Loss-of-function mutations in the transcription factor 7 (T cell factor-1) gene in hepatogastrointestinal cancers

Inappropriate activation of the Wnt signaling pathway has been repeatedly implicated in the tumorigenesis of colon, liver, and gastric cancers. There is accumulating evidences that transcriptional factor 7 (TCF7; also called T cell factor 1) might also be one of the tumor suppressor genes in the Wnt pathway. We performed PCR-based sequencing analysis of the TCF7 gene in 234 alimentary tract cancers. The TCF7 mutants detected in this study were functionally analyzed after they were generated by a QuickChange site-directed mutagenesis kit. We detected 7 somatic mutations in the TCF7 gene, including 4 missense, 2 frameshift, and one 28-bp deletion. In a yeast twohybrid assay, most of the mutants showed varying degrees of decreased binding to an amino-terminal enhancer of split (AES), a truncated form of Grouchorelated protein lacking WD40 repeats. To determine whether mutant TCF7 proteins had decreased DNA binding, we performed electrophoretic mobility shift assays, and the 2 frameshift mutants were shown to have no DNA binding activity. Furthermore, luciferase reporter assays revealed that TCF7 mutants in the presence of AES failed in the AES-dependent transcriptional repression of the reporter gene. In addition, human embryonic kidney 293 cells transfected with TCF7 mutants expressed high levels of cyclin D1, up to 6 times more than cells transfected with wild-type TCF7. Therefore, the TCF7 mutations detected in this study seem to be "loss-of-function mutations" caused by loss of TCF7 repressor activity through decreased binding to Groucho-related protein and/or DNA, thereby contributing to neoplastic transformation by causing accumulation of cylin D1.