title: Recurrent targets of aberrant somatic hypermutation in lymphoma.
abstract: Somatic hypermutation (SHM) in the variable region of immunoglobulin genes (IGV) naturally occurs in a narrow window of B cell development to provide high-affinity antibodies. However, SHM can also aberrantly target proto-oncogenes and cause genome instability. The role of aberrant SHM (aSHM) has been widely studied in various non-Hodgkin's lymphoma particularly in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Although, it has been speculated that aSHM targets a wide range of genome loci so far only twelve genes have been identified as targets of aSHM through the targeted sequencing of selected genes. A genome-wide study aiming at identifying a comprehensive set of aSHM targets recurrently occurring in DLBCL has not been previously undertaken. Here, we present a comprehensive assessment of the somatic hypermutated genes in DLBCL identified through an analysis of genomic and transcriptome data derived from 40 DLBCL patients. Our analysis verifies that there are indeed many genes that are recurrently affected by aSHM. In particular, we have identified 32 novel targets that show same or higher level of aSHM activity than genes previously reported. Amongst these novel targets, 22 genes showed a significant correlation between mRNA abundance and aSHM.
authors.affiliation: Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Alireza Hadj
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Khodabakhshi
authors.forename: Ryan D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Morin
authors.forename: Anthony P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Fejes
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Mungall
authors.forename: Karen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Mungall
authors.forename: Madison
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bolger-Munro
authors.forename: Nathalie A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Connors
authors.forename: Randy D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Gascoyne
authors.forename: Marco A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Marra
authors.forename: Inanc
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Birol
authors.forename: Steven J M
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D055106:Genome-Wide Association Study; D042822:Genomic Instability; D006801:Humans; D016403:Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D009154:Mutation; D027041:Somatic Hypermutation, Immunoglobulin / Q000235:genetics*