Auli Karhu

Approximately 5% of colorectal cancers (CRCs) have a gain‐of‐function mutation in the GNAS gene, which leads to the activation of cAMP‐dependent signaling pathways and associates with poor prognosis. We investigated the effect of an activating GNAS mutation in CRC cell lines on gene expression and cell proliferation in vitro, and tumor growth in vivo. GNAS ‐mutated (GNASmt) HCT116 cells showed stimulated synthesis of cAMP as compared to parental (Par) cells. The most upregulated gene in the GNASmt cells was cAMP‐hydrolyzing phosphodiesterase 4D ( PDE4D) as detected by RNA sequencing. To further validate our finding, we analyzed PDE4D expression in a set of human CRC tumors (n = 35) and demonstrated overexpression in GNAS mutant CRC tumors as compared to GNAS wild‐type tumors. The GNASmt HCT116 cells proliferated more slowly than the Par cells. PDE4 inhibitor Ro 20‐1724 and PDE4D subtype selective inhibitor GEBR‐7b further suppressed the proliferation of GNASmt cells without an effect on Par cells. The growth inhibitory effect of these inhibitors was also seen in the intrinsically GNAS ‐mutated SK‐CO‐1 CRC cell line having high levels of cAMP synthesis and PDE4D expression. In vivo , GNASmt HCT116 cells formed smaller tumors than the Par cells in nude mice. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that GNAS mutation results in the growth suppression of CRC cells. Moreover, the GNAS mutation‐induced overexpression of PDE4D provides a potential avenue to impede the proliferation of CRC cells through the use of PDE4 inhibitors.

Parathyroid tumors are mostly sporadic but can also occur in familial forms, including different kinds of genetic syndromes with varying phenotypes and penetrance. Recently, somatic mutations of the tumor suppressor gene PRUNE2 were found to be frequent in parathyroid cancer (PC). The germline mutation status of PRUNE2 was investigated in a large cohort of patients with parathyroid tumors from the genetically homogenous Finnish population, 15 of which had PC, 16 atypical parathyroid tumors (APT), and 6 benign parathyroid adenomas (PA). Mutations in previously established hyperparathyroidism-related genes were screened with a targeted gene panel analysis. Nine PRUNE2 germline mutations with a minor allele frequency (MAF) of <0.05 were found in our cohort. Five of these were predicted to be potentially damaging and were identified in two patients with PC, two with APT, and three with PA. The mutational status was not associated with the tumor group nor related to the clinical picture or severity of the disease. Still, the frequent finding of rare germline mutations of PRUNE2 may point to the gene playing a role in the pathogenesis of parathyroid neoplasms.