Oncogenic Fusions with Aberrant Transcriptional Regulation.

Fusion proteins resulting from aberrant genetic rearrangements are ubiquitous and of great significance during oncogenesis and cancer development. Many oncogenic fusion proteins, which integrate fusion partners originally involved in gene regulation, and cause abnormal activation or repression of cancer-driving genes, such as oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Recent research suggests that oncogenic fusions undergo phase separation and drive cancerous transcription. The aberrant transcriptional regulation represents a common feature of cancer driving fusions, potentially contributing to their oncogenic effects. Here we examined the aberrant transcriptional regulation of oncogenic fusions by examining the abnormal activation/repression of their target genes. We further reviewed their cancer type distribution, domain combinations, and functional classes. The landscape of aberrant transcriptional regulation in oncogenic fusions would provide insights for future research in fusion oncogenesis mechanism and developing targeting therapeutics.