Predisposition to mouse thymic lymphomas in response to ionizing radiation depends on variant alleles encoding metal-responsive transcription factor-1 (Mtf-1).

Genetic predisposition to cancers is significant to public health because a high proportion of cancers probably arise in a susceptible human subpopulation. Using a mouse model of gamma-ray-induced thymic lymphomas, we performed linkage analysis and haplotype mapping that suggested Mtf-1, metal-responsive transcription factor-1 (Mtf-1), as a candidate lymphoma susceptibility gene. Sequence analysis revealed a polymorphism of Mtf-1 that alters the corresponding amino acid at position 424 in the proline-rich domain from a serine in susceptibility strains to proline in resistant strains. The transcriptional activity of Mtf-1 encoding serine and proline was compared by transfecting the DNA to Mtf-1-null cells, and the change to proline conferred a higher metal responsiveness in transfections. Furthermore, the resistant congenic strains possessing the Mtf-1 allele of proline type exhibited higher radiation inducibility of target genes than susceptible background strains having the Mtf-1 allele of serine type. Since products of the targets such as metallothionein are able to suppress cellular stresses generated by irradiation, these results suggest that highly inducible strains having Mtf-1 of proline type are refractory to radiation effects and hence are resistant to lymphoma development.