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The role of noncoding mutations in blood cancers

Rahman, S; Mansour, MR; (2019) The role of noncoding mutations in blood cancers. Disease Models & Mechanisms , 12 (11) , Article dmm041988. 10.1242/dmm.041988. Green open access

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Abstract

The search for oncogenic mutations in haematological malignancies has largely focused on coding sequence variants. These variants have been critical in understanding these complex cancers in greater detail, ultimately leading to better disease monitoring, subtyping and prognostication. In contrast, the search for oncogenic variants in the noncoding genome has proven to be challenging given the vastness of the search space, the intrinsic difficulty in assessing the impact of variants that do not code for functional proteins, and our still primitive understanding of the function harboured by large parts of the noncoding genome. Recent studies have broken ground on this quest, identifying somatically acquired and recurrent mutations in the noncoding genome that activate the expression of proto-oncogenes. In this Review, we explore some of the best-characterised examples of noncoding mutations in haematological malignancies, and highlight how a significant majority of these variants impinge on gene regulation through the formation of aberrant enhancers and promoters. We delve into the challenges faced by those that embark on a search for noncoding driver mutations, and provide a framework distilled from studies that have successfully identified such variants to overcome some of the most salient hurdles. Finally, we discuss the current therapeutic strategies being explored to target the oncogenic mechanism supported by recurrent noncoding variants. We postulate that the continued discovery and functional characterisation of somatic variants in the noncoding genome will not only advance our understanding of haematological malignancies, but offer novel therapeutic avenues and provide important insights into transcriptional regulation on a broader scale.

Type: Article
Title: The role of noncoding mutations in blood cancers
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1242/dmm.041988
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1242/dmm.041988
Language: English
Additional information: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Keywords: Enhancers and promoters, Gene regulation, Haematological malignancy, Noncoding genome
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Cancer Institute
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Cancer Institute > Research Department of Haematology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Developmental Biology and Cancer Dept
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10086934
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