Skip to main content

Possible association between genetic variants in the H2AFX promoter region and risk of adult glioma in a Chinese Han population

Abstract

H2AFX, a histone H2A gene family member X, is a key component in the detection of and response to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) caused by ionizing radiation (IR), a known risk factor for glioma. Thus, genetic variants in the H2AFX promoter region that may result in abnormal protein expression could confer susceptibility to glioma. In this case–control study, we genotyped three common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs643788, rs8551, and rs2509851) in the H2AFX promoter region in 669 adult glioma patients and 638 cancer-free controls. The associations between each SNP or haplotype and glioma risk were estimated by calculating odds ratios (ORs) and the corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) using unconditional logistic regression models, with adjustment for age and sex. The H2AFX rs643788 A variant genotypes were significantly associated with reduced risk of glioma (GA versus GG: adjusted OR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.56–0.94; GA/AA versus GG: adjusted OR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.59–0.94), compared with the common GG genotype. Furthermore, this decreased risk was more evident among those aged ≥45 years (adjusted OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.45–0.90), male subjects (adjusted OR = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.50–0.96), and patients with glioblastoma (adjusted OR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.46–0.94). These results suggest that a common variant in the H2AFX promoter region may modulate risk of glioma, particularly for adult glioma. However, our findings need to be replicated in other independent populations.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Abbreviations

H2AFX :

H2A histone family member X

IR:

Ionizing radiation

OR:

Odds ratio

CI:

Confidence interval

DSB:

Double-strand break

SNP:

Single-nucleotide polymorphism

UTR:

Untranslated region

LD:

Linkage disequilibrium

MAF:

Minimum allele frequency

HWE:

Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium

DPAGT1:

Dolichyl-phosphate (UDP-N-acetylglucosamine) N-acetylglucosaminephosphotransferase 1 (GlcNAc-1-P transferase)

GWA:

Genome-wide association

CEU:

90 Individuals (30 trios) in Utah, USA, from the Centre d’Etude du Polymorphisme Humain collection

CHB:

45 Han Chinese in Beijing, China

References

  1. Xue QC, Pu PY, Yang YS, Shen CH (1990) A survey of 790 cases of astrocytoma. Clin Neurol Neurosurg 92:27–33

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Ohgaki H, Kleihues P (2005) Epidemiology and etiology of gliomas. Acta Neuropathol 109:93–108

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bondy ML, Scheurer ME, Malmer B, Barnholtz-Sloan JS, Davis FG, Il’yasova D, Kruchko C, McCarthy BJ, Rajaraman P, Schwartzbaum JA, Sadetzki S, Schlehofer B, Tihan T, Wiemels JL, Wrensch M, Buffler PA (2008) Brain tumor epidemiology: consensus from the Brain Tumor Epidemiology Consortium. Cancer 113:1953–1968

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Melean G, Sestini R, Ammannati F, Papi L (2004) Genetic insights into familial tumors of the nervous system. Am J Med Genet C Semin Med Genet 129C:74–84

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Sadetzki S, Chetrit A, Freedman L, Stovall M, Modan B, Novikov I (2005) Long-term follow-up for brain tumor development after childhood exposure to ionizing radiation for Tinea capitis. Radiat Res 163:424–432

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Malmer B, Adatto P, Armstrong G, Barnholtz-Sloan J, Bernstein JL, Claus E, Davis F, Houlston R, Il’yasova D, Jenkins R, Johansen C, Lai R, Lau C, McCarthy B, Nielsen H, Olson SH, Sadetzki S, Shete S, Wiklund F, Wrensch M, Yang P, Bondy M (2007) GLIOGENE an International Consortium to Understand Familial Glioma. Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prev 16:1730–1734

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Dickey JS, Redon CE, Nakamura AJ, Baird BJ, Sedelnikova OA, Bonner WM (2009) H2AX: functional roles and potential applications. Chromosoma 118:683–692

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Bassing CH, Chua KF, Sekiguchi J, Suh H, Whitlow SR, Fleming JC, Monroe BC, Ciccone DN, Yan C, Vlasakova K, Livingston DM, Ferguson DO, Scully R, Alt FW (2002) Increased ionizing radiation sensitivity and genomic instability in the absence of histone H2AX. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99:8173–8178

