Down-regulation of the human c-fos and c-myc proto-oncogene promoters by adeno-associated virus Rep78.

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) is a non-pathogenic human parvovirus which has anti-tumor and anti-proliferation properties in tissue culture and animal studies. Furthermore, AAV infection is negatively associated with human cervical cancer. C-myc has been implicated in cervical cancer, and c-fos is involved in signal transduction initiation of cell growth. To study the potential regulation of these two prominent human proto-oncogenes by AAV, the expression of three marker coding sequences ligated 3' of the proto-oncogene promoters were observed. Demonstrated here, the AAV Rep78 gene product was able to down-regulate the human c-fos and c-myc proto-oncogene promoters in all three assay systems. These interactions may partially explain AAVs anti-proliferation properties.