Med12 gain-of-function mutation causes leiomyomas and genomic instability

P Mittal, Y Shin, SA Yatsenko, CA Castro, U Surti… - The Journal of clinical …, 2015 - jci.org
P Mittal, Y Shin, SA Yatsenko, CA Castro, U Surti, A Rajkovic
The Journal of clinical investigation, 2015jci.org
Uterine leiomyomas are benign tumors that can cause pain, bleeding, and infertility in some
women. Mediator complex subunit 12 (MED12) exon 2 variants are associated with uterine
leiomyomas; however, the causality of MED12 variants, their genetic mode of action, and
their role in genomic instability have not been established. Here, we generated a mouse
model that conditionally expresses a Med12 missense variant (c. 131G> A) in the uterus and
demonstrated that this alteration alone promotes uterine leiomyoma formation and …
Uterine leiomyomas are benign tumors that can cause pain, bleeding, and infertility in some women. Mediator complex subunit 12 (MED12) exon 2 variants are associated with uterine leiomyomas; however, the causality of MED12 variants, their genetic mode of action, and their role in genomic instability have not been established. Here, we generated a mouse model that conditionally expresses a Med12 missense variant (c.131G>A) in the uterus and demonstrated that this alteration alone promotes uterine leiomyoma formation and hyperplasia in both WT mice and animals harboring a uterine mesenchymal cell–specific Med12 deletion. Compared with WT animals, expression of Med12 c.131G>A in conditional Med12–KO mice resulted in earlier onset of leiomyoma lesions that were also greater in size. Moreover, leiomyomatous, Med12 c.131G>A variant–expressing uteri developed chromosomal rearrangements. Together, our results show that the common human leiomyoma–associated MED12 variant can cause leiomyomas in mice via a gain of function that drives genomic instability, which is frequently observed in human leiomyomas.
The Journal of Clinical Investigation