Protein complexes bearing myc-like antigenicity recognize two distinct DNA sequences.

The products of the myc proto-oncogene family have been suggested to carry functions important for cell proliferation, differentiation and neoplasia, but the molecular mechanisms of such biological effects have not yet been clarified. We have previously reported that the c-myc protein or protein(s) complexed with the c-myc protein bind to a specific sequence in the region upstream of the c-myc gene, where there exist an origin of cellular DNA replication (ori) and also a transcriptional enhancer. It was recently reported that the c-myc protein forms complexes with a novel helix-loop-helix leucine zipper protein (Max), and that the Myc-Max complex specifically recognizes a DNA sequence different from the sequence we have defined in the c-myc gene. In this report we examine the nuclear extract prepared from human Raji cells for binding to the two different sequences which have been reported as specific binding sequences for c-myc protein or c-myc protein complexes. The binding to one sequence was inhibited in the presence of excess amount of the other sequence, suggesting that the same protein(s) may be necessary for binding to either of the two sequences. Since binding to both sequences was cancelled by pretreatment of the Raji extract with an anti-c-myc protein antibody, it is suggested that proteins carrying myc-like antigenicity are necessary for efficient binding of the nucleoprotein complexes to the two distinct DNA sequences.