Whole Exome Sequencing of Uveal Melanoma

Uveal melanoma is a rare form of melanoma that occurs in the eye and has no effective treatment once metastatic. To further characterize the genomic events driving uveal melanoma, whole exome sequencing was performed on 61 primary tumors derived from enucleations, 3 liver metasases, and paired normal DNA. Recurrent somatic genetic alterations including point mutations, small insertions and deletions, as well as copy number variations were identified. In addition, RNA sequencing of uveal melanoma cell lines expressing shRNAs was performed from total RNA as well as polysome-associated mRNA in order to identify transcripts regulated by EIF1AX at the level of translation.