ClinVar

Description

The p.V161D pathogenic mutation (also known as c.482T>A), located in coding exon 3 of the MSH2 gene, results from a T to A substitution at nucleotide position 482. The valine at codon 161 is replaced by aspartic acid, an amino acid with highly dissimilar properties. In one study, this variant was detected in an individual diagnosed with colorectal cancer at 52 years of age who met Amsterdam I criteria for Lynch syndrome and tumor demonstrated high microsatellite instability (MSI-H) with negative staining for MSH2 on immunohistochemistry (IHC). An in vitro MMR assay revealed that this variant protein was completely deficient in MMR activity (Ollila S et al. Gastroenterology 2006 Nov; 131(5):1408-17). This alteration was also reported by an Italian group in a family that met Amsterdam II criteria for Lynch syndrome and the alteration segregated in three affected family members. The proband and her mother had Lynch-associated tumors that demonstrated MSI-H and absent MSH2/MSH6 staining on IHC. Furthermore, the MSH2 V161D protein showed an abnormal subcellular localization pattern compared to wild type MSH2 protein (Bianchi F et al. Fam. Cancer, 2018 Apr;17:215-224). In another study, the MSH2 V161D protein showed deficient mismatch repair activity using a genetic screen in mouse embryonic stem cells, reduced protein expression, and increased microsatellite instability compared to wild type MSH2 protein (Houlleberghs H et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 2016 Apr;113:4128-33). In a massively parallel cell-based functional assay testing susceptibility to a DNA damaging agent, 6-thioguanine (6-TG), this variant was reported to be functionally deleterious (Jia X et al. Am J Hum Genet, 2021 Jan;108:163-175). This variant is considered to be rare based on population cohorts in the Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD). This amino acid position is highly conserved in available vertebrate species. In addition, this alteration is predicted to be deleterious by in silico analysis. Based on the supporting evidence, this alteration is interpreted as a disease-causing mutation.