Folliculin (FLCN) is a tumor-suppressor protein mutated in the Birt-Hogg-Dubé (BHD) syndrome, which associates with two paralogous proteins, folliculin-interacting protein (FNIP)1 and FNIP2, forming a complex that interacts with the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK).
Genetic investigations revealed constitutional mutations in FLCN, associated with Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome (BHD) and CCM2, associated with familial cerebral cavernous malformation.
Pathology reports showed that the patients had lymph node metastasis in spite of small size of thyroid lesions.The 2 missense mutations, not reported previously, expand the mutation spectrum of FLCN gene associated with BHD syndrome.
Characterization of pulmonary cysts in Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome: histopathological and morphometric analysis of 229 pulmonary cysts from 50 unrelated patients.
The precise functions of the FLCN gene product are still under investigation but RCC from BHD patients show loss of the wild-type allele consistent with a tumor suppressor gene function.
Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome is a rare inherited cancer syndrome caused by a germline mutation in the folliculin (FLCN) gene, but the genetic causes for histologic diversity of renal tumors in Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome have not been elucidated.
The literature has reported cases diagnosed with familial PSP, who have no manifestations of Birt-Hogg-Dubé (BHD) syndrome but mutations in different exons of the Folliculin (FLCN) gene.
Identification of a novel genotype in BHDS will provide clues to the phenotype-genotype relations and may aid in explaining the molecular pathogenesis of diseases related to FLCN mutation.
Mutations in the FLCN gene are the cause of Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome, a rare tumor syndrome which is characterized by the combination of renal cell carcinoma, pneumothorax and skin tumors.
Germline H255Y and K508R missense mutations in the folliculin (FLCN) gene have been identified in patients with bilateral multifocal (BMF) kidney tumours and clinical manifestations of Birt-Hogg-Dubé (BHD) syndrome, or with BMF kidney tumours as the only manifestation; however, their impact on FLCN function remains to be determined.
Rare loss-of-function folliculin (FLCN) mutations are the genetic cause of Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome, a monogenic disorder characterized by spontaneous pneumothorax, fibrofolliculomas, and kidney tumors.
In this study, we report the identification of 13 variants and three polymorphisms in the FLCN gene in 143 Danish patients or families with suspected BHD syndrome.
Mutations in a novel gene lead to kidney tumors, lung wall defects, and benign tumors of the hair follicle in patients with the Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome.
Here, we show that the Drosophila homolog of FLCN, dFLCN (a.k.a. dBHD) localizes to the nucleolus and physically interacts with the 19S proteasomal ATPase, Rpt4, a nucleolar resident and known regulator of rRNA transcription.
It is known that mutation of FLCN can predispose Birt-Hogg-Dubé (BHD) patient's to renal cell carcinoma , renal and lung cysts, as well as skin fibrofolliculomas.