BHD Research Blog

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96 posts · 26,995 views

BHD Research Blog is the official blog of BHDSyndrome.org, the primary online resource for anyone interested in Birt-Hogg-Dubé Syndrome, a rare genetic condition linked to benign skin growths, collapsed lung and kidney cancers. In the BHD Research Blog, we focus on analysing current research in BHD and related fields, as well as considering wider issues relating to rare diseases.

Lizzie Perdeaux
96 posts

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  • July 1, 2011
  • 04:23 AM
  • 306 views

Unexpected FLCN mutations

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

A recent paper by Pichert et al. (2011) screened 4805 patients for genetic imbalance in cancer predisposition genes. The patients had been referred to UK clinics for developmental delay, behavioural abnormalities and birth defects. Array CGH was used to detect … Continue reading →... Read more »

Sempau L, Ruiz I, González-Morán A, Susanna X, & Hansen TV. (2010) [New mutation in the Birt Hogg Dube gene]. Actas dermo-sifiliograficas, 101(7), 637-40. PMID: 20858390  

Benhammou JN, Vocke CD, Santani A, Schmidt LS, Baba M, Seyama K, Wu X, Korolevich S, Nathanson KL, Stolle CA.... (2011) Identification of intragenic deletions and duplication in the FLCN gene in Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome. Genes, chromosomes , 50(6), 466-77. PMID: 21412933  

  • October 21, 2011
  • 05:27 AM
  • 295 views

HDAC4… not only a histone deacetylase

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

HIF1α is a transcriptional regulator which plays an essential role in the cellular response to hypoxia. As discussed in last week’s blog, prolyl hydroxylases (PHDs) mark HIFα subunits for degradation, but HIF1α can also be regulated by reversible acetylation. Earlier … Continue reading →... Read more »

Geng H, Harvey CT, Pittsenbarger J, Liu Q, Beer TM, Xue C, & Qian DZ. (2011) HDAC4 regulates HIF1{alpha} lysine acetylation and cancer cell response to hypoxia. The Journal of biological chemistry. PMID: 21917920  

  • December 2, 2011
  • 05:59 AM
  • 292 views

A HIF-independent pathway for tumourigenesis in HLRCC

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

HLRCC, caused by mutations in FH, predisposes patients to develop papillary renal cell carcinoma. FH-deficient cells have an accumulation of fumarate, which leads to the stabilisation of HIF-α subunits and therefore an increase in HIF-α levels. An increased expression of … Continue reading →... Read more »

Ooi A, Wong JC, Petillo D, Roossien D, Perrier-Trudova V, Whitten D, Min BW, Tan MH, Zhang Z, Yang XJ.... (2011) An antioxidant response phenotype shared between hereditary and sporadic type 2 papillary renal cell carcinoma. Cancer cell, 20(4), 511-23. PMID: 22014576  

Frezza C, Zheng L, Folger O, Rajagopalan KN, MacKenzie ED, Jerby L, Micaroni M, Chaneton B, Adam J, Hedley A.... (2011) Haem oxygenase is synthetically lethal with the tumour suppressor fumarate hydratase. Nature, 477(7363), 225-8. PMID: 21849978  

  • April 29, 2011
  • 05:03 AM
  • 289 views

Lab-profile: Professor Eamonn Maher – University of Birmingham, UK

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

The Lab-profile is a new feature of the blog which will highlight the work of a leading BHD research group, as well as introducing the scientists involved and suggesting additional sources of information. In this post we are highlighting the … Continue reading →... Read more »

Lu, X., Wei, W., Fenton, J., Nahorski, M., Rabai, E., Reiman, A., Seabra, L., Nagy, Z., Latif, F., & Maher, E. (2011) Therapeutic Targeting the Loss of the Birt-Hogg-Dube Suppressor Gene. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, 10(1), 80-89. DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-10-0628  

Maher, E. (2011) Genetics of Familial Renal Cancers. Nephron Experimental Nephrology, 118(1). DOI: 10.1159/000320892  

Nahorski, M., Lim, D., Martin, L., Gille, J., McKay, K., Rehal, P., Ploeger, H., van Steensel, M., Tomlinson, I., Latif, F.... (2010) Investigation of the Birt-Hogg-Dube tumour suppressor gene (FLCN) in familial and sporadic colorectal cancer. Journal of Medical Genetics, 47(6), 385-390. DOI: 10.1136/jmg.2009.073304  

