Expression of c-mos proto-oncogene in undifferentiated teratocarcinoma cells

Proto-oncogene c-mos, the cellular homologue of the transforming gene of Molony murine sarcoma virus, has been characterized by the lack of expression in a variety of differentiated tissues, possibly because of the existence of an inhibitory upstream sequence. We detected mos-related transcripts in undifferentiated embryonal carcinoma cells of pluripotential cell line 311. The sizes of three major transcripts detected were estimated to be 1.8, 4.6 and 6.1-kilobases(kb) by northern analysis. Furthermore, these transcriptions were suppressed when the cell differentiation was induced by retinoic acid. Taken together, the results suggest that mos product plays a role in early stages of development.