In the present study, we identified a gene termed Nbla10993 whose expression levels are higher in favorable neuroblastomas versus unfavorable ones. Structural analysis showed that Nbla10993 is a novel splicing variant of the ER-associated protein of 140 kDa (ERAP140), which lacks the central acidic as well as the COOH-terminal Cys/His-rich domain. Similarly, ERAP140 was preferentially expressed in favorable neuroblastomas relative to unfavorable ones. During the all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA)-mediated neuronal differentiation in neuroblastoma-derived RTBM1 cells, the expression levels of ERAP140/Nbla10993 increased at the mRNA level. Consistent with these observations, the luciferase reporter analysis demonstrated that the ERAP140/Nbla10993 promoter responds to ATRA. In addition, the immunoprecipitation/immunoblotting experiments showed that ERAP140 forms a stable complex with RARα but not with RXRα in cells, suggesting that ERAP140 is involved in RAR-mediated transcriptional regulation. Furthermore, the quantitative real-time PCR analysis using 109 primary neuroblastoma samples demonstrated that the expression levels of ERAP140/Nbla10993 significantly correlate with a better clinical outcome of neuroblastomas. Taken together, our present findings indicate that ERAP140/Nbla10993 plays an important role in the regulation of ATRA-mediated neuronal differentiation, and is a novel member of prognostic indicators for neuroblastoma.

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