Roles of DNA mutation in the coding region and DNA methylation in the 5′ flanking region of BRCA1 in canine mammary tumors

The Breast cancer 1, early onset gene (BRCA1) is known to be significantly associated with human familial breast cancer and is identified to play an important role in canine mammary tumors. Here, genetic variations in the coding region and DNA methylation in the 5' flanking region of BRCA1 in canine mammary tumor samples, 15 each of benign and malignant against 10 normal canine mammary tissue samples, were analyzed using the direct sequencing method. The results indicated two point mutations each in the coding region of canine BRCA1 in one benign mammary tumor sample (4702G >T and 4765G >T) and in one malignant canine mammary tumor sample (3619A >G and 4006G >A). No mutations were detected in the normal canine mammary tissue samples. The 4702G >T mutation was found to terminate further translation. The physical effect of the 4765G >T mutation was found to be the repalacement of the glutamate residue with glutamine. The physical effect of the 3619A >G mutation was found to be the replacement of the threonine residue with alanine, and that of mutation 4006G >A was the replacement of the valine residue with isoleucine in the BRCA1 protein. Bisulfite sequencing detected methylated CpG sites in one canine malignant mammary tumor sample. In conclusion, the present study elucidated the mutational status of the BRCA1 coding region and methylation status of the 5' flanking region of BRCA1 in canine mammary tumors.