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We sequenced whole exomes of ten clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCCs) and performed a screen of ?1,100 genes in 88 additional ccRCCs, from which we discovered 12 previously unidentified genes mutated at elevated frequencies in ccRCC. Notably, we detected frequent mutations in the ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis pathway (UMPP), and alterations in the UMPP were significantly associated with overexpression of HIF1? and HIF2? in the tumors (P = 0.01 and 0.04, respectively). Our findings highlight the potential contribution of UMPP to ccRCC tumorigenesis through the activation of the hypoxia regulatory network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Activation of telomerase can be observed in almost all human tumor histotypes and detection of the urinary telomerase activities is useful for the diagnosis and surveillance of bladder cancer. In this study, we screened, by Sanger sequencing, 302 patients with various urogenital cancers for somatic mutations in the promoter of the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene and determined the clinical relevance of TERT promoter mutations in urogenital cancer. In vitro assays were also performed to evaluate the functional influence of the discovered mutations. We found that the frequencies of somatic mutations in the TERT promoter varied substantially between different types of urogenital tumors (range: 0–63.7%), with urothelial carcinomas showing the highest mutation frequency and prostate cancer showing no mutation. The mutations upregulated the expression of TERT and enhanced the invasiveness of the tumor cells. The mutations were more prevalent in older patients with invasive diseases and advanced tumor stages, and were associated with significantly shorter survival time. Moreover, we also observed a significant co-occurrence of mutations between the TERT promoter and the tumor protein 51/retinoblastoma1 (TP53/RB1) signaling pathway. Hence, TERT promoter mutations may serve as important markers for the differential diagnosis and surveillance of urogenital tumors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common kidney cancer and has very few mutations that are shared between different patients. To better understand the intratumoral genetics underlying mutations of ccRCC, we carried out single-cell exome sequencing on a ccRCC tumor and its adjacent kidney tissue. Our data indicate that this tumor was unlikely to have resulted from mutations in VHL and PBRM1. Quantitative population genetic analysis indicates that the tumor did not contain any significant clonal subpopulations and also showed that mutations that had different allele frequencies within the population also had different mutation spectrums. Analyses of these data allowed us to delineate a detailed intratumoral genetic landscape at a single-cell level. Our pilot study demonstrates that ccRCC may be more genetically complex than previously thought and provides information that can lead to new ways to investigate individual tumors, with the aim of developing more effective cellular targeted therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]