The induction of jun genes during the reversible changes induced with sodium butyrate on the differentiation of F9 cells

Sodium butyrate (NaB) induces the phenotypic changes and differentiation markers in embryonal carcinoma F9 cells (Kosaka et al., Exp. Cell Res. 192, 46, 1991). However, the effects are rapid and reversible and different from those induced with retinoic acid (RA). We examined the expression of jun genes during differentiation induced with NaB and compared it with that of RA induction. Although c-jun expression was induced with RA, rapid and predominant induction of junB expression was specifically observed with NaB, which is regulated by both transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms. These results suggest that the mechanism of differentiation induced with NaB differs from that of RA; the former may be mediated by the junB gene and the latter by c-jun.