Abstract
In Burkitt lymphoma the c-myc gene, the cellular homologue of the viral oncogene v-myc, has been implicated in the aetiology of this human B-cell malignancy. Burkitt lymphoma cells possess specific chromosomal rearrangements involving the region proximal to the c-myc gene and one of the three human immunoglobulin loci1–9. The nature of the effect exerted by the immunoglobulin loci on the translocated c-myc gene is controversial: whereas some reports have suggested c-myc transcription is elevated in Burkitt lymphoma cells10–12, others have suggested the level of transcription is unaffected by the translation9. Recently, transcription enhancer elements have been identified in the intron between the JH and Cμ segments of the heavy-chain immunoglobulin gene in mice13–15. If similar enhancers exist in humans they may lead to increased transcription of the translocated c- myc gene and thus contribute to oncogenesis in Burkitt lymphoma. We report here the identification of an enhancer element adjacent to the human Cμ gene on normal chromosome 14, but this enhancer does not remain on the abnormal chromosome 14 to which the c-myc gene has been translocated in the Burkitt lymphoma cell line Raji. This element is, therefore, not available for control of the translocated c-myc gene in this case.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Neel, B. G., Jhanwar, S. C., Chaganti, R. S. K. & Hayward, W. S. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 7842–7846 (1982).
Dalla-Favera, R. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 7824–7827 (1982).
Taub, R. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 7837–7841 (1982).
Croce, C. M. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 3416–3419 (1979).
Hobart, M. J. et al. Ann. hum. Genetics 45, 331–335 (1981).
Malcolm, S. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 4957–4961 (1982).
Erikson, J., Martinis, J. & Croce, C. M. Nature 294, 173–175 (1981).
Dalla-Favera, R., Martinotti, S., Gallo, R. C., Erikson, J. & Croce, C. M. Science 219, 963–967 (1983).
Hamlyn, P. H. & Rabbitts, T. H. Nature 304, 135–139 (1983).
Erikson, J., AR-Rushdi, A., Drwinga, H. L., Nowell, P. C. & Croce, C. M. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 80, 820–824 (1983).
Klein, G. Nature 294, 313–318 (1981).
Nishikura, K. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 80, 4822–4826 (1983).
Banerji, J., Olson, L. & Schaffner, W. Cell 33, 729–740 (1983).
Neuberger, M. S. EMBO J. 2, 1373–1378 (1983).
Gillies, S. D., Morrison, S. L., Oi, V. T. & Tonegawa, S. Cell 33, 717–726 (1983).
Banerji, J., Rusconi, S. & Schaffner, W. Cell 27, 299–308 (1981).
Tyndall, C., La Mantia, G., Thacker, C. M., Favalero, J. & Kamen, R. Nucleic Acids Res. 9, 6231–6250 (1981).
Weiher, H., Konig, M. & Gruss, P. Science 219, 626–631 (1983).
Rabbitts, T. H., Hamlyn, P. H. & Baer, R. Nature 306, 760–765 (1983).
Van Ness, B. G. et al. Nature 301, 425–427 (1983).
Bentley, D. L., Farrell, P. J. & Rabbitts, T. H. Nucleic Acids Res. 10, 1841–1856 (1982).
Neuberger, M. S. & Calabi, F. Nature 305, 240–243 (1983).
Flanagan, J. G. & Rabbitts, T. H. EMBO J. 1, 655–660 (1982).
Lawn, R. M., Fritsch, E. F., Parker, R. C., Blake, G. & Maniatis, T. Cell 15, 1157–1174 (1978).
Favaloro, J., Treisman, R. & Kamen, R. Meth. Enzym. 68, 718–749 (1980).
Berk, A. J. & Sharp, P. A. Cell 14, 695–711 (1978).
Messing, J. & Vieira, J. Gene 19, 269–276 (1982).
Sanger, F., Nicklen, S. & Coulson, A. R. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 74, 5463–5467 (1977).
Sanger, F., Coulson, A. R., Barrell, B. G., Smith, A. J. H. & Roe, B. A. J. molec. Biol. 143, 161–178 (1980).
Staden, R. Nucleic Acids Res. 10, 2951–2961 (1982).
Staden, R. Nucleic Acids Res. 10, 4731–4751 (1982).
Southern, E. M. J. molec. Biol. 98, 503–517 (1975).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rabbitts, T., Forster, A., Baer, R. et al. Transcription enhancer identified near the human Cμ immunoglobulin heavy chain gene is unavailable to the translocated c-myc gene in a Burkitt lymphoma. Nature 306, 806–809 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/306806a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/306806a0
This article is cited by
-
The c-MYC allele that is translocated into the IgH locus undergoes constitutive hypermutation in a Burkitt's lymphoma line
Oncogene (2000)
-
Deregulation of the proto-oncogene c-myc through t(8;22) translocation in Burkitt's lymphoma
Oncogene (1999)
-
Human HE2 (?B) and ?A motifs show the same function as whole IgH intronic enhancer in transgenic mice
Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry (1994)
-
Expression of immunoglobulin genes in common variable immunodeficiency
Journal of Clinical Immunology (1991)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.
