cDNA sequence of human transforming gene hst and identification of the coding sequence required for transforming activity.

The hst gene was originally identified as a transforming gene in DNAs from human stomach cancers and from a noncancerous portion of stomach mucosa by DNA-mediated transfection assay using NIH3T3 cells. cDNA clones of hst were isolated from the cDNA library constructed from poly(A)+ RNA of a secondary transformant induced by the DNA from a stomach cancer. The sequence analysis of the hst cDNA revealed the presence of two open reading frames. When this cDNA was inserted into an expression vector containing the simian virus 40 promoter, it efficiently induced the transformation of NIH3T3 cells upon transfection. It was found that one of the reading frames, which coded for 206 amino acids, was responsible for the transforming activity.