@article{SbieraKunzWeigandetal.2019, author = {Sbiera, Silviu and Kunz, Meik and Weigand, Isabel and Deutschbein, Timo and Dandekar, Thomas and Fassnacht, Martin}, title = {The new genetic landscape of Cushing's disease: deubiquitinases in the spotlight}, series = {Cancers}, volume = {11}, journal = {Cancers}, number = {11}, issn = {2072-6694}, doi = {10.3390/cancers11111761}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-193194}, pages = {1761}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Cushing's disease (CD) is a rare condition caused by adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-producing adenomas of the pituitary, which lead to hypercortisolism that is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Treatment options in case of persistent or recurrent disease are limited, but new insights into the pathogenesis of CD are raising hope for new therapeutic avenues. Here, we have performed a meta-analysis of the available sequencing data in CD to create a comprehensive picture of CD's genetics. Our analyses clearly indicate that somatic mutations in the deubiquitinases are the key drivers in CD, namely USP8 (36.5\%) and USP48 (13.3\%). While in USP48 only Met415 is affected by mutations, in USP8 there are 26 different mutations described. However, these different mutations are clustering in the same hotspot region (affecting in 94.5\% of cases Ser718 and Pro720). In contrast, pathogenic variants classically associated with tumorigenesis in genes like TP53 and BRAF are also present in CD but with low incidence (12.5\% and 7\%). Importantly, several of these mutations might have therapeutic potential as there are drugs already investigated in preclinical and clinical setting for other diseases. Furthermore, network and pathway analyses of all somatic mutations in CD suggest a rather unified picture hinting towards converging oncogenic pathways.}, language = {en} } @article{WilliamsChagtaiAlcaideGermanetal.2015, author = {Williams, Richard D. and Chagtai, Tasnim and Alcaide-German, Marisa and Apps, John and Wegert, Jenny and Popov, Sergey and Vujanic, Gordan and Van Tinteren, Harm and Van den Heuvel-Eibrink, Marry M and Kool, Marcel and De Kraker, Jan and Gisselsson, David and Graf, Norbert and Gessler, Manfred and Pritchard-Jones, Kathy}, title = {Multiple mechanisms of MYCN dysregulation in Wilms tumour}, series = {Oncotarget}, volume = {6}, journal = {Oncotarget}, number = {9}, doi = {10.18632/oncotarget.3377}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-143471}, pages = {7232-7243}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Genomic gain of the proto-oncogene transcription factor gene MYCN is associated with poor prognosis in several childhood cancers. Here we present a comprehensive copy number analysis of MYCN in Wilms tumour (WT), demonstrating that gain of this gene is associated with anaplasia and with poorer relapse-free and overall survival, independent of histology. Using whole exome and gene-specific sequencing, together with methylation and expression profiling, we show that MYCN is targeted by other mechanisms, including a recurrent somatic mutation, P44L, and specific DNA hypomethylation events associated with MYCN overexpression in tumours with high risk histologies. We describe parallel evolution of genomic copy number gain and point mutation of MYCN in the contralateral tumours of a remarkable bilateral case in which independent contralateral mutations of TP53 also evolve over time. We report a second bilateral case in which MYCN gain is a germline aberration. Our results suggest a significant role for MYCN dysregulation in the molecular biology of Wilms tumour. We conclude that MYCN gain is prognostically significant, and suggest that the novel P44L somatic variant is likely to be an activating mutation.}, language = {en} }