High affinity binding of the large T protein of polyoma virus to a genomic mouse DNA sequence.

We purified a fragment of mouse DNA to which the large T protein of polyoma virus was bound in chromatin prepared from transformed mouse cells. This sequence, which is not repeated to a measurable extent within the mouse genome, does not show any significant homology to the viral ori region, except in a short region, which comprises a sequence related to the consensus for recognition by large T proteins ((A,T)GPuGGC). This region of pCG4 was confirmed by in vitro binding assays to be essential for T antigen binding.