Lim, D., Rehal, P., Nahorski, M., Macdonald, F., Claessens, T., Van Geel, M., Gijezen, L., Gille, J., Giraud, S., Richard, S.... (2010) A new locus-specific database (LSDB) for mutations in the folliculin ( ) gene . Human Mutation, 31(1). DOI: 10.1002/humu.21130  

Woodward, E., Ricketts, C., Killick, P., Gad, S., Morris, M., Kavalier, F., Hodgson, S., Giraud, S., Bressac-de Paillerets, B., Chapman, C.... (2008) Familial Non-VHL Clear Cell (Conventional) Renal Cell Carcinoma: Clinical Features, Segregation Analysis, and Mutation Analysis of FLCN. Clinical Cancer Research, 14(18), 5925-5930. DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-08-0608  

  • February 3, 2012
  • 10:17 AM
  • 287 views

Gene therapy in VHL-null cells using human artificial chromosomes

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

Last month, our conference summary highlighted some of the work that is taking place in the field of gene therapy. Currently, many advanced gene therapy systems are derived from viruses, such as the adenovirus and lentivirus. However, these viral vectors … Continue reading →... Read more »

Kim JH, Kononenko A, Erliandri I, Kim TA, Nakano M, Iida Y, Barrett JC, Oshimura M, Masumoto H, Earnshaw WC.... (2011) Human artificial chromosome (HAC) vector with a conditional centromere for correction of genetic deficiencies in human cells. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108(50), 20048-53. PMID: 22123967  

  • November 25, 2011
  • 04:41 AM
  • 277 views

TSC clinical trials

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

In our last conference summary, it was noted that a number of clinical trials are underway to find an effective treatment for tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). These trials use the mTORC1 inhibitors rapamycin and everolimus to compensate for mutations in … Continue reading →... Read more »

Bissler JJ, McCormack FX, Young LR, Elwing JM, Chuck G, Leonard JM, Schmithorst VJ, Laor T, Brody AS, Bean J.... (2008) Sirolimus for angiomyolipoma in tuberous sclerosis complex or lymphangioleiomyomatosis. The New England journal of medicine, 358(2), 140-51. PMID: 18184959  

Davies DM, de Vries PJ, Johnson SR, McCartney DL, Cox JA, Serra AL, Watson PC, Howe CJ, Doyle T, Pointon K.... (2011) Sirolimus therapy for angiomyolipoma in tuberous sclerosis and sporadic lymphangioleiomyomatosis: a phase 2 trial. Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, 17(12), 4071-81. PMID: 21525172  

Krueger DA, Care MM, Holland K, Agricola K, Tudor C, Mangeshkar P, Wilson KA, Byars A, Sahmoud T, & Franz DN. (2010) Everolimus for subependymal giant-cell astrocytomas in tuberous sclerosis. The New England journal of medicine, 363(19), 1801-11. PMID: 21047224  

McCormack FX, Inoue Y, Moss J, Singer LG, Strange C, Nakata K, Barker AF, Chapman JT, Brantly ML, Stocks JM.... (2011) Efficacy and safety of sirolimus in lymphangioleiomyomatosis. The New England journal of medicine, 364(17), 1595-606. PMID: 21410393  

  • January 27, 2012
  • 04:45 AM
  • 277 views

Video Interview: Dr Tim Cash – Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

This week we highlight the work of Dr Tim Cash, who worked on BHD syndrome as part of his PhD studies in the lab of Professor Celeste Simon at the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, University of Pennsylvania. Dr Cash … Continue reading →... Read more »

  • June 17, 2011
  • 06:51 AM
  • 274 views

Conference summaries

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

In April, a previous blog post summarised the various conferences we had attended, and how the data presented could be applied to BHD research. More recently, we have reviewed the scientific content and the patient and family sessions of the … Continue reading →... Read more »

  • May 6, 2011
  • 05:25 AM
  • 269 views

The Third BHD Symposium – Final Reminder!

