Towards Understanding the Pathogenicity of DROSHA Mutations in Oncohematology

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) refers to a heterogeneous group of closely related clonal hematopoietic disorders, which are characterized by accumulation of somatic mutations. The acquired mutation burden is suggested to define the pathway and consequent phenotype of the pathology. Recent studies have called attention to the role of miRNA biogenesis genes in MDS progression; in particular, the mutational pressure of the DROSHA gene was determined. Therefore, this highlights the importance of studying the impact of all collected missense mutations found within the DROSHA gene in oncohematology that might affect the functionality of the protein. In this study, the selected mutations were extensively examined by computational screening, and the most deleterious were subjected to a further molecular dynamic simulation in order to uncover the molecular mechanism of the structural damage to the protein altering its biological function. The most significant effect was found for variants I625K, L1047S, and H1170D, presumably affecting the endonuclease activity of DROSHA. Such alterations arisen during MDS progression should be taken into consideration as evoking certain clinical traits in the malignifying clonal evolution.