Evolutionary conservation of target sequences for cis-acting regulation in c-myc exon 1 and its upstream region.

ABSTRACT

Transcriptional control of the c-myc proto-oncogene, an important factor in cellular growth, differentiation and in the genesis of various neoplasms, is mediated by multiple positive and negative regulators in the 5' end region of the gene. Here, we report the nucleotide sequence of the first c-myc exon and its upstream region from woodchuck, a rodent which can develop liver tumors associated with c-myc activation [Möröy et al., Nature 324 (1986) 276-279]. Alignment of these sequences with the corresponding human and murine regions shows a surprisingly high homology between woodchuck and human, and suggests the absence of species-specificity in the fundamental regulatory elements which govern c-myc expression.