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Seeing the smoking gun: a sensitive and specific method to visualize loss of the tumour suppressor, fumarate hydratase, in human tissues
Author(s) -
Maxwell Patrick H.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
the journal of pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.964
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1096-9896
pISSN - 0022-3417
DOI - 10.1002/path.2950
Subject(s) - fumarase , suppressor , cancer research , kidney , germline , cell , pathology , gene , biology , medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , genetics
In this issue of the Journal of Pathology , Bardella et al report a method for identifying tumours that lack fumarate hydratase. The approach they use is immunodetection of proteins that have been modified by a non‐enzymatic reaction of thiol groups in proteins with fumarate, which is termed succination. Validation included the use of mice with targeted inactivation of fumarate hydratase in the kidney, extensive studies of normal human tissues and examination of over 1000 specimens from human cancers not associated with FH mutations. Detection of protein succination is likely to provide a sensitive and specific method for pathologists to identify the small proportion of papillary renal cell carcinomas that are associated with germline mutations in the FH gene. Copyright © 2011 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.