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

The Third BHD Symposium has been discussed a lot in the blog and it is now only 5 days away! Final preparations are underway for the meeting, which will be held in Maastricht, the Netherlands on 11th and 12th May. … Continue reading →... Read more »

Abstracts of the Third Birt-Hogg-Dubé Symposium. Maastricht, The Netherlands. May 11-12th, 2011. (2011) [No authors listed] . Familial cancer. PMID: 21506000  

  • June 3, 2011
  • 05:51 AM
  • 267 views

Searching for functional FLCN domains

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

It is often the case that frequently occurring mutations can indicate the areas of functional importance within a protein. For example in Ras, a GTPase commonly mutated in cancer, most mutations occur around the GTPase domain, which is critical for … Continue reading →... Read more »

  • June 24, 2011
  • 04:12 AM
  • 266 views

Lab-profile: Dr Richard Harbottle – Imperial College London, UK

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

This month’s lab-profile introduces Dr Richard Harbottle, a Research Fellow at the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College London. Dr Harbottle heads the Gene Therapy research group at Imperial College and is studying gene therapy as a potential … Continue reading →... Read more »

Wong SP, Argyros O, Howe SJ, & Harbottle RP. (2011) Systemic gene transfer of polyethylenimine (PEI)-plasmid DNA complexes to neonatal mice. Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society, 150(3), 298-306. PMID: 21192993  

Argyros O, Wong SP, Fedonidis C, Tolmachov O, Waddington SN, Howe SJ, Niceta M, Coutelle C, & Harbottle RP. (2011) Development of S/MAR minicircles for enhanced and persistent transgene expression in the mouse liver. Journal of molecular medicine (Berlin, Germany), 89(5), 515-29. PMID: 21301798  

  • May 27, 2011
  • 08:50 AM
  • 266 views

Lab-profile: Dr Andrew Tee – Cardiff University, UK

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

As more videos interviews are being uploaded to bhdsyndrome.org, we would like to introduce you to Dr Andrew Tee and his group at the Institute of Medical Genetics at Cardiff University’s School of Medicine. Their main focus involves tuberous sclerosis … Continue reading →... Read more »

Dunlop EA, Dodd KM, Land SC, Davies PA, Martins N, Stuart H, McKee S, Kingswood C, Saggar A, Corderio I.... (2011) Determining the pathogenicity of patient-derived TSC2 mutations by functional characterization and clinical evidence. European journal of human genetics : EJHG. PMID: 21407264  

  • March 16, 2012
  • 12:27 PM
  • 265 views

Single-cell exome sequencing of a ccRCC sample

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

Recent advances in DNA sequencing have led to the discovery of genes and mutations which drive tumourigenesis. In this blog, we have previously described papers by Varela et al. (2011), Dalgliesh et al. (2011) and Guo et al. (2011) which … Continue reading →... Read more »

  • May 4, 2012
  • 04:00 AM
  • 264 views

DNA methylation and kidney cancer

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

Mutations in genes such as FLCN and VHL are implicated in the development of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, DNA methylation and transcriptional silencing at gene promoters can also be involved, as is the case with RASSF1A, which is rarely … Continue reading →... Read more »

Khoo SK, Kahnoski K, Sugimura J, Petillo D, Chen J, Shockley K, Ludlow J, Knapp R, Giraud S, Richard S.... (2003) Inactivation of BHD in sporadic renal tumors. Cancer research, 63(15), 4583-7. PMID: 12907635  

Ricketts CJ, Morris MR, Gentle D, Brown M, Wake N, Woodward ER, Clarke N, Latif F, & Maher ER. (2012) Genome-wide CpG island methylation analysis implicates novel genes in the pathogenesis of renal cell carcinoma. Epigenetics : official journal of the DNA Methylation Society, 7(3), 278-90. PMID: 22430804  

  • November 18, 2011
  • 04:00 AM
  • 263 views

Degradation of HIF-1α by Hypericin

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

Hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) regulates processes such as cell proliferation and metabolism, and it has been implicated in tumour growth in several disorders such as VHL and TSC. Preston et al. (2010) demonstrated that HIF-1α activity was increased in FLCN-null … Continue reading →... Read more »

Isaacs JS, Jung YJ, Mimnaugh EG, Martinez A, Cuttitta F, & Neckers LM. (2002) Hsp90 regulates a von Hippel Lindau-independent hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha-degradative pathway. The Journal of biological chemistry, 277(33), 29936-44. PMID: 12052835  

