cDNA microarrays allow large-scale analysis of the effects of oncogenic transcription factors on gene expression. Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoms (ARMS) are aggressive soft tissue tumours of striated muscle in which 60% have a reciprocal translocation involving chromosomes 2 and 13, [t(2;13)(q35;q14)]. This results in a novel fusion transcription factor, PAX3-FKHR. Using retroviral transduction we have introduced both PAX3 and PAX3-FKHR into NIH3T3 cells and used a mouse cDNA microarray containing 2,200 elements to investigate their effects on gene expression. Introduction of PAX3-FKHR resulted in increased expression of several genes, including that encoding the myogenic transcription factor myogenin, as well as other muscle-specific genes. In contrast, PAX3 failed to induce these genes and repression of several genes was noted, some of which were also downregulated by PAX3-FKHR. This study demonstrates the potential of cDNA microarrays to elucidate the pathways of malignant transformation by oncogenic transcription factors.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Khan, J., Bittner, M., Saal, L. et al. cDNA microarrays detect activation of a myogenic transcription program by the PAX3-FKHR fusion oncogene. Nat Genet 23 (Suppl 3), 55 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/14339
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/14339