Identification of two distinct deleted regions on the short arm of chromosome 1 and rare mutation of the CDKN2C gene from 1p32 in oligodendroglial tumors

Oligodendroglial tumors frequently show allelic losses on the short arm of chromosome 1. To narrow down the putative tumor suppressor gene site(s) on 1p, we have investigated 35 oligodendrogliomas and 10 mixed gliomas (oligoastrocytomas) for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at 21 highly polymorphic loci on chromosome 1 (19 loci on 1p and 2 loci on 1q). LOH at loci on 1p was found in 30 of the 45 tumors (67%). Two distinct regions of common allelic loss were identified: a distal region between DIS76 and DIS253 at 1p36.3, and a proximal region between D1S482 and D1S2743 at 1p34-p35. We also analyzed our tumor series for genetic alterations and expression of the cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor gene CDKN2C (p18(INK4c)) from 1p32. We found 1 recurrent anaplastic oligodendroglioma that carried a somatic CDKN2C mutation at codon 113 (GAA double right arrow TAA: Glu double right arrow Stop). The remaining 44 tumors of our series showed neither coding sequence mutations nor homozygous deletions of CDKN2C. Investigation of 35 tumors by differential reverse transcription PCR revealed expression of CDKN2C transcripts in all instances. Our data thus provide evidence for more than a single oligodendroglioma-associated tumor suppressor gene on 1p and implicate CDKN2C as a candidate tumor suppressor gene altered in a low fraction of oligodendroglial tumors.