title: Sporadic medulloblastomas contain oncogenic beta-catenin mutations.
abstract: The beta-catenin, glycogen synthase kinase 3beta (GSK-3beta), and adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene products interact to form a network that influences the rate of cell proliferation. Medulloblastoma occurs as part of Turcot's syndrome, and patients with Turcot's who develop medulloblastomas have been shown to harbor germ-line APC mutations. Although APC mutations have been investigated and not identified in sporadic medulloblastomas, the status of the beta-catenin and GSK-3beta genes has not been evaluated in this tumor. Here we show that 3 of 67 medulloblastomas harbor beta-catenin mutations, each of which converts a GSK-3beta phosphorylation site from serine to cysteine. The beta-catenin mutation seen in the tumors was not present in matched constitutional DNA in the two cases where matched DNA was available. A loss of heterozygosity analysis of 32 medulloblastomas with paired normal DNA samples was performed with four microsatellite markers flanking the GSK-3beta locus; loss of heterozygosity with at least one marker was identified in 7 tumors. Sequencing of the remaining GSK-3beta allele in these cases failed to identify any mutations. Taken together, these data suggest that activating mutations in the beta-catenin gene may be involved in the development of a subset of medulloblastomas. The GSK-3beta gene does not appear to be a target for inactivation in this tumor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Mayo Clinic and Foundation, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA.
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Zurawel
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Chiappa
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Raffel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D002528:Cerebellar Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D038362:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3; D038341:Glycogen Synthase Kinases; D006801:Humans; D008527:Medulloblastoma / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation; D015534:Trans-Activators; D051176:beta Catenin
chemical_list: C495270:CTNNB1 protein, human; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D051176:beta Catenin; D038341:Glycogen Synthase Kinases; D017871:Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases; D038362:Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3