Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>RNF139/TRC8 </it>is a potential tumor suppressor gene with similarity to PTCH, a tumor suppressor implicated in basal cell carcinomas and glioblastomas. <it>TRC8 </it>has the potential to act in a novel regulatory relationship linking the cholesterol/lipid biosynthetic pathway with cellular growth control and has been identified in families with hereditary renal (RCC) and thyroid cancers. Haploinsufficiency of <it>TRC8 </it>may facilitate development of clear cell-RCC in association with <it>VHL </it>mutations, and may increase risk for other tumor types. We report a paternally inherited balanced translocation t(8;22) in a proposita with dysgerminoma.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The translocation was characterized by FISH and the breakpoints cloned, sequenced, and compared. DNA isolated from normal and tumor cells was checked for abnormalities by array-CGH. Expression of genes <it>TRC8 </it>and <it>TSN </it>was tested both on dysgerminoma and in the proposita and her father.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The breakpoints of the translocation are located within the LCR-B low copy repeat on chromosome 22q11.21, containing the palindromic AT-rich repeat (PATRR) involved in recurrent and non-recurrent translocations, and in an AT-rich sequence inside intron 1 of the TRC8 tumor-suppressor gene at 8q24.13. <it>TRC8 </it>was strongly underexpressed in the dysgerminoma. Translin is underexpressed in the dysgerminoma compared to normal ovary.</p> <p><it>TRC8 </it>is a target of Translin (TSN), a posttranscriptional regulator of genes transcribed by the transcription factor CREM-tau in postmeiotic male germ cells.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A role for <it>TRC8 </it>in dysgerminoma may relate to its interaction with Translin. We propose a model in which one copy of <it>TRC8 </it>is disrupted by a palindrome-mediated translocation followed by complete loss of expression through suppression, possibly mediated by miRNA.</p>
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