TALE homeoproteins as HOX11-interacting partners in T-cell leukemia

The mammalian PBX and Meis proteins belong to the TALE (three-amino acid-loop-extension) superfamily of homeodomain-containing transcription factors. Members of both the PBX and Meis groups have been implicated in tumorigenesis and are known to cooperatively bind DNA with Class I (clustered) HOX homeoproteins. Here we show that PBX and Meis homeoproteins cooperatively bind the PBX-responsive sequence in vitro with the oncoprotein encoded by the non-clustered homeobox gene HOX11 activated by the t(10;14)(q24;q11) chromosomal translocation in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). An FPWME motif N-terminal to the homeodomain is required for interaction with PBX proteins, which appears to confer DNA-binding specificity to HOX11. PBX proteins are highly expressed in HOX11 immortalized/transformed hematopoietic cells; in particular, the 10q24 translocation-carrying T-ALL Sil and K3P lines were found to selectively express PBX2. Ectopic retroviral-directed overexpression of PBX2 in concert with HOX11 in NIH3T3 cells resulted in decreased contact inhibition of growth as evidenced by focus formation in confluent cell monolayers. The accumulated data are thus consistent with a role of TALE homeoproteins in HOX11-mediated leukemogenesis.