Disomy as the genetic underlying mechanisms of loss of heterozigosity in SDHD-paragangliomas.

CONTEXT: Succinate dehydrogenase complex, subunit D (SDHD) mutations cause pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma syndrome. SDHD, located at chromosome 11q23, shows a parent-of-origin effect because the disease is observed almost exclusively when the mutation is transmitted from the father, although some cases of maternal transmission have been reported. Several hypotheses have been proposed for this peculiar inheritance pattern, but the underlying mechanisms have not yet been clearly elucidated.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to explain the parent-of-origin effect in a family, mainly affected by paternally transmitted paragangliomas, and with a maternally transmitted renal tumor. PATIENTS: Peripheral blood DNA from 15 carriers and 7 tumor DNA samples from SDHD-p.Trp5* carriers were studied.
METHODS: We conducted mutation genotyping and microsatellite marker analysis in germline and tumor DNA and methylation status analysis in tumor DNA by methylation-specific multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification.
RESULTS: Mutation genotyping and microsatellite marker analysis demonstrated loss of heterozygosity of the wild-type allele (maternal) in all studied tumors, except the renal tumor, which lost the mutated allele (maternal), and the prostate tumor, which had no loss of heterozygosity. The methylation-specific multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification demonstrated that the methylation profile corresponded exclusively to the paternal chromosome without genomic loss, suggesting paternal uniparental disomy as the mechanism underlying the parent-of-origin effect in this SDHD family.
CONCLUSIONS: The paternal uniparental disomy involves the loss of maternally imprinted cell cycle regulators and the overexpression of paternally imprinted growth activators, leading to tumorigenesis in this syndrome.