c-myc Gene activation and chromosomal translocation.
Rabbitts TH., Baer R., Davis M., Forster A., Rabbitts PH., Malcolm S.
Burkitt's lymphoma cells are characterized by the presence of specific chromosomal translocation bringing the immunoglobulin and the c-myc proto-oncogenes into the proximity of each other. Different translocations involve each of the three immunoglobulin loci but the breakpoint with respect to the c-myc gene is shown to be very variable. In t8/14 the breakpoint occurs upstream from the c-myc gene whilst in the variant lymphomas it occurs downstream from the gene. Possible ways in which the translocation affects the c-myc gene are discussed.