BTG1, A MEMBER OF A NEW FAMILY OF ANTIPROLIFERATIVE GENES

The BTG1 gene locus has been shown to be involved in a t(8;12)(q24;q22) chromosomal translocation in a case of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia. We report here the cloning and sequencing of the human BTG1 cDNA and establish the genomic organization of this gene. The full-length cDNA isolated from a lymphoblastoid cell line contains an open reading frame of 171 amino acids. BTG1 expression is maximal in the G0/G1 phases of the cell cycle and is down-regulated when cells progress throughout G1. Furthermore, transfection experiments of NIH3T3 cells indicate that BTG1 negatively regulates cell proliferation. The BTG1 open reading frame is 60% homologous to PC3, an immediate early gene induced by nerve growth factor in rat PC12 cells. Sequence and Northern blot analyses indicate that BTG1 and PC3 are not cognate genes. We then postulate that these two genes are the first members of a new family of antiproliferative genes.