# Hereditary Cancer Variants of Uncertain Significance in Stem Cells

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SCH OF MED/DNT · 2020 · $375,150

## Abstract

Project Summary
Lynch syndrome (LS) is a hereditary disease that predisposes patients to colorectal, endometrial, ovarian and
other cancers. Definitive diagnosis of LS depends on detection of a deleterious, germline mutation in one of
the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes. A problem arises for clinicians and genetic counselors, however,
when the sequencing reveals a variation, such as a missense mutation, whose effect on gene function is not
immediately obvious. These variants of uncertain significance (VUS) cannot be used to confirm nor rule out LS
resulting in uncertainty about how to manage the patient and their family members. Laboratory studies to
determine whether a VUS disrupts protein function has become one important part of a strategy for
determining their relevance to disease. Studying the function of a VUS in human cells is the most thorough
approach to determining its effects on MMR function. We propose that advances in the culture of human
pluripotent stem cells (PSC) along with the development of CRISPR-Cas9 mediated gene editing provide an
ideal model system for testing the functional effects of MMR gene variants. PSCs are immortal, which makes
them a practical model system in the laboratory, yet non-transformed, thus they may more closely resemble
the environment in which the variant protein first influences early transformation events in LS patient cells. In
addition, they are pluripotent which means they can be differentiated into multiple cell types to examine cell-
type specific effects. As LS patients are mostly affected by colorectal cancer, we will further examine subsets
of VUS in human colonic organoids (HCOs) derived from the PSCs. Our goal is to perform a large-scale
screen of VUS in the MMR genes MSH2, MSH6 and MLH1 under the following aims: 1) Examining whether
cancer-associated variants in the MMR genes disrupt cellular repair and response functions in PSCs. We will
perform CRISPR-Cas9-mediated gene targeting at the endogenous gene loci to create non-transformed cell
culture models expressing different VUS. 2) For those VUS-expressing PSCs with intermediate MMR effects,
we will differentiate the cells into HCOs and examine their ability to induce an apoptotic or senescent response
to damage in intestinal cells. 3) For VUS HCOs that still display inconclusive, intermediate function, we will
examine longer-term effects on genome stability and cell survival including through the use of mixed wild-
type/variant HCOs to assess whether a survival advantage exists for the variant-expressing cells. This
proposal will assist in the disease significance classification for a large number of MMR gene VUS which can
be used by clinicians and genetic counselors world-wide to assist in managing and preventing cancer in
patients and their families.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9906860
- **Project number:** 5R01CA222477-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT SCH OF MED/DNT
- **Principal Investigator:** Christopher D. Heinen
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $375,150
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-04-04 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9906860

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9906860, Hereditary Cancer Variants of Uncertain Significance in Stem Cells (5R01CA222477-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9906860. Licensed CC0.

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