
pmid: 28716526
Gene fusions in cancer typically lead to the expression of a fusion protein or disrupt the expression of one of the parental genes. Here we report a new phenomenon whereby a fusion transcript functions as a long non-coding chimeric RNA (lnccRNA). This fusion RNA, SLC45A3-ELK4, generated by cis-splicing between neighboring genes, was found in prostate cancer. The fusion RNA encodes the same protein as ELK4. Intriguingly, we found that the fusion RNA level is less than 1% of wild type ELK4, unlikely to perturb the general pool of ELK4 protein. Nonetheless, when the fusion RNA, but not ELK4 is silenced, cell proliferation is inhibited in both androgen-dependent and castration-resistant prostate cancer cells. This growth arrest can be rescued by exogenous expression of the fusion and a mutant designed to prevent translation of the ELK4 protein. In the same setting, the mutant could also suppress CDKN1A and several other targets of SLC45A3-ELK4. In addition, similar to many long non-coding RNAs, the fusion RNA is enriched in the nuclear fraction. Altogether, these results indicate that SLC45A3-ELK4 regulates cancer cell proliferation by its transcript, not translated protein.
Cell Nucleus, Male, Monosaccharide Transport Proteins, Oncogene Proteins, Fusion, Membrane Transport Proteins, Prostatic Neoplasms, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, Tumor Cells, Cultured, Humans, RNA, Long Noncoding, ets-Domain Protein Elk-4, Gene Fusion, Cell Proliferation
Cell Nucleus, Male, Monosaccharide Transport Proteins, Oncogene Proteins, Fusion, Membrane Transport Proteins, Prostatic Neoplasms, Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic, Tumor Cells, Cultured, Humans, RNA, Long Noncoding, ets-Domain Protein Elk-4, Gene Fusion, Cell Proliferation
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