Background: Meningiomas are the most common intracranial neoplasias, representing a clinically and histopathologically heterogeneous group of tumors. The neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) tumor suppressor is the only gene known to be frequently involved in early development of meningiomas. The objective of this study was to identify genetic and/or epigenetic factors contributing to the development of these tumors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPheochromocytoma is a predominantly sporadic neuroendocrine tumor derived from the adrenal medulla. Previous low resolution LOH and metaphase-CGH studies reported the loss of chromosomes 1p, 3q, 17p and 22q at various frequencies. However, the molecular mechanism(s) behind development of sporadic pheochromocytoma remains largely unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSchwannomas may develop sporadically or in association with NF2 and schwannomatosis. The fundamental aberration in schwannomas is the bi-allelic inactivation of the NF2 gene. However, clinical and molecular data suggest that these tumors share a common pathogenetic mechanism related to as yet undefined 22q-loci.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMeningiomas are common neoplasms of the meninges lining of the central nervous system. Deletions of 1p have been established as important for the initiation and/or progression of meningioma. The rationale of this array-CGH study was to characterize copy number imbalances of chromosome 1 in meningioma, using a full-coverage genomic microarray containing 2,118 distinct measurement points.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNeurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) is an autosomal dominant cancer syndrome caused by the biallelic inactivation of the neurofibromin 2 tumor suppressor gene ( NF2). Current molecular diagnostic methods for NF2 involve the detection of point mutations and/or microdeletions across the 100-kb locus from 22q12. Despite the fact that NF2 gene inactivating deletions occur in 25-30% of NF2 patients, the available approaches for high-resolution and high-throughput detection of deletions are underdeveloped.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrevious low-resolution schwannoma studies have reported diverse frequencies (30-80%) of 22q deletions, involving the neurofibromatosis-2 tumor suppressor (NF2) gene. We constructed an array spanning 11 million base pairs of 22q encompassing the NF2 gene, with 100% coverage and an average resolution of 58 kb. Moreover, the 220 kb genomic sequence encompassing the NF2 gene was covered by 13 cosmids to further enhance the resolution of analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe have constructed the first comprehensive microarray representing a human chromosome for analysis of DNA copy number variation. This chromosome 22 array covers 34.7 Mb, representing 1.
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