Transforming, Acidic Coiled-Coil Containing Protein 1 (TACC1)

Introduction of TACC1 into stable cell lines resulted in morphologic changes consistent with a transformed phenotype and in anchorage-independent growth. However, it is speculated that it may represent a breast cancer candidate gene. It is located close to FGFR1 on a region of chromosome 8 that is amplified in some breast cancers.

The predicted 805-amino acid TACC1 protein is rich in serine, proline, and acidic residues, has a 20-amino acid N terminus rich in tryptophan, contains 2 nuclear localization signals but no DNA- or RNA-binding domains, and has a 200-residue C terminus with extensive alpha-helical segments expected to adopt a coiled-coil structure. Northern blot analysis detected a major 8.0-kb TACC1 transcript in all tissues tested, with relatively weak expression in liver and lung.