A 3' TRUNCATION OF MYC CAUSED BY CHROMOSOMAL TRANSLOCATION IN A HUMAN T-CELL LEUKEMIA INCREASES MESSENGER-RNA STABILITY

  • 1 May 1990
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 5  (5) , 707-711
Abstract
The proto-oncogene MYC is rearranged at its 3'' end in the human T-cell leukemia line Hut 78 as a result of a translocation between the long arms of chromosomes 8 and 2. The nucleotide sequence at the breakpoint shows that the rearranged allele of MYC is truncated 24 nucleotides before the first poly(A)-addition signal. The 3'' truncated MYC lacks a 61 nucleotide AT-rich sequence that has been reported to mediate selective mRNA degradation. We show that the truncation results in prolonged stability of MYC mRNA: the half life of the MYC mRNA in Hut 78, as well as in Rat 1A cells transfected with the truncated allele of MYC is increased by at least 3-fold. Our results document yet another mechanism by which MYC may be rendered pathogenic and dramatize the importance of mRNA stability in the regulation of MYC activity.