Epigenetic loss of heterozygosity of Apc and an inflammation-associated mutational signature detected in Lrig1

backgroundThe loss of a single copy of adenomatous polyposis coli (Apc) in leucine-rich repeats and immunoglobulin-like domains 1 (Lrig1)-expressing colonic progenitor cells induces rapid growth of adenomas in mice with high penetrance and multiplicity. The tumors lack functional APC, and a genetic loss of heterozygosity of Apc was previously observed.

methodsTo identify genomic features of early tumorigenesis, and to profile intertumoral genetic heterogeneity, tumor exome DNA (n = 9 tumors) and mRNA (n = 5 tumors) sequences were compared with matched nontumoral colon tissue. Putative somatic mutations were called after stringent variant filtering. Somatic signatures of mutational processes were determined and splicing patterns were observed.

resultsThe adenomas were found to be genetically heterogeneous and unexpectedly hypermutated, displaying a strong bias toward G:C > A:T mutations. A genetic loss of heterozygosity of Apc was not observed, however, an epigenetic loss of heterozygosity was apparent in the tumor transcriptomes. Complex splicing patterns characterized by a loss of intron retention were observed uniformly across tumors.

conclusionThis study demonstrates that early tumors originating from intestinal stem cells with reduced Lrig1 and Apc expression are highly mutated and genetically heterogeneous, with an inflammation-associated mutational signature and complex splicing patterns that are uniform across tumors.