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Microsatellite Instability

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Encyclopedia of Cancer

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Definition

Microsatellite instability (MSI) is the accumulation of novel microsatellite alleles in genomes (from bacteria to human) due to defect in mismatch repair.

Microsatellites are site specific DNA markers with high abundance throughout the genome. They consist of short repetitive motifs of 1–6 nucleotides in length that are tandemly repeated 10–60 times and flanked by unique sequences (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1
figure 1

Microsatellites consist of short nucleotide units tandemly repeated and flanked by unique sequences. The different types of 1–6 base pairs per unit are illustrated. The last unit within each type is in parenthesis followed by an “n” indicating additional units

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References

  • Boland CR, Thibodeau SN, Hamilton SR et al (1998) A National Cancer Institute Workshop on Microsatellite Instability for cancer detection and familial predisposition: development of international criteria for the determination of microsatellite instability in colorectal cancer. Cancer Res 58:5248–5257

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See Also

  • (2012) Microsatellite. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 2305. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3730

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  • (2012) MLH1/3. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 2348. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3789

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  • (2012) MSH2–6. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 2383. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3860

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  • (2012) MutHLS. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 2420. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_3914

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  • (2012) PMS1/2. In: Schwab M (ed) Encyclopedia of cancer, 3rd edn. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, p 2931. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-16483-5_4646

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Roche Norway, Oslo, Norway

    Terje C. Ahlquist

  2. Department of Cancer Prevention, Rikshospitalet-Radiumhospitalet Medical Centre, Oslo, Norway

    Ragnhild A. Lothe

Authors
  1. Terje C. Ahlquist
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  2. Ragnhild A. Lothe
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Correspondence to Terje C. Ahlquist .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Abt. Tumorgenetik, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Heidelberg, Germany

    Manfred Schwab

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Ahlquist, T.C., Lothe, R.A. (2015). Microsatellite Instability. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_3731-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_3731-2

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27841-9

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