Rare MDM4 gene amplification in colorectal cancer: The principle of a mutually exclusive relationship between MDM alteration and TP53 inactivation is not applicable

MDM4, a homolog of MDM2, is considered a key negative regulator of p53. Gene amplification of MDM4 has been identified in a variety of tumors. MDM2 or MDM4 gene amplification is only associated with the wild-type TP53 gene in retinoblastomas, thus the amplification of the two genes is mutually exclusive. Previously, we demonstrated that MDM2 amplification and TP53 alteration were not mutually exclusive in colorectal cancer, and we identified a subset of colorectal cancer patients without alterations in either the TP53 or the MDM2 gene. In this study, we investigated the gene amplification status of MDM4 in the same set of colorectal cancer cases. Unexpectedly, MDM4 amplification was rare, detected in only 1.4% (3 out of 211) of colorectal cancer cases. All the three gene-amplified tumors also harbored TP53-inactivating mutations. This contradicts the simple mutually exclusive relationship observed in retinoblastomas. Surprisingly, two of the three MDM4-amplified tumors also demonstrated MDM2 amplification. Paradoxically, the MDM4 protein levels were decreased in the tumor tissue of the gene-amplified cases compared with levels in the matched normal mucosa. We speculate that MDM4 might play a role in colorectal carcinogenesis that is not limited to negative regulation of p53 in combination with MDM2. The functional significance of MDM4 is still unclear and further studies are needed.