Inhibition of the translocated c-myc in Burkitt's lymphoma by a PNA complementary to the E mu enhancer.

In Burkitt's Lymphoma there is an up-regulation of the c-myc oncogene caused by its translocation from chromosome 8 to chromosome 14, often close to the E mu enhancer of the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus (IgH). In Burkitt's Lymphoma cells, a peptide nucleic acid complementary for a specific unique E mu intronic sequence selectively blocked the expression of the c-myc oncogene under E mu control but not of other c-myc alleles. This Peptide Nucleic Acid also inhibited IgM expression in B cells. The finding that PNAs specific for a regulatory noncoding sequence can block gene expression has important conceptual and practical implications.