DNA bending is considered to be important in DNA replication, transcription, and recombination. Several DNA bending regions reported so far are placed relatively near an origin of DNA replication or transcriptional regulatory regions. We have identified a DNA bending region in the human c-myc gene; it is located in the third exon, about 80 bases downstream of the coding region. This region includes a polyA addition signal. Deletion analysis of DNA showed that the sequence necessary for bending was about 130 base pairs long and possessed ten sets of adenine/thymine (AT) clusters. The bending region is specifically bound by proteins in HeLa cell nuclear extracts; the proteins seem to have a specific affinity for bent structures.

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