Transrepression of the N-myc expression by c-myc protein

In the human neuroblastoma cell line IMR32 the N-myc gene happens to be amplified and actively expressed, whereas no stable c-myc RNA can be detected in the same cells. In this report, we show that in IMR32 cells the expression of the N-myc gene is repressed by introduction of a c-myc expression vector (c-myc cDNA conjugated with an SR promoter). Moreover, dose response experiments showed that the amount of endogenous c-myc protein present in HeLa cells (which express c-myc but not N-myc) is enough to repress the expression of N-myc in IMR32 cells.