PANG, A GENE ENCODING A NEURONAL GLYCOPROTEIN, IS ECTOPICALLY ACTIVATED BY INTRACISTERNAL A-TYPE PARTICLE LONG TERMINAL REPEATS IN MURINE PLASMACYTOMAS

Plasmacytomagenesis provides a murine model to decipher progressive genetic events culminating in a B-cell neoplasia. Activation of the c-myc protooncogene by chromosomal translocation is considered an initiating event. Intracisternal A-type particles (IAPs) are defective retroviral-like structures present in the endoplasmic reticulum of plasmacytomas (PCTs). IAP proviral insertions have been documented to engender negative or positive effects on the expression of nearby cellular genes. We have isolated a gene, PANG (plasmacytoma-associated neuronal glycoprotein), that is ectopically transcribed in a number of PCTs due to IAP long terminal repeat (LTR) activation. A full-length PANG cDNA was isolated from an MPC-11 plasma cell tumor cDNA library and encodes a polypeptide of about 113 kDa with six immunoglobulin C2-like and four type III fibronectin-like domains. PANG bears a striking resemblance to axonal glycoproteins TAG-1 and F11 known to function in neuronal outgrowth. An extensive survey revealed a predominant 3.6-kb PANG transcript in 60% (30 of 50) of PCTs as well as unique smaller and larger species. All other normal and transformed lymphoid and nonlymphoid cell lines and normal tissues were negative for PANG expression except for the brain, wherein unique 4.0- and 6.1-kb transcripts were detected. Reverse transcriptase PCR analysis revealed IAP LTR fusion to PANG mRNAs in five PCTs and in a neuroblastoma line. The 5' end of a mouse brain PANG cDNA was identical to the MPC-11 PANG transcript except for the precise replacement of its 5' LTR sequence.