Single-chain antibodies to the EWS NH(2) terminus structurally discriminate between intact and chimeric EWS in Ewing's sarcoma and interfere with the transcriptional activity of EWS in vivo.
The chimeric protein EWS-FLI1, arising from chromosomal translocation in Ewing's sarcoma family tumors (ESFT), acts as an aberrant tumorigenic transcription factor. The transforming activity of EWS-FLI1 minimally requires an ETS DNA binding domain and the EWS NH(2) terminus. Proteins interacting with the EWS portion differ between germ-line and chimeric EWS despite their sharing identical sequences in this domain. We explored the use of the phage display technology to isolate anti-EWS-FLI1 specific single-chain antibody fragments (scFvs). Using recombinant EWS-FLI1 as bait, 16 independent specific antibody clones were isolated from combinatorial phage display libraries, of which six were characterized in detail. Despite differing in their complementarity-determining region sequences, all six scFvs bound to the same epitope spanning residues 51 to 75 within the shared minimal transforming EWS domain. Whereas all six scFvs bound efficiently to cellular EWS, reactivity with ESFT-expressed EWS-FLI1 was weak and restricted to denatured protein. One scFv, scFv-I85, when expressed as an intrabody, efficiently suppressed EWS-dependent coactivation of hepatocyte nuclear factor 4- and OCT4-mediated transcription in vivo but no effect on known EWS-FLI1 target genes was observed. These data suggest that a prominent EWS epitope exposed on recombinant EWS-FLI1 structurally differs between germ-line and chimeric EWS in mammalian cells and that this region is functionally involved in the transcriptional activity of EWS. Thus, we have generated a tool that will prove useful to specifically differentiate between normal and rearranged EWS in functional studies.
Aryee
Dave N T
DN
Children's Cancer Research Institute, Vienna, Austria.
Kreppel
Michael
M
Bachmaier
Radostina
R
Uren
Aykut
A
Muehlbacher
Karin
K
Wagner
Stefan
S
Breiteneder
Heimo
H
Ban
Jozef
J
Toretsky
Jeffrey A
JA
Kovar
Heinrich
H
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007128:Immunoglobulin Fragments / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D008113:Liver Neoplasms; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009447:Neuroblastoma; D015514:Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D017510:Protein Folding; D051789:Proto-Oncogene Protein c-fli-1 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D034802:RNA-Binding Protein EWS; D012512:Sarcoma, Ewing / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D014162:Transfection
C106031:EWS-FLI fusion protein; D000939:Epitopes; D007128:Immunoglobulin Fragments; D015514:Oncogene Proteins, Fusion; D051789:Proto-Oncogene Protein c-fli-1; D034802:RNA-Binding Protein EWS