  • March 2, 2012
  • 04:33 AM
  • 261 views

The role of HIF-2α in renal cell carcinoma

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF) regulates key processes within the cell and its dysregulation is involved in the development of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), including those associated with VHL, HLRCC, TSC and also BHD syndrome. HIF is a potential therapeutic target … Continue reading →... Read more »

Schietke RE, Hackenbeck T, Tran M, Günther R, Klanke B, Warnecke CL, Knaup KX, Shukla D, Rosenberger C, Koesters R.... (2012) Renal Tubular HIF-2α Expression Requires VHL Inactivation and Causes Fibrosis and Cysts. PloS one, 7(1). PMID: 22299048  

Rosenberger C, Mandriota S, Jürgensen JS, Wiesener MS, Hörstrup JH, Frei U, Ratcliffe PJ, Maxwell PH, Bachmann S, & Eckardt KU. (2002) Expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha and -2alpha in hypoxic and ischemic rat kidneys. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology : JASN, 13(7), 1721-32. PMID: 12089367  

Ooi A, Wong JC, Petillo D, Roossien D, Perrier-Trudova V, Whitten D, Min BW, Tan MH, Zhang Z, Yang XJ.... (2011) An antioxidant response phenotype shared between hereditary and sporadic type 2 papillary renal cell carcinoma. Cancer cell, 20(4), 511-23. PMID: 22014576  

Raval RR, Lau KW, Tran MG, Sowter HM, Mandriota SJ, Li JL, Pugh CW, Maxwell PH, Harris AL, & Ratcliffe PJ. (2005) Contrasting properties of hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) and HIF-2 in von Hippel-Lindau-associated renal cell carcinoma. Molecular and cellular biology, 25(13), 5675-86. PMID: 15964822  

  • November 2, 2012
  • 10:14 AM
  • 257 views

Nucleolar VHL regulates rRNA synthesis under hypoxic conditions

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

In last week’s blog, the role of FLCN in inhibiting rRNA synthesis was discussed. This week’s blog discusses a related study by Mekhail et al. (2006) that found rRNA synthesis can also be inhibited by nucleolar VHL. The authors demonstrated … Continue reading →... Read more »

Baba M, Hong SB, Sharma N, Warren MB, Nickerson ML, Iwamatsu A, Esposito D, Gillette WK, Hopkins RF 3rd, Hartley JL.... (2006) Folliculin encoded by the BHD gene interacts with a binding protein, FNIP1, and AMPK, and is involved in AMPK and mTOR signaling. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 103(42), 15552-7. PMID: 17028174  

Mekhail K, Gunaratnam L, Bonicalzi ME, & Lee S. (2004) HIF activation by pH-dependent nucleolar sequestration of VHL. Nature cell biology, 6(7), 642-7. PMID: 15181450  

Mekhail K, Rivero-Lopez L, Khacho M, & Lee S. (2006) Restriction of rRNA synthesis by VHL maintains energy equilibrium under hypoxia. Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.), 5(20), 2401-13. PMID: 17102617  

  • January 20, 2012
  • 05:31 AM
  • 246 views

FLCN-FNIP2-AMPK and MNU-induced apoptosis

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

DNA repair proteins appear to play a significant role in both the development and progression of renal cell carcinoma, as has been discussed in earlier blog posts from 2010 and 2011. These proteins are responsible for repairing DNA lesions caused … Continue reading →... Read more »

  • October 14, 2011
  • 04:00 AM
  • 240 views

Reduced AMPK and cytosolic iron levels in FH-deficient cells

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

Mutations in Fumarate Hydratase (FH) cause HLRCC, a kidney cancer syndrome related to BHD. FH is an enzyme involved in the TCA cycle and its deficiency results in the accumulation of fumarate within the cell. This accumulation leads to increased … Continue reading →... Read more »

  • May 20, 2011
  • 04:21 AM
  • 238 views

Highlights of the Third BHD Symposium

by Lizzie Perdeaux in BHD Research Blog

Last week, the Third BHD Symposium was held in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The two-day meeting was a huge success, bringing together over 80 BHD researchers, clinicians and patients from all over the world. Up-to-date research was presented and scientists had … Continue reading →... Read more »

Abstracts of the Third Birt-Hogg-Dubé Symposium. Maastricht, The Netherlands. May 11-12th, 2011. (2011) [No authors listed] . Familial cancer. PMID: 21506000  

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