Kool MHopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
Sturm DHopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
Jones DTWHopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
Vasilyeva ACancer Center Administration, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
Tatevossian RGDepartment of Pathology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
Neale GHartwell Center, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
Lombard BInstitut Curie, PSL Research University, Centre de Recherche, Laboratoire de Spectrométrie de Masse Protéomique, Paris, France.
Loew DInstitut Curie, PSL Research University, Centre de Recherche, Laboratoire de Spectrométrie de Masse Protéomique, Paris, France.
Nakitandwe JDepartment of Pathology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
Rusch MDepartment of Computational Biology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
Bowers DCDivision of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, TX, USA.
Bendel ADepartment of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, Minnesota, MN, USA.
Partap SDepartment of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Chintagumpala MTexas Children's Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
Crawford JDepartment of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego and Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego, CA, USA.
Gottardo NGDepartment of Paediatric and Adolescent Oncology/Haematology, Perth Children's Hospital and Brain Tumour Research Programme, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
Smith AArnold Palmer Hospital Center for Children's Cancer, Orlando, FL, USA.
Dufour CGustave Roussy, Université Paris-Saclay, Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Oncology, Villejuif, France.
Rutkowski SDepartment of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Eggen TThe Cancer Registry of Norway, Majorstuen, Oslo, Norway.
Wesenberg FDepartment of Research, Cancer Registry of Norway, Institute of Population-Based Cancer Research, Oslo, Norway.
Kjaerheim KDepartment of Research, Cancer Registry of Norway, Institute of Population-Based Cancer Research, Oslo, Norway.
Feychting MInstitute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Lannering BDepartment of Pediatrics, University of Gothenburg, The Queen Silvia Children's Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Schüz JSection of Environment and Radiation, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France.
Johansen COncology Clinic, Finsen Centre, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Andersen TVDepartment of Epidemiology and Public Health, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Röösli MSwiss Childhood Cancer Registry, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Kuehni CESwiss Childhood Cancer Registry, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Grotzer MUniversity Children's Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Remke MDepartment of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology, and Clinical Immunology, Medical Faculty, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Puget SDepartment of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Necker Hospital, Université de Paris, Paris, France.
Pajtler KWHopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
Milde THopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
Witt OHopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
Ryzhova MDepartment of Neuropathology, Burdenko Neurosurgical Institute, Moscow, Russia.
Korshunov AClinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
Orr BADepartment of Pathology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
Ellison DWDepartment of Pathology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
Brugieres LGustave Roussy, Université Paris-Saclay, Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Oncology, Villejuif, France.
Lichter PDivision of Molecular Genetics, German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center Heidelberg (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
Nichols KEDepartment of Oncology, Division of Cancer Predisposition, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
Gajjar ADepartment of Oncology, Division of Neuro-Oncology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.
Wainwright BJInstitute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Ayrault OUniversité Paris Sud, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS UMR 3347, INSERM U1021, Orsay, France.
English
Cancer genomics has revealed many genes and core molecular processes that contribute to human malignancies, but the genetic and molecular bases of many rare cancers remains unclear. Genetic predisposition accounts for 5 to 10% of cancer diagnoses in children1,2, and genetic events that cooperate with known somatic driver events are poorly understood. Pathogenic germline variants in established cancer predisposition genes have been recently identified in 5% of patients with the malignant brain tumour medulloblastoma3. Here, by analysing all protein-coding genes, we identify and replicate rare germline loss-of-function variants across ELP1 in 14% of paediatric patients with the medulloblastoma subgroup Sonic Hedgehog (MBSHH). ELP1 was the most common medulloblastoma predisposition gene and increased the prevalence of genetic predisposition to 40% among paediatric patients with MBSHH. Parent-offspring and pedigree analyses identified two families with a history of paediatric medulloblastoma. ELP1-associated medulloblastomas were restricted to the molecular SHHα subtype4 and characterized by universal biallelic inactivation of ELP1 owing to somatic loss of chromosome arm 9q. Most ELP1-associated medulloblastomas also exhibited somatic alterations in PTCH1, which suggests that germline ELP1 loss-of-function variants predispose individuals to tumour development in combination with constitutive activation of SHH signalling. ELP1 is the largest subunit of the evolutionarily conserved Elongator complex, which catalyses translational elongation through tRNA modifications at the wobble (U34) position5,6. Tumours from patients with ELP1-associated MBSHH were characterized by a destabilized Elongator complex, loss of Elongator-dependent tRNA modifications, codon-dependent translational reprogramming, and induction of the unfolded protein response, consistent with loss of protein homeostasis due to Elongator deficiency in model systems7-9. Thus, genetic predisposition to proteome instability may be a determinant in the pathogenesis of paediatric brain cancers. These results support investigation of the role of protein homeostasis in other cancer types and potential for therapeutic interference.