Molecular genetic screening of the CASR is often based on DNA sequencing.\n\nMethods: We sought to develop a pre-screening method in the diagnostic procedure and pursued variant scanning by high-resolution melting analysis (HRM) on a LightScanner instrument. We used 50 samples,

representing 45 different rare variants, to validate the HRM method. In addition, we implemented small amplicon genotyping of three frequent CASR variants (c.1732+16T/C, c.2956G>T and Selleck GDC-0994 c.2968A>G).\n\nResults: Using HRM, we identified 43 of 45 variants confidently (-96%) while two variants escaped immediate detection. Implementing this method in clinical use further resulted in the identification of seven new CASR variants and nine recurrent. HRM variant scanning, in combination with small selleckchem amplicon genotyping, provides a simple workflow with reduced sequencing burden. Bioinformatics analyses using two freely available prediction tools (PolyPhen2 and SIFT) for evaluating amino acid substitutions were compared and indicated discrepancies in the prediction for 25% of the variants.\n\nConclusion: This study demonstrates the utility of HRM as a pre-screening method, adds 24 novel rare CASR variants, and further emphasizes the importance of clinical decision making

based on all available information rather than bioinformatics alone. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“The t(14;18) translocation constitutes the initiating event of a causative cascade leading to follicular lymphoma (FL). t(14;18) translocations are present in blood from healthy individuals, but there is a trend of MDV3100 in vivo increased prevalence in farmers exposed to pesticides, a group recently associated

with higher risk of t(14;18)(+) non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma development. A direct connection between agricultural pesticide use, t(14;18) in blood, and malignant progression, however, has not yet been demonstrated. We followed t(14;18) clonal evolution over 9 yr in a cohort of farmers exposed to pesticides. We show that exposed individuals bear particularly high t(14;18) frequencies in blood because of a dramatic clonal expansion of activated t(14;18)+ B cells. We further demonstrate that such t(14;18)+ clones recapitulate the hallmark features of developmentally blocked FL cells, with some displaying aberrant activation-induced cytidine deaminase activity linked to malignant progression. Collectively, our data establish that expanded t(14;18)+ clones constitute bona fide precursors at various stages of FL development, and provide a molecular connection between agricultural pesticide exposure, t(14;18) frequency in blood, and clonal progression.