Figure 6

Potential consequences of mutant BRAF V600E in LCH. In mutant monocytes or mutant LC precursors, the constitutively active BRAF V600E mutant protein is predicted to bypass the requirement for mitogen-induced activation of RAF by RAS. The identification of activating BRAF mutations supports the hypothesis that LCH is a neoplastic process (oncogenic potential). However, phosphorylated ERK is rapidly dephosphorylated by DUSP6, which is constitutively expressed in LCH cells (GSE16395). Other factors, such as accumulated gene mutations and an inflammatory trigger of the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK signaling pathway, thus appear to be involved in LCH pathogenesis. DUSP6: dual specificity phosphatase 6.