Human proto-oncogene nucleotide sequences corresponding to the transforming region of simian sarcoma virus

The nucleotide sequences of the six regions within the normal human cellular locus (c-sis) that correspond to the entire transforming region of the simian sarcoma virus (SSV) genome (v-sis) were determined. The regions are bounded by acceptor and donor splice sites and, except for region 6, resemble exons. Region 6 lacks a 3' donor splice site and terminates -5 base pairs from the 3′ v-sis-helper-viral junction. This is consistent with a model proposing that SSV was generated by recombination between proviral DNA of simian sarcoma associated virus and protosis and that introns were spliced out subsequently from a fused viral-sis messenger RNA. This also suggests that the 3′ recombination occurred within an exon of the woolly monkey (Lagothrix) genome. The open reading frames predicting the v-sis and c-sis gene products coincide with the stop codon of c-sis located 123 nucleotides into the fifth region of homology. The overall nucleotide homology was 91 percent with substitutions mainly in the third codon positions within the open reading frame and with greatest divergence within the untranslated 3' portion of the sequences. The predicted protein products for v-sis and c-sis are 93 percent homologous. The predicted c-sis gene product is identical in 31 of 31 amino acids to one of the published sequences of platelet-derived growth factor. Thus, c-sis encodes one chain of human platelet-derived growth factor.