Grand Rapids, MI (October 27, 2008) – Van Andel Institute (VAI) researchers have found that when chromosomes “stick” together during the cell division process, an outcome known as somatic chromosome pairing, the result in two types of kidney cancer is disruption of a gene critical for cellular response to changes in oxygen levels. Somatic chromosome pairing may be present in other tumor types as well.
“We found that somatic chromosome pairing affects how genes are expressed in cells just like so many other factors that cause cancer by affecting gene expression,” said VAI Scientific Investigator Kyle Furge, Ph.D., whose laboratory published the findings. “This suggests that researchers should not only look at abnormalities in the number and structure of chromosomes in relation to cancer, but the spatial dynamics of chromosomes as well. It’s something new to consider when finding the molecular causes of cancer and looking for drug targets.”
Although somatic chromosome pairing has previously been observed in cancer cells, the VAI study published in PLoS Genetics is one of the first to delve into what its effects are. Researchers studied two types of kidney cancer: chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and renal oncocytoma. They found that chromophobe RCC cells contain an extra copy of chromosome 19, and that renal oncocytoma cells have somatic chromosome pairing. The effect of both abnormalities is the same – disruption of the gene EGLN2, which is critical for cellular response to changes in oxygen levels.
“Somatic chromosome pairing may also be present in other tumor cells,” said Furge. “These findings could definitely have a wider impact with further study.”
According to the American Cancer Society, RCC is the most common type of kidney cancer. In the United States, approximately 54,000 new cases of RCC are diagnosed and 13,000 deaths attributed to the disease each year.