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Celeste A, Petersen S, Romanienko PJ, Fernandez-Capetillo O, Chen HT, Sedelnikova OA, Reina-San-Martin B, Coppola V, Meffre E, Difilippantonio MJ, Redon C, Pilch DR, Olaru A, Eckhaus M, Camerini-Otero RD, Tessarollo L, Livak F, Manova K, Bonner WM, Nussenzweig MC, Nussenzweig A (2002) Genomic instability in mice lacking histone H2AX. Science 296:922–927

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Bassing CH, Suh H, Ferguson DO, Chua KF, Manis J, Eckersdorff M, Gleason M, Bronson R, Lee C, Alt FW (2003) Histone H2AX: a dosage-dependent suppressor of oncogenic translocations and tumors. Cell 114:359–370

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Celeste A, Difilippantonio S, Difilippantonio MJ, Fernandez-Capetillo O, Pilch DR, Sedelnikova OA, Eckhaus M, Ried T, Bonner WM, Nussenzweig A (2003) H2AX haploinsufficiency modifies genomic stability and tumor susceptibility. Cell 114:371–383

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Celeste A, Fernandez-Capetillo O, Kruhlak MJ, Pilch DR, Staudt DW, Lee A, Bonner RF, Bonner WM, Nussenzweig A (2003) Histone H2AX phosphorylation is dispensable for the initial recognition of DNA breaks. Nat Cell Biol 5:675–679

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Monteiro AN, Zhang S, Phelan CM, Narod SA (2003) Absence of constitutional H2AX gene mutations in 101 hereditary breast cancer families. J Med Genet 40:e51

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Walsh SH, Rosenquist R (2005) Absence of H2AX gene mutations in B-cell leukemias and lymphomas. Leukemia 19:464

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Wilkie GS, Dickson KS, Gray NK (2003) Regulation of mRNA translation by 5′- and 3′-UTR-binding factors. Trends Biochem Sci 28:182–188

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Buckland PR, Hoogendoorn B, Coleman SL, Guy CA, Smith SK, O’Donovan MC (2005) Strong bias in the location of functional promoter polymorphisms. Hum Mutat 26:214–223

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Ponomarenko JV, Merkulova TI, Vasiliev GV, Levashova ZB, Orlova GV, Lavryushev SV, Fokin ON, Ponomarenko MP, Frolov AS, Sarai A (2001) rSNP_Guide, a database system for analysis of transcription factor binding to target sequences: application to SNPs and site-directed mutations. Nucleic Acids Res 29:312–316

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Buckland PR (2006) The importance and identification of regulatory polymorphisms and their mechanisms of action. Biochim Biophys Acta 1762:17–28

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. De Gobbi M, Viprakasit V, Hughes JR, Fisher C, Buckle VJ, Ayyub H, Gibbons RJ, Vernimmen D, Yoshinaga Y, de Jong P, Cheng JF, Rubin EM, Wood WG, Bowden D, Higgs DR (2006) A regulatory SNP causes a human genetic disease by creating a new transcriptional promoter. Science 312:1215–1217

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Novik KL, Spinelli JJ, Macarthur AC, Shumansky K, Sipahimalani P, Leach S, Lai A, Connors JM, Gascoyne RD, Gallagher RP, Brooks-Wilson AR (2007) Genetic variation in H2AFX contributes to risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Cancer Epidemiol Biomark Prev 16:1098–1106

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Lu J, Wei Q, Bondy ML, Brewster AM, Bevers TB, Yu TK, Buchholz TA, Meric-Bernstam F, Hunt KK, Singletary SE, Wang LE (2008) Genetic variants in the H2AFX promoter region are associated with risk of sporadic breast cancer in non-Hispanic white women aged < or = 55 years. Breast Cancer Res Treat 110:357–366

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Liu Y, Zhang H, Zhou K, Chen L, Xu Z, Zhong Y, Liu H, Li R, Shugart YY, Wei Q, Jin L, Huang F, Lu D, Zhou L (2007) Tagging SNPs in non-homologous end-joining pathway genes and risk of glioma. Carcinogenesis 28:1906–1913

