Mapping of a translocation breakpoint in a Peutz-Jeghers hamartoma to the putative PJS locus at 19q13.4 and mutation analysis of candidate genes in polyp and STK11-negative PJS cases

Germ-line mutations in the serine-threonine kinase gene STK11 (LKB1) cause Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (PJS), a rare autosomal dominantly inherited disease, characterized by hamartomatous polyposis and mucocutaneous pigmentation. STK11 mutations only account for about half of PJS cases, and a second disease locus has been proposed at chromosome segment 19q13.4 on the basis of genetic linkage analysis in one family. We identified a t(11;19)(q13;q13.4) in a PJS polyp arising from the small bowel in a female infant age 6 days. Because the breakpoint in 19q13.4 may disrupt the putative PJS disease gene mapping to this region, we mapped the breakpoint and analyzed DNA from the case and a series of STK11-negative PJS cases. Using two-color interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization, the breakpoint region was refined to a 0.5-Mb region within 19q13.4. Eight candidate genes mapping to the breakpoint region--U2AF2, EPN1, NALP4, NALP11, NALP5, ZNF444, PTPRH, and KIAA1811--were screened for mutations in germ-line and polyp DNA from the case and from 15 PJS cases that did not harbor germ-line STK11 mutations. No pathogenic mutations in the candidate genes were identified. This report provides further evidence of the existence of a second PJS disease locus at 19q13.4 and excludes involvement of eight candidate genes.