Clinical utility of TGFB1 and its receptors (TGFBR1 and TGFBR2) in thyroid nodules: evaluation based on single nucleotide polymorphisms and mRNA analysis

Objective: Abnormalities involving the TGFB1 gene and its receptors are common in several types of cancer and often related to tumor progression. We investigated the role of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the susceptibility to cancer, their impact on its features, as well as the role of mRNA expression of these genes in thyroid malignancy.

Methods: We genotyped TGFB1, TGFBR1, and TGFBR2 SNPs in 157 papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) patients and 200 healthy controls. Further, we investigated RNA samples of 47 PTC and 80 benign nodules, searching for differential mRNA expression.

Results: SNPs rs1800472 and rs1800469 were associated with characteristics of PTC aggressiveness. Effect predictor software analysis of nonsynonymous SNP rs1800472 indicated increasing protein stability and post-translational changes. TGFB1 mRNA expression was upregulated in PTC and downregulated in benign samples, differentiating malignant from benign nodules (p<0.0001); PTC from goiter (p<0.0001); and PTC from FA (p<0.0001). TGFBR1 mRNA expression was upregulated in goiter and PTC, but downregulated in FA, distinguishing PTC from goiter (p=0.0049); PTC from FA (p<0.0001); and goiter from FA (p=0.0267). On the other hand, TGFBR2 was downregulated in all histological types analyzed and was not able to differentiate thyroid nodules.

Conclusion: TGFB1 polymorphism rs1800472 may confer greater activity to TGF-β1 in the tumor microenvironment, favoring PTC aggressiveness. Evaluation of TGFB1 and TGFBR1 mRNA levels may be useful to identify malignancy in thyroid nodules.