Folliculin (FLCN)-interacting proteins 1 and 2 (FNIP1, FNIP2) are homologous binding partners of FLCN, a tumor suppressor for kidney cancer. Recent studies have revealed potential functions for Flcn in kidney; however, kidney-specific functions for Fnip1 and Fnip2 are unknown. Here we demonstrate that Fnip1 and Fnip2 play critical roles in kidney tumor suppression in cooperation with Flcn. We observed no detectable phenotype in Fnip2 knockout mice, whereas Fnip1 deficiency produced phenotypes similar to those seen in Flcn-deficient mice in multiple organs, but not in kidneys. We found that absolute Fnip2 mRNA copy number was low relative to Fnip1 in organs that showed phenotypes under Fnip1 deficiency but was comparable to Fnip1 mRNA copy number in mouse kidney. Strikingly, kidney-targeted Fnip1/Fnip2 double inactivation produced enlarged polycystic kidneys, as was previously reported in Flcn-deficient kidneys. Kidney-specific Flcn inactivation did not further augment kidney size or cystic histology of Fnip1/Fnip2 double-deficient kidneys, suggesting pathways dysregulated in Flcn-deficient kidneys and Fnip1/Fnip2 double-deficient kidneys are convergent. Heterozygous Fnip1/homozygous Fnip2 double-knockout mice developed kidney cancer at 24 mo of age, analogous to the heterozygous Flcn knockout mouse model, further supporting the concept that Fnip1 and Fnip2 are essential for the tumor-suppressive function of Flcn and that kidney tumorigenesis in human Birt–Hogg–Dubé syndrome may be triggered by loss of interactions among Flcn, Fnip1, and Fnip2. Our findings uncover important roles for Fnip1 and Fnip2 in kidney tumor suppression and may provide molecular targets for the development of novel therapeutics for kidney cancer.

Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome (BHD) is an autosomal dominant disorder associated with a germline mutation of folliculin (FLCN). The affected families are at a high risk for developing multiple renal cell carcinomas (RCC). Little is known about the immunostaining patterns of mutant FLCN-associated RCCs. We investigated 32 RCCs obtained from 17 BHD patients. The studied tumors included chromophobe RCCs (n = 15), hybrid oncocytic/chromophobe tumors (HOCT) (n = 14) and clear cell RCCs (n = 3). Almost all chromophobe RCCs and HOCTs revealed positive staining for S100A1, Ksp-cadherin and CD82. They stained either focally or diffusely for CK7, and were negative for CA-IX. All clear cell RCCs were positively stained for CA-IX and negative for CK7. These data confirmed that mutant FLCN-associated oncocytic and clear cell RCCs exhibited generally similar immunostaining patterns compared to their sporadic counterparts. Frequent positive staining for S100A1, Ksp-cadherin and CD82 in chromophobe RCCs and HOCTs indicated that these two types were relatively similar rather than distinctively different in their patterns of immunoreactivity. Characteristic peri-nuclear halos and polygonal cells with clear cytoplasm, which often misleads pathologists into the diagnosis of clear cell RCC, should be carefully examined using an immunohistochemical panel including CA-IX, Ksp-cadherin, CD82 and CK7.

Our study showed ubiquitin-dependent proteasomal degradation of IRFs was impaired in anti-TRIM21 antibody-dependent and -independent fashions, leading to amplification of IFN signature in SLE.

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Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome is an inherited disorder caused by germline mutations of the folliculin gene (FLCN). The affected patients are prone to developing renal cell carcinomas (RCCs). Most mutant FLCN-associated RCCs (mFLCN-RCCs) are histologically chromophobe RCCs and hybrid oncocytic/chromophobe tumors. It is incompletely understood whether mFLCN-RCCs have different chromosomal abnormalities compared with their sporadic histological counterparts. Herein, we describe somatic mutations of FLCN and DNA-copy number abnormalities using a high-density, whole-genome, single-nucleotide polymorphism array. The histological types included chromophobe RCC (n = 12), hybrid oncocytic/chromophobe tumor (n = 5), and clear-cell RCC (n = 2). Of 19 tumors, 8 had pathological somatic mutations of FLCN. Among 11 mFLCN-RCCs investigated by single-nucleotide polymorphism array, 8 showed balanced genomic profiles, 2 had gains in chromosome 3q, and 1 had gains in chromosomes 1q and 7. All had copious numbers of loss of heterozygosity in a wide range of chromosomes. The common loss-of-heterozygosity regions were chromosomes 3p24, 8q11, 16q11, Xp22-21, Xp11, Xq11, Xq13, and Xq23. Most of the loss of heterozygosity was because of uniparental disomy. Common uniparental disomy patterns in chromophobe RCCs and hybrid oncocytic/chromophobe tumors indicated that these types were relatively similar in cytogenetic events. Two clear-cell RCCs also shared several uniparental disomy regions with chromophobe RCCs and hybrid oncocytic/chromophobe tumors. mFLCN-RCCs may have common therapeutic targets among different histological types.