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. 1994 Aug 16;91(17):7869–7873. doi: 10.1073/pnas.91.17.7869

Transcriptional activation by TAL1 and FUS-CHOP proteins expressed in acute malignancies as a result of chromosomal abnormalities.

I Sánchez-García 1, T H Rabbitts 1
PMCID: PMC44505  PMID: 8058726

Abstract

Proteins that appear to participate in transcriptional control of gene expression are increasingly implicated in leukemias and malignant solid tumors. We report here that the N-terminal domains of the proteins TAL1 (ectopically activated in T-cell acute leukemias after chromosomal abnormalities caused by V-D-J recombinase error) (V, variable; D, diversity; J, joining) and FUS-CHOP (a liposarcoma tumor-specific fusion protein that is produced as a result of a chromosomal translocation) can function as transcription activators of specific responsive reporter genes. The result with TAL1 provides evidence that transcriptional activation can be mediated by a gene activated by translocation in T-cell acute leukemias. In the case of the liposarcoma, transactivation by the FUS-CHOP protein occurs because the FUS transcriptional activation domain is added to the DNA-binding CHOP protein normally lacking such activity. Therefore, the association of transcriptional activation and DNA-binding elements is a common consequence in proteins activated or newly created as fusion proteins after chromosomal translocations in acute leukemias and in malignant solid tumors.

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Selected References

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