Oncogenic ETS proteins replace activated Ras/MAPK signaling in prostate cells.

Approximately 50% of prostate cancers have chromosomal translocations resulting in the over-expression one of four ETS family transcription factors. However, it is not known why these four four family members are selected for oncogenic roles, while other ETS proteins are not. We found that the four oncogenic ETS family members have a specific role in prostate cell migration. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation coupled with next-generation sequencing, this specific biological function was matched to a specific set of genomic targets highlighted by the presence of an AP-1 binding site. ETS/AP-1 binding sites are prototypical Ras-responsive elements, but oncogenic ETS proteins could activate a Ras/MAPK transcriptional program in the absence of MAPK activation. These findings indicate that the specific function of ETS proteins over-expressed in prostate cancer is the activation of a Ras/MAPK gene expression program in the absence of signaling pathway mutations. ChIP sequencing two transcription factors in PC3 cells, four transcription factors plus a FLAG control in RWPE-1 cells and input DNA sequencing from each cell line.