The ␣-myosin heavy chain is a principal molecule of the thick filament of the sarcomere, expressed primarily in cardiac myocytes. The mechanism for its cardiacrestricted expression is not yet fully understood. We previously identified a purine-rich negative regulatory (PNR) element in the first intron of the gene, which is essential for its cardiac-specific expression (Gupta, M., Zak, R., Libermann, T. A., and Gupta, M. P.