Astrocytomas are the most common pediatric brain tumors, accounting for 7%–8% of all childhood cancers. Relatively few studies have been performed on their molecular properties; therefore, classification of pediatric astrocytic tumors into genetic subtypes similar to that of adult tumors remains to be defined. Here, we report an extensive characterization of 44 pediatric astrocytomas—16 diffuse...

PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homologue, deleted on chromosome 10) is a tumor suppressor with dual phosphatase activity and mutations of its gene, PTEN, have been associated with many sporadic cancers and heritable neoplasia syndromes, including Cowden syndrome and Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba syndrome. However, accumulating evidence now shows that PTEN may have novel functions other than as a phosp...

Phylogenetic divergence of the members of the Pongidae family has been based on genetic evidence. The terminal repeat array (T2AG3) has lately been considered as an additional basis to analyze genomes of highly related species. The recent isolation of subtelomeric DNA probes specific for human (HSA) chromosomes 7q and 14q has prompted us to cross-hybridize them to the chromosomes of the chimpan...

The activation of oncogenes and inactivation of tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) have been implicated in the development of many human and animal malignancies. Changes in certain specific genes have been shown to be of potential value for diagnosis and prognosis, as well as treatment, of some cancers. By contrast, no oncogene has been correlated conclusively at the DNA level with the initiation an...

Gliomas are the most common primary brain tumor, and are histopathologically classified according to their cell type and the degree of malignancy. However, sometimes diagnosis can be controversial,and tumors of the same entity possibly have a wide range of survival. Genetic analysis of these tumors is considered to have great importance in terms that it can provide clinically relevant classific...

Genome-wide reduction in 5-methylcytosine is an epigenetic hallmark of human tumorigenesis. Experimentally induced hypomethylation in mice promotes genomic instability and is sufficient to initiate tumorigenesis. Here, we report that global hypomethylation is common in primary human glioblastomas [glioblastoma multiforme (GBM)] and can affect up to an estimated 10 million CpG dinucleotides per ...

An understanding of the genetic influences on hypertension would help unravel the pathophysiology of this complex disorder and improve our understanding of causal mechanisms. Contemporary technology makes it possible to examine enough genetic markers to support a generalized search across the entire genome for candidate regions. In the present study, a family set was recruited from southwest Ni...

Allelic loss of 8p, 10q, 13q, 16q, and 18q has been frequently demonstrated in prostate cancer, implying the existence of putative tumor suppressor genes in these regions. However, there are likely a number of additional genetic events that define the progression from normal prostatic epithelium to prostate cancer that have yet to be identified. To characterize a novel region of deletion in spo...

We present the prenatal case of a 12.5-Mb duplication involving 6q25-qter and a 12.2-Mb deletion encompassing 10q26-qter diagnosed by aCGH, while conventional karyotype showed normal results. The genotype-phenotype correlation between individual microarray and clinical findings adds to the emerging atlas of chromosomal abnormalities associated with specific prenatal ultrasound abnormalities.

DNA methylation and chromatin DNaseI sensitivity were analyzed in and adjacent to D4Z4 repeat arrays, which consist of 1 to approximately 100 tandem 3.3-kb units at subtelomeric 4q and 10q. D4Z4 displayed hypomethylation in some cancers and hypermethylation in others relative to normal tissues. Surprisingly, in cancers with extensive D4Z4 methylation there was a barrier to hypermethylation spre...