E-box-independent regulation of transcription and differentiation by MYC
Author: ["Iris Uribesalgo","Marcus Buschbeck","Arantxa Gutiérrez","Sophia Teichmann","Santiago Demajo","Bernd Kuebler","Josep F. Nomdedéu","Juan Martín-Caballero","Guglielmo Roma","Salvador Aznar Benitah","Luciano Di Croce"]
Publication: Nature Cell Biology
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Abstract
The MYC proto-oncogene modulates transcription through binding to E-boxes. Di Croce and colleagues find that PAK-2-mediated phosphorylation confers a tumour-suppressive function to MYC, in which MYC cooperates with differentiation signals to positively modulate the transcription of genes targeted by retinoic acid, independently of E-boxes. MYC proto-oncogene is a key player in cell homeostasis that is commonly deregulated in human carcinogenesis1. MYC can either activate or repress target genes by forming a complex with MAX (ref. 2). MYC also exerts MAX-independent functions that are not yet fully characterized3. Cells possess an intrinsic pathway that can abrogate MYC–MAX dimerization and E-box interaction, by inducing phosphorylation of MYC in a PAK2-dependent manner at three residues located in its helix–loop–helix domain4. Here we show that these carboxy-terminal phosphorylation events switch MYC from an oncogenic to a tumour-suppressive function. In undifferentiated cells, MYC–MAX is targeted to the promoters of retinoic-acid-responsive genes by its direct interaction with the retinoic acid receptor-α (RARα). MYC–MAX cooperates with RARα to repress genes required for differentiation, in an E-box-independent manner. Conversely, on C-terminal phosphorylation of MYC during differentiation, the complex switches from a repressive to an activating function, by releasing MAX and recruiting transcriptional co-activators. Phospho-MYC synergizes with retinoic acid to eliminate circulating leukaemic cells and to decrease the level of tumour invasion. Our results identify an E-box-independent mechanism for transcriptional regulation by MYC that unveils previously unknown functions for MYC in differentiation. These may be exploited to develop alternative targeted therapies.
Cite this article
Uribesalgo, I., Buschbeck, M., Gutiérrez, A. et al. E-box-independent regulation of transcription and differentiation by MYC. Nat Cell Biol 13, 1443–1449 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncb2355
