Abstract
TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusions have recently been reported to be present in a high proportion of human prostate cancers. In the current study, we show that great diversity exists in the precise structure of TMPRSS2-ERG hybrid transcripts found in human prostates. Fourteen distinct hybrid transcripts are characterized, each containing different combinations of sequences from the TMPRSS2 and ERG genes. The transcripts include two that are predicted to encode a normal full-length ERG protein, six that encode N-terminal truncated ERG proteins and one that encodes a TMPRSS2-ERG fusion protein. Interestingly, distinct patterns of hybrid transcripts were found in samples taken from separate regions of individual cancer-containing prostates, suggesting that TMPRSS2-ERG gene fusions may be arising independently in different regions of a single prostate.
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Acknowledgements
This work was funded by Cancer Research UK, the National Cancer Research Institute, the Grand Charity of Freemasons and the Rosetrees Trust. We thank Christine Bell for help with typing the manuscript. This work was approved by the Clinical Research and Ethics Committee at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and Institute of Cancer Research.
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Clark, J., Merson, S., Jhavar, S. et al. Diversity of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion transcripts in the human prostate. Oncogene 26, 2667–2673 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1210070
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1210070
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