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Liu Y, Zhou K, Zhang H, Shugart YY, Chen L, Xu Z, Zhong Y, Liu H, Jin L, Wei Q, Huang F, Lu D, Zhou L (2008) Polymorphisms of LIG4 and XRCC4 involved in the NHEJ pathway interact to modify risk of glioma. Hum Mutat 29:381–389

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Zhou K, Liu Y, Zhang H, Liu H, Fan W, Zhong Y, Xu Z, Jin L, Wei Q, Huang F, Lu D, Zhou L (2009) XRCC3 haplotypes and risk of gliomas in a Chinese population: a hospital-based case–control study. Int J Cancer 124:2948–2953

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Stephens M, Donnelly P (2003) A comparison of Bayesian methods for haplotype reconstruction from population genotype data. Am J Hum Genet 73:1162–1169

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Choudhury A, Elliott F, Iles MM, Churchman M, Bristow RG, Bishop DT, Kiltie AE (2008) Analysis of variants in DNA damage signalling genes in bladder cancer. BMC Med Genet 9:69

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Liu Y, Tseng M, Perdreau SA, Rossi F, Antonescu C, Besmer P, Fletcher JA, Duensing S, Duensing A (2007) Histone H2AX is a mediator of gastrointestinal stromal tumor cell apoptosis following treatment with imatinib mesylate. Cancer Res 67:2685–2692

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Srivastava N, Gochhait S, Gupta P, Bamezai RN (2008) Copy number alterations of the H2AFX gene in sporadic breast cancer patients. Cancer Genet Cytogenet 180:121–128

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Jane EP, Pollack IF (2010) Enzastaurin induces H2AX phosphorylation to regulate apoptosis via MAPK signalling in malignant glioma cells. Eur J Cancer 46:412–419

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. IH Consortium (2005) A haplotype map HapMap Project. Nature 437:1299–1320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Wrensch M, Bondy ML, Wiencke J, Yost M (1993) Environmental risk factors for primary malignant brain tumors: a review. J Neurooncol 17:47–64

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Shete S, Hosking FJ, Robertson LB, Dobbins SE, Sanson M, Malmer B, Simon M, Marie Y, Boisselier B, Delattre JY, Hoang-Xuan K, El Hallani S, Idbaih A, Zelenika D, Andersson U, Henriksson R, Bergenheim AT, Feychting M, Lonn S, Ahlbom A, Schramm J, Linnebank M, Hemminki K, Kumar R, Hepworth SJ, Price A, Armstrong G, Liu Y, Gu X, Yu R, Lau C, Schoemaker M, Muir K, Swerdlow A, Lathrop M, Bondy M, Houlston RS (2009) Genome-wide association study identifies five susceptibility loci for glioma. Nat Genet 41:899–904

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Wrensch M, Jenkins RB, Chang JS, Yeh RF, Xiao Y, Decker PA, Ballman KV, Berger M, Buckner JC, Chang S, Giannini C, Halder C, Kollmeyer TM, Kosel ML, LaChance DH, McCoy L, O’Neill BP, Patoka J, Pico AR, Prados M, Quesenberry C, Rice T, Rynearson AL, Smirnov I, Tihan T, Wiemels J, Yang P, Wiencke JK (2009) Variants in the CDKN2B and RTEL1 regions are associated with high-grade glioma susceptibility. Nat Genet 41:905–908

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Xilan Mei, Jian Yu, and Mei Chong for subject enrollment, Yin Wang and Wenting Wu for laboratory assistance, and Dr. Melissa Bondy for providing the M.D. Anderson brain tumor questionnaire. We also thank all participants of the Department of Neurosurgery of Huashan Hospital for their cooperation during data collection. This work was supported by Shanghai Science and Technology Research Program 09JC1402200, Shanghai Leading Scientist for Public Health 08GWD07, and Shanghai Key Subject Project for Public Health 08GWZX0301.

Author information

Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Ying Mao or Daru Lu.

Additional information

Weiwei Fan and Keke Zhou contributed equally to this study.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fan, W., Zhou, K., Zhao, Y. et al. Possible association between genetic variants in the H2AFX promoter region and risk of adult glioma in a Chinese Han population. J Neurooncol 105, 211–218 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-011-0586-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11060-011-0586-5

Keywords

  • DNA repair
  • Glioma
  • H2AFX
  • Tagging SNP
  • Association study