The Genotyping
Shared Resource (GSR) provides expertise in fast developing areas
of genetic
and molecular biological analysis. The GSR was created as an off-
shoot of a molecular epidemiology laboratory established in 1992
using NCI R01-funding
by Dr. Loic LeMarchand. In response to a growing need for genotyping
services by a number of CRCH investigators this laboratory was converted
into a
shared resource in 1999. The GSR reduces redundancies in projects
by furnishing a central service that uses high throughput technologies.
The personnel
of the GSR are highly knowledgeable in the areas of molecular biology
and genetics, and can provide both the novice and the advanced users
with
a level of technical support, consultation, and information services
that are not found in Hawaii outside the resource. The personnel
of the GSR
can provide project planning, advice, and troubleshooting capabilities
during the execution of the project. The services we offer are:
(1) DNA/RNA
isolation, (2) custom genotyping, (3) gene expression assays, (4)
library manipulation/construction, (5) gene expression microarray
fabrication
and reading, (6) fluorescence in situ hybridization, and (7) consultation
services related to the above.
The following
are some examples of research facilitated by the laboratory during the
past year:
- Dr. Le
Marchand and colleagues showed in a series of population-based studies
(using case-control and cohort designs) that the very high colorectal
cancer risk of Japanese in Hawaii may be at least partially due to an
interaction of a high intake of well-done red meat and the combined rapid
NAT2 and CYP1A2 genotypes, risk factors that are common in this group.
- Dr. Goodman
and colleagues, following up on a strong association between smoking and
cervical dysplasia in a recent case-control study found that women homozygous
for the CYP1A1*2 allele were at a 3-fold increased risk of cervical dysplasia
and those with a GSTM1 deletion were at a 2-fold increased risk for the
disease. CYP1A1*2 is associated with an increased activation, and a GSTM1
deletion with a decreased detoxification, of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
- Dr. Nomura
and colleagues used the lab to generate preliminary data for an NIH application
to conduct a case-control study of stomach cancer in Hawaii and Japan.
One of the aims is to test associations between several metabolic genes
and this disease.
- Dr. Maskarinec
and colleagues are investigating associations between sex hormone levels,
mammographic densities and polymorphisms in genes involved in the metabolism
of estrogens.