Yasmin Soares de Lima, Coral Arnau-Collell, Jenifer Muñoz, Cristina Herrera-Pariente, Leticia Moreira, Teresa Ocaña, Marcos Díaz-Gay, Sebastià Franch-Expósito, Miriam Cuatrecasas, Sabela Carballal, Anael Lopez-Novo, Lorena Moreno, Guerau Fernàndez, Aranzazu Díaz de Bustamante, Sophia Peters, Anna K Sommer, Isabel Spier, Iris B A W te Paske, Yasmijn J van Herwaarden, Antoni Castells, Luis Bujanda, Gabriel Capellà, Verena Steinke-Lange, Khalid Mahmood, JiHoon Eric Joo, Julie Arnold, Susan Parry, Finlay A Macrae, Ingrid M Winship, Christophe Rosty, Joaquin Cubiella, Daniel Rodríguez-Alcalde, Elke Holinski-Feder, Richarda de Voer, Daniel D Buchanan, Stefan Aretz, Clara Ruiz-Ponte, Laura Valle, Francesc Balaguer, Laia Bonjoch, Sergi Castellvi-Bel
Abstract
Patients with serrated polyposis syndrome (SPS) have multiple and/or large serrated colonic polyps and higher risk for colorectal cancer. SPS inherited genetic basis is mostly unknown. We aimed to identify new germline predisposition factors for SPS by functionally evaluating a candidate gene and replicating it in additional SPS cohorts.
After a previous whole-exome sequencing in 39 SPS patients from 16 families (discovery cohort), we sequenced specific genes in an independent validation cohort of 211 unrelated SPS cases. Additional external replication was also available in 297 SPS cases. The WNK2 gene was disrupted in HT-29 cells by gene editing, and WNK2 variants were transfected using a lentiviral delivery system. Cells were analysed by immunoblots, real-time PCR and functional assays monitoring the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, cell cycle progression, survival and adhesion.
We identified 2 rare germline variants in the WNK2 gene in the discovery cohort, 3 additional variants in the validation cohort and 10 other variants in the external cohorts. Variants c.2105C>T (p.Pro702Leu), c.4820C>T (p.Ala1607Val) and c.6157G>A (p.Val2053Ile) were functionally characterised, displaying higher levels of phospho-PAK1/2, phospho-ERK1/2, CCND1, clonogenic capacity and MMP2.
After whole-exome sequencing in SPS cases with familial aggregation and replication of results in additional cohorts, we identified rare germline variants in the WNK2 gene. Functional studies suggested germline WNK2 variants affect protein function in the context of the MAPK pathway, a molecular hallmark in this disease.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 37. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 04 July 2023.
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#1,039,949
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#60
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#5
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Altmetric has tracked 24,547,718 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 95th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 3,045 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 7.6. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its peers.
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