<i>TIMP3</i> Gene Polymorphisms of -1296 T > C and -915 A > G Increase the Susceptibility to Arsenic-Induced Skin Cancer: A Cohort Study and In Silico Analysis of Mutation Impacts

oleh: Meei-Maan Wu, Chi-Wei Chen, Chiu-Yi Chen, Chih-Hung Lee, Mark Chou, Ling-I Hsu, Te-Chang Lee, Chien-Jen Chen

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2022-11-01

Deskripsi

Long-term exposure to arsenic may induce several human cancers, including non-melanoma skin cancer. The tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-3, encoded by the <i>TIMP3</i> gene, may inhibit tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis of several cancer types. In this study, we aimed to investigate effects of the <i>TIMP3</i> -1296 T > C (rs9619311) and -915 A > G (rs2234921) single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on skin cancer risk in an arsenic-exposed population, and to evaluate the influence of allele-specific changes by an in silico analysis. In total, 1078 study participants were followed up for a median of 15 years for newly diagnosed skin cancer. New cases were identified through linkage to the National Cancer Registry of Taiwan. A Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate the effects of <i>TIMP3</i> variants. Transcription factor (TF) profiling of binding sites of allele-specific changes in SNPs was conducted using the JASPAR scan tool. We observed borderline associations between <i>TIMP3</i> genotypes and skin cancer risk. However, when combined with high arsenic exposure levels, the rs9619311 C allele, rs2234921 G allele, or C-G haplotype groups exhibited a greater risk of developing skin cancer compared to the respective common homozygous genotype group. The in silico analysis revealed several TF motifs located at or flanking the two SNP sites. We validated that the C allele of rs9619311 attenuated the binding affinity of BACH2, MEIS2, NFE2L2, and PBX2 to the <i>TIMP3</i> promoter, and that the G allele of rs2234921 reduced the affinity of E2F8 and RUNX1 to bind to the promoter. Our findings suggest significant modifications of the effect of the association between arsenic exposure and skin cancer risk by the <i>TIMP3</i> rs9619311 and rs2234921 variants. The predicted TFs and their differential binding affinities to the <i>TIMP3</i> promoter provide insights into how <i>TIMP3</i> interacts with arsenic through TFs in skin cancer formation.