Exome sequencing of hepatocellular carcinoma
Nature Genetics
August 8, 2011
Sequencing of the exomes — the coding region of the genome — of individuals with hepatocelullar carcinoma (HCC) is reported this week in Nature Genetics.
HCC is the third leading cause of cancer related deaths worldwide, and carries a high mortality rate. Infection with either hepatitis B or hepatitis C virus, as well as environmental factors including alcohol consumption, are known risk factors for HCC.
Kenneth Kinzler and colleagues sequenced the exomes of ten individuals with hepatitis C virus (HCV) associated HCC. They identified inactivating mutations in the ARID2 gene and establish this as an HCC tumor suppressor gene. They examine additional cases, and found that ARID2 is mutated in 18.2% of individuals in their sample with HCV associated HCC.
doi: 10.1038/ng.903
Research highlights
-
Oct 12
Biomedical engineering: Exoskeleton improves walking in patients with above-knee amputationNature Medicine
-
Oct 12
Archaeology: Earliest known human use of tobacco revealedNature Human Behaviour
-
Oct 12
Sociology: Older adults worldwide exhibit increased, but more nationally focused, prosocial behaviorNature Aging
-
Oct 7
Neuroscience: Mapping the mammalian motor cortexNature
-
Oct 7
Drug discovery: A promising candidate for the treatment of dengueNature
-
Sep 29
Genetics: Epigenetic signature specific to identical twins identifiedNature Communications
