In vitro stability of APC gene sequences and the influence of DNA repair status

APC is a key 'gatekeeper' gene in colorectal tumorigenesis. The high frequency of APC defects observed in colorectal cancer tissue is the result of selective growth advantage of cells with loss-of-function mutations at that locus. However, mutations may also arise due to inherent sequence instability. Defective DNA mismatch repair (MMR) and base excision repair (BER) also contribute to colorectal carcinogenesis and may compound such instability. To avoid the effect of clonal selective advantage imparted by APC mutation in cancer cells, we assessed in vitro APC mutation frequency in cell lines of lymphoid lineage to investigate the influence of defective MMR and BER. In DNA repair proficient cells, we observed substantially greater inherent sequence instability in APC gene coding sequences compared to reference sequences. Surprisingly, however, this difference was abrogated in MMR defective lines. We also found greater mutation frequency at exonic DNA sequences outwith the APC region in cells defective for either MMR or BER defects. The underlying propensity for mutation at the APC gene is intriguing, while the greater frequency of mutation in cells defective for DNA repair has relevance to understanding events leading to colorectal cancer and other malignancies.