A novel gene, AF-1p, fused to HRX in t(1;11)(p32;q23), is not related to AF-4, AF-9 nor ENL.

Most of the translocations affecting the chromosome band 11q23, frequently seen in human acute leukemias, involve a restricted area of the HRX gene. We have characterized two t(1;11)(p32;q11) translocations which fuse the HRX gene to a novel gene, AF-1p on chromosome 1p32, in two myeloid leukemias. The der (11) chromosome expresses the 1368 N-terminal amino acids of HRX, including the AT-hook, snRNP and methyltransferase similarities, fused to almost all the AF-1p product. The predicted wild type AF-1p product is a 98 kDa acidic protein which does not exhibit similarity to the AF-4, AF-9 and ENL gene products. It is highly similar to the murine eps 15 gene product, which encodes a cytoplasmic phosphoprotein. Our data indicate that AF-1p defines another class of genes fused to HRX in 11q23 abnormalities.