The PR264/c-myb connection: expression of a splicing factor modulated by a nuclear protooncogene.

We have previously reported that expression of the c-myb gene in normal avian thymic cells proceeds through the intermolecular recombination of ET (thymus-specific) and c-myb coding sequences, thereby generating a novel type of c-myb product. Antisense transcripts expressed from the ET locus encode the extremely well-conserved splicing factor PR264/SC35. We now show that the human PR264 promoter sequences contain several myb-recognition elements that efficiently interact in vitro with the c-myb DNA-binding domain. Moreover, expression from the PR264 promoter is transactivated, both in vitro and in cultured cells, by different c-myb products. Thus, the PR264 gene is most likely a physiological target for the c-myb family of transcription factors.