title: Early B-cell factor-associated zinc-finger gene is a frequent target of retroviral integration in murine B-cell lymphomas.
abstract: The early B-cell factor (EBF)-associated zinc-finger protein (EBFAZ) binds to and negatively regulates EBF, a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor required for B-cell lineage commitment and development of the olfactory epithelium. It also binds to SMA- and MAD-related protein 1 (SMAD1) and SMAD4 in response to bone morphogenic protein 2 (BMP2) signaling. It is highly related to ecotropic viral integration site 3 (EVI3), a protein that, like EBFAZ, contains 30 Krüppel-like zinc-finger repeats. In previous studies, we showed that Evi3 is a frequent target of retroviral integration in AKXD27 B-cell lymphomas. Here, we show that EBFAZ is also a frequent target. Integrations at Ebfaz and Evi3 are mutually exclusive, suggesting that they function in the same tumor pathway. Lymphomas with integrations at Ebfaz or Evi3 express the pre-B-cell-specific marker immunoglobulin lambda chain 5, and contain immunoglobulin heavy-chain rearrangements, suggesting that they are blocked at an early B-cell stage. Unlike Evi3, which is expressed at low levels in normal B cells, or Ebfaz, which is not expressed in B cells, both genes are highly expressed following viral integration. Collectively, our results suggest that ectopic expression of Ebfaz can substitute for the upregulated expression of Evi3 in B-cell disease and highlight the importance of this gene family in hematopoietic cancer.
authors.affiliation: Mouse Cancer Genetics Program, National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research, West 7th Street at Fort Detrick, Frederick, MD 21702, USA.
authors.forename: Søren
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Warming
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Terry P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Nancy A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Jenkins
authors.forename: Neal G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Copeland
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D055396:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005091:Exons; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / Q000378:metabolism; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000378:metabolism; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000821:virology*; D051379:Mice; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011485:Protein Binding; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015398:Signal Transduction; D051785:Smad Proteins; D051898:Smad1 Protein; D051901:Smad4 Protein; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D015854:Up-Regulation; D016662:Virus Integration
chemical_list: C525719:Bmp2 protein, mouse; C525720:Bmp2 protein, rat; D055396:Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C484557:Ebfaz protein, mouse; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains; D051785:Smad Proteins; D051898:Smad1 Protein; C497401:Smad1 protein, mouse; D051901:Smad4 Protein; C490810:Smad4 protein, mouse; C490811:Smad4 protein, rat; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta