More than 20 different partner genes with MLL have been cloned from leukemia cells with translocations involving chromosome 11 band q23 (11q23). All reported partner genes fused in-frame to MLL and the fusion cDNA encode chimeric MLL proteins with a significant portion derived from the partner genes. We analyzed one patient with de novo acute monoblastic leukemia with t(11;14)(q23;q24) and iden...

Membrane fusion is an energy-consuming process that requires tight juxtaposition of two lipid bilayers. Little is known about how cells overcome energy barriers to bring their membranes together for fusion. Previously, we have shown that cell-cell fusion is an asymmetric process in which an "attacking" cell drills finger-like protrusions into the "receiving" cell to promote cell fusion. Here, w...

UNLABELLED PAX5, a transcription factor pivotal for B-cell commitment and maintenance, is one of the most frequent targets of somatic mutations in B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A number of PAX5 rearrangements result in the expression of in-frame fusion genes encoding chimeric proteins, which at the N-terminus consistently retain the PAX5 DNA-binding paired domain fused to the C...

PAX5, a transcription factor pivotal for B-cell commitment and maintenance, is one of the most frequent targets of somaticmutations in B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A number of PAX5 rearrangements result in the expression of in-frame fusion genes encoding chimeric proteins, which at theN-terminus consistently retain the PAX5DNA-binding paired domain fused to the C-terminal doma...

The NUP98 gene has been reported to be fused to 11 partner genes in hematological malignancies with 11p15 translocations. Among NUP98 fusion partner genes, HOXA and HOXD clusters have been reported thus far; however, no HOXC or HOXB clusters have been reported. We identified a novel NUP98-HOXC11 fusion gene in a pediatric patient with de novo acute myeloid leukemia having t(11;12)(p15;q13). The...

Today, proteins are typically overexpressed using solubility-enhancing fusion tags that allow for affinity chromatographic purification and subsequent removal by site-specific protease cleavage. In this review, we present an alternative approach to protein production using fusion partners specifically designed to accumulate in insoluble inclusion bodies. The strategy is appropriate for the mass...

The translocation liposarcoma (TLS) gene is fused to the ETS-related gene (ERG) in human myeloid leukemia, resulting in the generation of a TLS-ERG protein. We demonstrate that both TLS and the TLS-ERG leukemia fusion protein bind to RNA polymerase II through the TLS N-terminal domain, which is retained in the fusion protein; however, TLS recruits members of the serine-arginine (SR) family of s...

MLL (ALL1, Htrx, HRX), which is located on chromosome band 11q23, frequently is rearranged in patients with therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia who previously were treated with DNA topoisomerase II inhibitors. In this study, we have identified a fusion partner of MLL in a 10-year-old female who developed therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia 17 months after treatment for Hodgkin's disease. ...