[Pathological and molecular features of malignancies underlined by BAF complexes inactivation].

[Pathological and molecular features of malignancies underlined by BAF complexes inactivation]. Ann Pathol. 2019 Jun 26;: Authors: Le Quang M, Ranchère-Vince D, Le Loarer F Abstract BAF complexes are chromatin remodelling complexes made up of 15 subunits which overview transcription regulation. A subset of their subunits are notoriously linked to cancer, with the examples of SMARCB1, SMARCA4, ARID1A/1B and PBRM1. The complexes act as tumor suppressor genes, commonly mutated in a wide array of malignancies with an overrepresentation of sarcomas and tumors of the central nervous system. The recurrent inactivation of their genes points towards their driving role in the tumorigenesis of SMARCB1 in malignant rhabdoid tumors and SMARCA4 in small cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type. These tumors are morphologically similar composed of solid sheets of cells displaying vesicular nuclei dotted with clear chromatin and conspicuous nucleoli. Genomically, they share simple diploid profiles with no other alterations than in the culprit gene. Other mesenchymal tumors, distinct from malignant rhabdoid tumors are associated with BAF alterations, namely epithelioid sarcomas, SMARCA4-deficient thoracic sarcomas. BAF subunits are mostly inactivated through mutations or deletions but also occur through translocations in medullary carcinoma of the kidney and synovial sarcomas. Apart from tumors displaying recurrent alterations of the complexe...
Source: Annales de Pathologie - Category: Pathology Authors: Tags: Ann Pathol Source Type: research