Project description:Beckwith-Wiedemann Spectrum (BWSp) is a disorder predisposing to tumors of embryonic origin that arise during childhood. Little is known concerning the tumor risk and histotype prevalence in adult BWSp patients. However, several studies report cases of co-occurrence of BWSp and tumors in early adulthood, suggesting that the cancer risk in BWSp could be relevant also later than childhood. Here, we report for the first time a case of co-occurrence of BWSp and early-onset colorectal cancer (EO-CRC). The results disclosed genetic and epigenetic molecular lesions of the patient at both somatic and germline levels, providing support to the hypothesis that epigenetic changes contribute to cancer initiation in tissues where a genetic insult is already present, acting in a cooperative manner to stimulate tumorigenesis.
Project description:PADI6 is a component of the subcortical maternal complex (SCMC) which is a group of proteins that are abundantly expressed in the oocyte cytoplasm and essential for the proper development of the early embryo. The mutation(s) in the components of the subcortical maternal complex have been associated with reproductive failures, including formation of hydatidiform mole, female infertility and imprinting disorders with multi-locus imprinting disturbance (MLIDs).In the current study by using whole-exome sequencing analysis, we identified four cases of Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome with multi-locus imprinting disturbance while their mothers were carriers of variants in PADI6 gene. Genome-wide methylation profiling using Methylation EPIC array depicted the loss of methylation specifically at several known imprinted loci in affected individuals as compared to healthy siblings, parents and controls. Our findings firmly establish the role of PADI6 in imprinting disorders.