Succinate dehydrogenase mutation underlies global epigenomic divergence in gastrointestinal stromal tumor

Cancer Discov. 2013 Jun;3(6):648-57. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-13-0092. Epub 2013 Apr 2.

Abstract

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) harbor driver mutations of signal transduction kinases such as KIT, or, alternatively, manifest loss-of-function defects in the mitochondrial succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) complex, a component of the Krebs cycle and electron transport chain. We have uncovered a striking divergence between the DNA methylation profiles of SDH-deficient GIST (n = 24) versus KIT tyrosine kinase pathway-mutated GIST (n = 39). Infinium 450K methylation array analysis of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues disclosed an order of magnitude greater genomic hypermethylation relative to SDH-deficient GIST versus the KIT-mutant group (84.9 K vs. 8.4 K targets). Epigenomic divergence was further found among SDH-mutant paraganglioma/pheochromocytoma (n = 29), a developmentally distinct SDH-deficient tumor system. Comparison of SDH-mutant GIST with isocitrate dehydrogenase-mutant glioma, another Krebs cycle-defective tumor type, revealed comparable measures of global hypo- and hypermethylation. These data expose a vital connection between succinate metabolism and genomic DNA methylation during tumorigenesis, and generally implicate the mitochondrial Krebs cycle in nuclear epigenomic maintenance.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural

MeSH terms

  • DNA Methylation
  • Epigenomics
  • Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors / enzymology
  • Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors / genetics*
  • Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors / pathology
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic
  • Genomic Instability
  • Germ-Line Mutation*
  • Humans
  • Signal Transduction
  • Succinate Dehydrogenase / genetics*

Substances

  • Succinate Dehydrogenase