Molecular cartography of mutational landscapes in melanomas

Abstract

Understanding the origins of mutations in genes and how these give rise to tumors is a central problem in biology. A new study in The EMBO Journal has produced a 3‐dimensional map of DNA damage induced by sunlight, a pervasive carcinogen, and found that genes on the periphery, located near the nuclear lamin, are more prone to damage than those in the interior of the nucleus. In addition, high levels of damage showed a remarkable correlation with driver mutations in melanoma.