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Rogier Versteeg and colleagues analyze the whole-genome sequences of 108 neuroblastoma samples and detect structural rearrangements of TERT in 23% of high-stage cases. TERT rearrangements are associated with increased TERT expression, increased telomere length and very poor prognosis.
Yardena Samuels and colleagues report the analysis of 501 melanoma exomes and the identification of RASA2 as a tumor-suppressor gene mutated in 5% of melanomas. RASA2 mutations led to increased RAS activation, and RASA2 loss was associated with shorter patient survival times.
Christopher Gordon, Cecilia Lo, Patrice Bouvagnet and colleagues report loss-of-function mutations in the MMP21 gene (encoding matrix metallopeptidase 21) that cause human heterotaxy with associated complex congenital heart defects. The authors confirm the role of MMP21 in heterotaxy and left-right patterning in zebrafish and mouse models.
Hajime Okita and colleagues show that clear-cell sarcoma of the kidney (CCSK) is characterized by recurrent in-frame, internal tandem duplications in BCOR. They detected BCOR alterations in all 20 CCSK tumors analyzed but not in any other pediatric renal tumors, suggesting a specific role for these in-frame duplications in driving CCSK oncogenesis.
Jean-Luc Battini, Giovanni Coppola and colleagues identify XPR1 mutations in several families with primary brain calcification. They further show that these mutations alter phosphate export activity, implicating defective phosphate homeostasis in the etiology of this disease.
Cisca Wijmenga and colleagues report fine mapping of the association signal in the MHC region in individuals with celiac disease. They identify five additional risk factors that are independent of HLA-DQ alleles and that account for 18% of the genetic risk for this disease.
Stacy Steinberg, Hreinn Stefansson, Thorlakur Jonsson and colleagues found that rare variants predicted to alter the function of ABCA7 are associated with risk of Alzheimer's disease. The association was found in Iceland and replicated in northern Europe and the United States.
