The NCBI Database has proved itself to be the doyen of scientific resources and is often the first port of call for information regardless of your specific field. I’d like to highlight a resource I’ve found extremely useful over the last couple of weeks: the BioSystems page.
Searching for ‘Birt Hogg Dubé’ results in 12 different models of molecular pathogenesis underlying renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in several species. Three excellent schematics are provided illustrating which signalling pathways are deregulated in several types of RCC in homo sapiens.
The beginning of a BHD specific pathway is also provided, but has yet to be completed. I’ll provide a direct link to the page in question (here) so you can see for yourselves. I’ve found it’s useful when thinking about FLCNs role in renal tumourigenesis within the context of ‘the bigger picture’. The models provided are all RCC centric for the time being but that obviously reflects the quality of work done in the area. I hope that in the coming years we can flesh out the ‘BHD’ section a lot more!
www.BHDsyndrome.org – the online reference site for anyone interested in BHD Syndrome.