The v-sea oncogene of avian erythroblastosis retrovirus S13: another member of the protein-tyrosine kinase gene family.

The cloning and sequencing of the oncogene of the avian erythroblastosis virus S13 is described. The oncogene, termed v-sea, was found to be another member of the protein-tyrosine kinase gene family. The oncogene was fused in frame with the retrovirus S13 envelope gene, thus generating a fusion protein with a structure resembling that of a growth factor receptor. Sequence comparisons revealed that the v-sea gene was most closely related to the insulin receptor family of protein-tyrosine kinases, the greatest similarity being with the human MET oncogene.