The ERGB/Fli-1 gene: isolation and characterization of a new member of the family of human ETS transcription factors

Abstract

All cellular ets proteins contain a region of high amino acid identity to those found in the last two exons of the ets-1 gene (C domain). We have identified and characterized a new member of the human ETS gene family, ERGB. The ERGB gene shows extensive amino acid identity to the human ERG and the mouse Fli-1 genes. The ERGB gene is found to be transcriptionally active in a variety of human cell lines and tissues, in contrast to the more restrictive expression pattern of the ERG gene. The ERGB gene encodes for a 3.2-kilobase mRNA containing an open reading frame of 451 amino acids. The ERGB gene, like human ETS1, is located on chromosome 11 and is transposed to chromosome 4 as a result of the translocation t(4;11) associated with leukemia. Pulse-field gel analysis suggests that ETS1 and ERGB are more than 200 kilobases apart. Similar to the other members of the ets family (ets 1, ets 2), this new member is also able to trans-activate transcription of a reporter gene linked to the ETS-binding sequences derived from either the GATA-1 promoter or an optimal Ets-binding site.