Human FLI-1 localizes to chromosome 11Q24 and has an aberrant transcript in neuroepithelioma

The v-ets oncogene family shares a conserved motif, termed the ETS-domain, that mediates sequence-specific DNA binding. This motif is unique among transcription factor families. Using partially degenerate oligonucleotides to highly conserved amino acids in this motif as primers for the polymerase chain reaction, a novel ETS-domain cDNA fragment was generated. This fragment was subsequently used to clone both mouse and human full length cDNAs for this gene. The amino acid sequence of the longest open reading frame showed that this gene was homologous to the mouse FLI-I gene, an ETS family gene activated by Friend erythroleukemia virus insertion. The gene is normally expressed only in hematopoietic cells. The gene was localized to chromosome 11q24, a region of aberrations in Ewing's sarcoma and neuroepithelioma. In the neuroepithelioma cell line TC-32 the FLI-1 transcript is present but has an abberant structure, indicating that it may be rearranged in neuroepithelioma.