3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR) somatic mutations represent a largely unexplored avenue of alternative oncogenic gene dysregulation. To determine the significance of 3′ UTR mutations in disease, researchers identify 3′ UTR somatic variants across 185 advanced prostate tumors, discovering 14,497 single-nucleotide mutations enriched in oncogenic pathways and 3′ UTR regulatory elements. By developing two complementary massively parallel reporter assays, they measure how thousands of patient-based mutations affect mRNA translation and stability and identify hundreds of functional variants that allow us to define determinants of mutation significance.
