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Updated: Aug 30, 2025

Mosaic Zebrafish Transgenesis for Functional Genomic Analysis of Candidate Cooperative Genes in Tumor Pathogenesis
Published on: March 31, 2015
Mosaicism in Tumor Suppressor Gene Syndromes: Prevalence, Diagnostic Strategies, and Transmission Risk
Jillian L Chen1,2, David T Miller3, Laura S Schmidt4,5
1Cancer Genetics Laboratory, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and Division of Genetics, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA;
Abstract:
A mosaic state arises when pathogenic variants are acquired in certain cell lineages during postzygotic development, and mosaic individuals may present with a generalized or localized phenotype. Here, we review the current state of knowledge regarding mosaicism for eight common tumor suppressor genes-NF1, NF2, TSC1, TSC2, PTEN, VHL, RB1, and TP53-and their related genetic syndromes/entities. We compare and discuss approaches for comprehensive diagnostic genetic testing, the spectrum of variant allele frequency, and disease severity. We also review affected individuals who have no mutation identified after conventional genetic analysis, as well as genotype-phenotype correlations and transmission risk for each tumor suppressor gene in full heterozygous and mosaic patients. This review provides new insight into similarities as well as marked differences regarding the appreciation of mosaicism in these tumor suppressor syndromes.
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