UC Berkeley

Objective

Recently, lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) have emerged as an innovative model system for mapping gene variants that predict the dose response to chemotherapy drugs.

Methods

In the current study, this strategy was expanded to the in-vitro genome-wide association approach, using 516 LCLs derived from a White cohort to assess the cytotoxic response to temozolomide.

Results

Genome-wide association analysis using ∼2.1 million quality-controlled single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) identified a statistically significant association (P<10(-8)) with SNPs in the O(6)-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) gene. We also show that the primary SNP in this region is significantly associated with the differential gene expression of MGMT (P<10(-26)) in LCLs and differential methylation in glioblastoma samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas.

Conclusion

The previously documented clinical and functional relationships between MGMT and temozolomide response highlight the potential of well-powered genome-wide association studies of the LCL model system to identify meaningful genetic associations.