| Literature DB >> 30473836 |
Young Mi Kwon1, Maximilian R Stammnitz1, Jinhong Wang1, Kate Swift2, Graeme W Knowles2, Ruth J Pye3, Alexandre Kreiss3, Sarah Peck4, Samantha Fox4,5, David Pemberton4, Menna E Jones6, Rodrigo Hamede6, Elizabeth P Murchison1.
Abstract
Tasmanian devils have spawned two transmissible cancer clones, known as devil facial tumour 1 (DFT1) and devil facial tumour 2 (DFT2). DFT1 and DFT2 are transmitted between animals by the transfer of allogeneic contagious cancer cells by biting, and both cause facial tumours. DFT1 and DFT2 tumours are grossly indistinguishable, but can be differentiated using histopathology, cytogenetics or genotyping of polymorphic markers. However, standard diagnostic methods require specialist skills and equipment and entail long processing times. Here, we describe Tasman-PCR: a simple polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnostic assay that identifies and distinguishes DFT1 and DFT2 by amplification of DNA spanning tumour-specific interchromosomal translocations. We demonstrate the high sensitivity and specificity of this assay by testing DNA from 546 tumours and 804 normal devils. A temporal-spatial screen confirmed the reported geographic ranges of DFT1 and DFT2 and did not provide evidence of additional DFT clones. DFT2 affects disproportionately more males than females, and devils can be co-infected with DFT1 and DFT2. Overall, we present a PCR-based assay that delivers rapid, accurate and high-throughput diagnosis of DFT1 and DFT2. This tool provides an additional resource for devil disease management and may assist with ongoing conservation efforts.Entities:
Keywords: Tasmanian devil; devil facial tumour disease; diagnostic test; transmissible cancer
Year: 2018 PMID: 30473836 PMCID: PMC6227955 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.180870
Source DB: PubMed Journal: R Soc Open Sci ISSN: 2054-5703 Impact factor: 2.963
Coordinates and breakpoint features for structural variants specific to DFT1 and DFT2 used in screen. Coordinates are relative to the Tasmanian devil reference genome Devil_refv7.0 [4]. [+] and [−] refer to strand.
| clone | marker | coordinate 1 | coordinate 2 | breakpoint features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DFT1 | DFT1-A | Chr2_GL841420 : 441799 [+] | ChrX_GL867598 : 2128339 [−] | blunt end |
| DFT1-B | Chr1_GL834488 : 1096676 [−] | Chr4_GL856767: 219384 [−] | microhomology (AAAA) | |
| DFT2 | DFT2-A | Chr4_GL856969 : 2309705 [+] | Chr5_GL861630 : 40293 [+] | microhomology (AG) |
| DFT2-B | Chr4_GL856736 : 2811567 [+] | Chr5_GL861700: 1309714 [+] | untemplated sequence insertion (ATAACTCATAATAGTACAT) |
Figure 1.Tasman-PCR, a DFTD triplex diagnostic PCR. (a) Design of triplex PCR using primers spanning DFT1-A, DFT2-A and RPL13A. (b) Gel electrophoresis showing amplification products from normal devil DNA, as well as from DFT1 and DFT2 DNA. L, ladder.
Devils and tumours screened with Tasman-PCR. DFTD status was confirmed through histopathology, cytogenetics and/or microsatellite genotyping. DFT1/DFT2 status of DFTD suspected tumours was unknown. ‘Samples’ refers to individuals (normal devils) or to tumours (DFTD confirmed, DFTD suspected, non-DFTD tumour confirmed or suspected). *, samples showed signs of DFT1 tumour DNA contamination (see text). Further information about devils and tumours is available in electronic supplementary material, tables S1 and S3.
| tumours (individuals) | DFT1-A-positive samples | DFT2-A-positive samples | DFT1-A and DFT2-A-negative samples | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| normal devils | − (804) | 3 (0.4%)* | 0 (0%) | 801 (99.6%) |
| DFTD confirmed | 344 (259) | 321 (93.3%) | 10 (2.9%) | 13 (3.8%) |
| DFT1 confirmed | 334 (251) | 321 (96.1%) | 0 (0%) | 13 (3.9%) |
| DFT2 confirmed | 10 (8) | 0 (0%) | 10 (100%) | 0 (0%) |
| DFTD suspected | 175 (114) | 158 (90.3%) | 5 (2.9%) | 12 (6.9%) |
| non-DFTD tumour confirmed or suspected | 27 (25) | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 27 (100%) |
Figure 2.Distribution of DFT1 and DFT2. Locations of 494 tumours, sampled from 360 devils between 2003 and 2016, which amplified either DFT1-A (479 tumours) or DFT2-A (15 tumours). Each tumour is represented by a blue (DFT1) or red (DFT2) dot. The Channel Peninsula, where all DFT2-A-positive tumours were found, is located in Tasmania's southeast.
Figure 3.Gender distribution of DFT1 and DFT2. Gender distributions of 345 devils with one or more DFT1 tumours and 11 devils with one or more DFT2 tumours. ‘Fraction of devils’ denotes the fraction of devils hosting at least one DFT1 tumour that are male and female (left) or the fraction of devils hosting at least one DFT2 tumour that are male and female (right). The p-values represent outcome of Fisher's exact test for no difference in DFT1 and DFT2 host gender and * denotes significance (p < 0.05).
Figure 4.Co-infection with DFT1 and DFT2. Two devils were identified with both DFT1 and DFT2 tumours, (a) Devil 812 and (b) Devil 818. T1, T2, T3, T4 denote individual tumours from each animal, some of which are depicted in photographs. PCR results from each tumour are shown on gel and H denotes normal DNA from the matched host. D1, D2 and L denote DFT1 control, DFT2 control and ladder respectively. In Devil 818, T3 was a tumour involving the left pre-auricular lymph node and T4 was a suspected tumour found in the left submandibular lymph node.
Results of screen of 546 Tasmanian devil tumours. ‘No information on similarity to matched host’ denotes tumours for which matched host DNA was unavailable or for which microsatellite loci failed to amplify.
| marker amplified | number of tumours |
|---|---|
| DFT1-A | 479 |
| DFT2-A | 15 |
| 52 | |
| 27 non-DFTD lesions | |
| total | 546 |
| marker | location | expected product length | sequence (5′ to 3′) |
|---|---|---|---|
| DFT1-A | Chr2_GL841420:ChrX_GL867598 | 231 bp | AGTAAAAATGCAATAGGCCCAGG |
| GGTGATGGCAGATTTCAGCTAAG | |||
| DFT1-B | Chr1_GL834488:Chr4_GL856767 | 284 bp | GTACTGATTTCCTGCCAGTCTCTT |
| GGAACAATAGCATTGGTAAAGGG | |||
| DFT2-A | Chr4_GL856969:Chr5_GL861630 | 321 bp | AGGGGATCATTCATAGAGAACACTT |
| CTATAGCTGATCTATGGGAAGACAATG | |||
| DFT2-B | Chr4_GL856736:Chr5_GL861700 | 360 bp | GAAGGATATTGTATCTTCAGATGGC |
| ATAATCTCTTCTCGCTTAAGGTGACTC | |||
| normal ( | Chr3_GL849778 | 520 bp | CCCCACAAGACCAAGCGAGGC |
| ACAGCCTGGTATTTCCAGCCAACC |
| temperature (°C) | time | cycles |
|---|---|---|
| 94 | 3 min 30 s | 1 |
| 94 | 30 s | 30 |
| 60 | 30 s | |
| 72 | 30 s | |
| 72 | 5 min | 1 |