title: Continuous Fli-1 expression plays an essential role in the proliferation and survival of F-MuLV-induced erythroleukemia and human erythroleukemia.
abstract: Erythroleukemia induced by Friend Murine Leukemia Virus (F-MuLV) serves as a powerful tool for the study of multistage carcinogenesis and hematological malignancies in mice. Fli-1, a proto-oncogene and member of the Ets family, is activated through viral integration in F-MuLV-induced erythroleukemia, and is the most critical event in the induction of this disease. Fli-1 aberrant regulation is also observed in human malignancies, including Ewing's sarcoma, which is often linked to expression of the EWS/Fli-1 fusion oncoprotein. Here we examined the effects of Fli-1 inhibition to further elucidate its role in these pathological occurrences. The constitutive suppression of Fli-1, through RNA interference (RNAi), inhibits growth and induces death in F-MuLV-induced erythroleukemia cells. Expression of a dominant negative protein Engrailed (En)/Fli-1 reduces proliferation of EWS/Fli-1-transformed NIH-3T3 cells, and both F-MuLV-induced and human erythroleukemia cells. F-MuLV-induced erythroleukemia cells also display increased apoptosis, associated with reduced expression of bcl-2, a known fli-1 target gene. Introduction of En/Fli-1 into an F-MuLV-infected erythroblastic cell line induces differentiation, as shown by increased alpha-globin expression. These results suggest, for the first time, an essential role for continuous Fli-1 overexpression in the maintenance and survival of the malignant phenotype in murine and human erythroleukemias.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: J-W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Vecchiarelli-Federico
authors.forename: Y-J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: G-J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ben-David
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival; D017931:DNA Primers; D015536:Down-Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D009052:Leukemia Virus, Murine / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D004915:Leukemia, Erythroblastic, Acute / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D051789:Proto-Oncogene Protein c-fli-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D034622:RNA Interference; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; C000715470:MAS1 protein, human; D000090063:Proto-Oncogene Mas; D051789:Proto-Oncogene Protein c-fli-1