2. Academic Validation
  3. Mutations in a novel gene lead to kidney tumors, lung wall defects, and benign tumors of the hair follicle in patients with the Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome

Mutations in a novel gene lead to kidney tumors, lung wall defects, and benign tumors of the hair follicle in patients with the Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome

  • Cancer Cell. 2002 Aug;2(2):157-64. doi: 10.1016/s1535-6108(02)00104-6.
Michael L Nickerson 1,  Michelle B Warren,  Jorge R Toro,  Vera Matrosova,  Gladys Glenn,  Maria L Turner,  Paul Duray,  Maria Merino,  Peter Choyke,  Christian P Pavlovich,  Nirmala Sharma,  McClellan Walther,  David Munroe,  Rob Hill,  Eamonn Maher,  Cheryl Greenberg,  Michael I Lerman,  W Marston Linehan,  Berton Zbar,  Laura S Schmidt
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Laboratory of Immunobiology, Center for Cancer Research, SAIC-Frederick, Inc., National Center for Cancer Research, Frederick, MD 21702, USA.
PMID: 12204536 DOI: 10.1016/s1535-6108(02)00104-6
Abstract

Birt-Hogg-Dubé (BHD) syndrome is a rare inherited genodermatosis characterized by hair follicle hamartomas, kidney tumors, and spontaneous pneumothorax. Recombination mapping in BHD families delineated the susceptibility locus to 700 kb on chromosome 17p11.2. Protein-truncating mutations were identified in a novel candidate gene in a panel of BHD families, with a 44% frequency of insertion/deletion mutations within a hypermutable C(8) tract. Tissue expression of the 3.8 kb transcript was widespread, including kidney, lung, and skin. The full-length BHD sequence predicted a novel protein, folliculin, that was highly conserved across species. Discovery of disease-causing mutations in BHD, a novel kidney Cancer gene associated with renal oncocytoma or chromophobe renal Cancer, will contribute to understanding the role of folliculin in pathways common to skin, lung, and kidney development.

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