Identification and characterization of novel genes located at the t(1;15)(p36.2;q24) translocation breakpoint in the neuroblastoma cell line NGP.

The distal portion of chromosome 1p is frequently deleted in several human cancers, suggesting the presence of one or more putative tumor suppressor genes on this chromosomal arm. In human neuroblastoma, a consistently deleted region at 1p36.1-p36.2 has been defined by comparison of molecular loss of heterozygosity (LOH) analyses. Recently we described the identification of a yeast artificial chromosome, YAC 927G4, that spans a translocation/duplication breakpoint within the minimally defined LOH region at 1p36.1-p36.2 in the neuroblastoma cell line NGP. Here we describe the identification of two overlapping P1 artificial chromosomes comprising 220 kb at the distal end of YAC 927G4, which we have used as hybridization probes under modified conditions to screen a composite, normalized cDNA library (IMAGE cDNA library). Hybridization screening resulted in the rapid and comprehensive identification of partial cDNAs of which a portion comprised two novel candidate genes, termed DNB1/ARPh and DNB5, which encode putative proteins of 1011 and 447 amino acids, respectively. The DNB1/ARPh gene, which was found to be ubiquitously expressed in human adult and fetal tissues, is highly related to the DRPLA gene, in which expansion of a CAG triplet appears to be causal in the dentatorubral and pallidolysian atrophy disease phenotype. The DNB5 sequence, in contrast, which is predominantly expressed in brain tissues and fetal kidney, failed to show any similarity to sequences in the public domain. A preliminary assessment of transcription and sequence of both genes in several neuroblastoma cell lines does not, thus far, support a causal role in neuroblastoma. However, further analyses are required to confirm these results. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.