CDH1/E-cadherin and solid tumors. An updated gene-disease association analysis using bioinformatics tools

Cancer is a group of diseases that causes millions of deaths worldwide. Among cancers, Solid Tumors (ST) stand-out due to their high incidence and mortality rates. Disruption of cell-cell adhesion is highly relevant during tumor progression. Epithelial-cadherin (protein: E-cadherin, gene: CDHI) is a key molecule in cell-cell adhesion and an abnormal expression or/and function(s) contributes to tumor progression and is altered in ST. A systematic study was carried out to gather and summarize current knowledge on CDH1/E-cadherin and ST using bioinformatics resources. The DisGeNET database was exploited to survey CDHI-associated diseases. Reported mutations in specific ST were obtained by interrogating COSMIC and IntOGen tools. CDHI Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP) were retrieved from the dbSNP database. DisGeNET analysis identified 609 genes annotated to ST, among which CDHI was listed. Using CDHI as query term, 26 disease concepts were found, 21 of which were neoplasms-related terms. Using DisGeNET ALL Databases, 172 disease concepts were identified. Of those, 80 ST disease-related terms were subjected to manual curation and 75/80 (93.75%) associations were validated. On selected ST, 489 CDHI somatic mutations were listed in COSMIC and lntOGen databases. Breast neoplasms had the highest CDH1/mutation rate. CDHI was positioned among the 20 genes with highest mutation frequency and was confirmed as driver gene in breast cancer. Over 14,000 SNP for CDHI were found in the dbSNP database. This report used DisGeNET to gather/compile current knowledge on gene-disease association for CDH1/E-cadherin and ST; data curation expanded the number of terms that relate them. An updated list of CDHI somatic mutations was obtained with COSMIC and IntOGen databases and of SNP from dbSNP. This information can be used to further understand the role of CDHI/E-cadherin in health and disease. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.