Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma Amplified Sequence 1 (MFHAS1)

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma is the most common soft-tissue sarcoma among adults. By comparative genomic hybridization analysis of 19 histiocytomas to detect changes in copy numbers of DNA sequences and potential oncogenes, Sakabe et al. (1999) noted high level amplifications at several loci, including one at 8p23.1 between markers D8S1819 and D8S550. Sakabe et al. (1999) identified a novel cDNA, which they designated MASL1. Sequence analysis predicted that the 1,052-amino acid protein, which shares 36% sequence homology with IGFALS, contains an ATP/GTP-binding site, 3 leucine zipper regions, and a leucine-rich tandem repeat. Northern blot analysis revealed ubiquitous expression of a 6.6-kb transcript. RT-PCR analysis detected overexpression in 57% of the malignant fibrous histiocytomas studied.