In silico approach for the prediction of functional nsSNPs in WIF1 gene of WNT pathway

Abstract

WNT pathway is generally involved in controlling gene expression and cell behaviour. Earlier studies revealed that mutations in genes of WNT pathway lead to different types of cancer. In our study, cancer related novel gene candidate, WNT inhibitory factor 1 (WIF1) involved in WNT pathway was analysed for potentially deleterious non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). From the dbSNP, the SNPs were retrieved and analysed using various computational tools for their pathogenicity and stability. A total of 36 mutations were identified to be deleterious and decrease the stability. The WIF domain region was considered where the mutations A73E, A73V, R71G were found to be potentially deleterious. These proteins with and without mutations were modelled and compared. Further, it was identified that three deleterious mutations were in the WIF1 protein binding site 1 suggesting their possible role in disease mechanism and can be considered as a potential drug target for various cancers in humans.