IDENTIFICATION AND PARTIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE C-JUN ONCOGENE IN XENOPUS-LAEVIS

Sequencing analysis of a 275-nt cDNA fragment encoding the DNA-binding region at the carboxyl terminal of the Xenopus c-jun protein product shows that this region exhibits 77-79% nucleotide homology and 93% ami no acid homology with the DNA-binding region of mouse and human c-jun, and contains an intact leucine zipper motif and a basic DNA-binding r egion. Xenopus c-jun mRNA is induced in quiescent Xenopus A6 kidney ce lls by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, PDGF and cycloheximide. T his 'immediate early' response suggests that Xenopus c-jun may be simi lar in both structure and function to that observed for its mammalian counterpart.