Abstract
The Ewing's sarcoma family of tumors (ESFT) contains a characteristic translocation the chimeric transcript of which is translated to become the EWS-FLI1 fusion protein. EWS-FLI1 regulates transcription and posttranscriptional splicing. Elimination of EWS-FLI1 protein from ESFT cells induces apoptosis and reduces xenograft tumor growth. Therefore the production of a biologically active recombinant EWS-FLI1 could lead to discoveries that would enhance our mechanistic understanding of ESFT. We have cloned, expressed, and purified a biologically active recombinant EWS-FLI1 in Escherichia coli using affinity column chromatography. A refolding procedure was required to render the recombinant EWS-FLI1 soluble in relatively native conditions. The structural alterations induced by the refolding procedure were monitored by SDS-gel electrophoresis, circular dichroism, and steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy. Recombinant EWS-FLI1 under native conditions approaches a largely unfolded conformation. Recombinant EWS-FLI1 protein under native conditions specifically binds to DNA and transcribes RNA. Our biologically active recombinant EWS-FLI1 oncoprotein will be useful to identify functional molecular partners and inhibitors.
Publication types
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
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Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
MeSH terms
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Amino Acid Sequence
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Animals
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Circular Dichroism
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Cloning, Molecular
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DNA-Binding Proteins / chemistry
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DNA-Binding Proteins / genetics
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Escherichia coli / genetics
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Humans
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / biosynthesis
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Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / genetics
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Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / physiology*
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Protein Binding
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Protein Folding
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Protein Structure, Secondary
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Protein Structure, Tertiary
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Proto-Oncogene Protein c-fli-1
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RNA-Binding Protein EWS / chemistry
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RNA-Binding Protein EWS / genetics
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Recombinant Fusion Proteins / biosynthesis
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Recombinant Fusion Proteins / isolation & purification
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Recombinant Fusion Proteins / physiology*
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Sarcoma, Ewing / chemistry
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Sarcoma, Ewing / drug therapy
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Sarcoma, Ewing / genetics
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Spectrometry, Fluorescence
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Spodoptera / genetics
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Trans-Activators / biosynthesis
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Trans-Activators / chemistry
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Trans-Activators / genetics
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Trans-Activators / physiology*
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Transcription Factors / biosynthesis
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Transcription Factors / genetics
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Transcription Factors / physiology*
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Transcriptional Activation*
Substances
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DNA-Binding Proteins
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EWS-FLI fusion protein
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FLI1 protein, human
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Oncogene Proteins, Fusion
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Proto-Oncogene Protein c-fli-1
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RNA-Binding Protein EWS
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Recombinant Fusion Proteins
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Trans-Activators
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Transcription Factors