Description
Mucoepidermoid carcinomas (MEC) is the most common salivary gland malignancy. To date, advanced and nonresectable MEC have poor prognosis and no effective treatment. The CRTC1-MAML2 fusion oncogene, which is associated with more than 50% of MEC, consists of the N-terminal CREB-binding domain of the CREB transcriptional co-activator CRTC1 and the C-terminal transcriptional activation domain of the Notch transcriptional co-activator MAML2. CRTC1-MAML2 fusion was found to interact with CREB and constitutively activate their transcriptional targets. To investigate the genes and pathways regulated by CRTC1-MAML2 fusion oncogene, gene expression profiling analysis were performed in human fusion-positive MEC cells before and after knockdown of both CRTC1-MAML2 and MAML2 as well as in human fusion-negative salivary gland cancer cells before and after MAML2 knockdown only. This study revealed specific transcriptional program induced by the CRTC1-MAML2 fusion oncogene, which potentially mediates CRC1-MAML2 functions in MEC initiation and maintenance. The information will be useful for developing new approaches to block CRTC1-MAML2 fusion-expressing MEC.