Fusion of a fork head domain gene to PAX3 in the solid tumour alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma

We have examined the structure and expression of the products associated with the t(2;13)(q35;q14) translocation associated with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma. The chromosome 13 gene (FKHR) is identified as a member of the fork head domain family of transcription factors characterized by a conserved DNA binding motif. Polymerase chain reaction analysis demonstrates that a 5'PAX3-3' FKHR chimaeric transcript is expressed in all eight alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas investigated. Immunoprecipitation experiments detect the predicted fusion protein. These findings indicate that the t(2;13) generates a potentially tumorigenic fusion transcription factor consisting of intact PAX3 DNA binding domains, a truncated fork head DNA binding domain and C-terminal FKHR regions.