these variants, identified from germline DNA, are shared by cancers from tissues originating from ectodermal tissues: neural tube cells (NTC) and crest cells (NCC). Using exome sequencing data from four cancers with origins to NTC and NCC, a 'signature' of loci significant to each cancer (p-value ≤ 0.01) was created and compared with previously identified CAML from breast cancer. The results of this analysis show that variant loci among the cancers with tissue origins from NTC/NCC were closely linked. Signaling pathways linked to genes with non-coding CAML genotypes revealed enriched connections to hereditary, neurological, and developmental disease or disorders. Thus, variants in genes from tissues initiating from NTC/NCC, if recurrently detected, may indicate a common etiology. Additionally, CAML genotypes from non-tumor DNA may predict cancer phenotypes and are common to shared embryonic tissues of origin.
authors.affiliation: Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, Medical Informatics and Systems Division, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: Enusha
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karunasena
authors.affiliation: Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, Medical Informatics and Systems Division, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Mciver
authors.affiliation: Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, Medical Informatics and Systems Division, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: Jasmin H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Bavarva
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaowei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: Hongxiao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, Medical Informatics and Systems Division, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA.
authors.forename: Harold R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Garner
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D059472:Exome; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D009373:Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology*; D009432:Neural Crest / Q000473:pathology*; D054259:Neural Tube / Q000473:pathology*; D015398:Signal Transduction
keywords: glioma; medulloblastoma; melanoma; microsatellite; neuroblastoma