An effective treatment for metastatic melanoma remains one of the most elusive goals in all of oncology. Several generations of therapeutic trials have yet to yield any agents that can significantly prolong survival for widespread disease. Despite this disheartening history, our understanding of the biology and molecular genetics of melanoma hold the promise of a new era of molecular targets. One pathway that appears to be universally activated in and critically needed for melanoma growth is the Ras/mitogen activated protein (MAP) kinase signaling cascade. Since the enzymatic functions of the signaling partners are well characterized, this pathway offers many potential "druggable" candidates including Braf, Mek and Ras itself. In this review, we describe this pathway in the context of melanoma tumorigenesis and discuss some of the current relevant pharmacologic treatments and clinical trials.
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Purpose: Genomic ascertainment of electronic health record-linked exome data in two large biobanks was used to quantify germline pathogenic/likely pathogenic (P/LP) variant prevalence, cancer prevalence, and survival in adults with non- RAS/mitogen-activated protein kinase genes (RASopathies).
Patients And Methods: Germline RASopathy variants were examined from adult participants in UK Biobank (UKBB; n=469,802), Geisinger MyCode (n=167,050) and Mount Sinai Bio (n=30,470). Variants were classified as per American College of Medical Genetics/Association for Molecular Pathology criteria and reviewed by a RASopathy variant expert.
Q241R mutation of Braf causes neurological abnormalities in a mouse model of cardio-facio-cutaneous syndrome, independent of developmental malformations.
Hum Mol Genet
January 2025
Department of Laboratory Sciences, Gunma University Graduate School of Health Sciences, 3-39-22 Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8514, Japan.
Constitutively active mutants of BRAF cause cardio-facio-cutaneous (CFC) syndrome, characterized by growth and developmental defects, cardiac malformations, facial features, cutaneous manifestations, and mental retardation. An animal model of human CFC syndrome, the systemic BrafQ241R/+ mutant mouse, has been reported to exhibit multiple CFC syndrome-like phenotypes. In this study, we analyzed the effects of Braf mutations on neural function, separately from their effects on developmental processes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRasopathies, including Noonan Syndrome (NS) and Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), are developmental disorders caused by germline mutations in genes of the RAS/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway (RAS-MAPK). This study investigates irritability, a highly prevalent transdiagnostic construct, in children with Rasopathies and the impact of Rasopathy status on the associations between irritability, emotional dysregulation-related disorders, and social skills impairments. The sample comprise 174 children aged 4-17 (age mean = 9.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClinical features and molecular genetics of patients with RASopathies: expanding the phenotype with rare genes and novel variants.
Eur J Pediatr
December 2024
Department of Medical Genetics, Dr. Behçet Uz Children's Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.
Unlabelled: The RASopathies are a group of disorders resulting from a germline variant in the genes encoding the Ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. These disorders include Noonan syndrome (NS), cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome (CFC), Costello syndrome (CS), Legius syndrome (LS), and neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), and have overlapping clinical features due to RAS/MAPK dysfunction. In this study, we aimed to describe the clinical and molecular features of patients exhibiting phenotypic manifestations consistent with RASopathies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpatially Resolved Molecular Characterization of Noninvasive Follicular Thyroid Neoplasms with Papillary-like Nuclear Features (NIFTPs) Identifies a Distinct Proteomic Signature Associated with RAS-Mutant Lesions.
Int J Mol Sci
December 2024
Department of Medicine and Surgery, Pathology, Center of Digital Medicine, University of Milano-Bicocca, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, Via Cadore 48, 20900 Monza, Italy.
Follicular-patterned thyroid neoplasms comprise a diverse group of lesions that pose significant challenges in terms of differential diagnosis based solely on morphologic and genetic features. Thus, the identification of easily testable biomarkers complementing microscopic and genetic analyses is a highly anticipated advancement that could improve diagnostic accuracy, particularly for noninvasive follicular thyroid neoplasms with papillary-like nuclear features (NIFTPs). These tumors exhibit considerable morphological and molecular heterogeneity, which may complicate their distinction from structurally similar neoplasms, especially when genetic analyses reveal shared genomic alterations (e.
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