Microsatellite Instability and Aberrant Pre-mRNA Splicing: How Intimate Is It?

Cancers that belong to the microsatellite instability (MSI) class can account for up to 15% of all cancers of the digestive tract. These cancers are characterized by inactivation, through the mutation or epigenetic silencing of one or several genes from the DNA MisMatch Repair (MMR) machinery, including MLH1, MLH3, MSH2, MSH3, MSH6, PMS1, PMS2 and Exo1. The unrepaired DNA replication errors turn into mutations at several thousand sites that contain repetitive sequences, mainly mono- or dinucleotides, and some of them are related to Lynch syndrome, a predisposition condition linked to a germline mutation in one of these genes. In addition, some mutations shortening the microsatellite (MS) stretch could occur in the 3′-intronic regions, i.e., in the ATM (ATM serine/threonine kinase), MRE11 (MRE11 homolog) or the HSP110 (Heat shock protein family H) genes. In these three cases, aberrant pre-mRNA splicing was observed, and it was characterized by the occurrence of selective exon skipping in mature mRNAs. Because both the ATM and MRE11 genes, which as act as players in the MNR (MRE11/NBS1 (Nibrin)/RAD50 (RAD50 double strand break repair protein) DNA damage repair system, participate in double strand breaks (DSB) repair, their frequent splicing alterations in MSI cancers lead to impaired activity. This reveals the existence of a functional link between the MMR/DSB repair systems and the pre-mRNA splicing machinery, the diverted function of which is the consequence of mutations in the MS sequences.