Discussion on the metabolism of c-myc mRNA and protein

The c-myc gene is expressed in a variety of actively growing cells and tissues including lymphoblastoid cell lines made in vitro by EBV infection (Hamlyn & Rabbitts 1983). The gene is implicated in the derivation of Burkitt's lymphoma because of its association with consistent chromosomal translocations (Dalla-Favera et al. 1982; Neel et al. 1982; Taub et al. 1982) and in, for example, some colon carcinomas where the gene is amplified (Alitalo et al. 1983). To understand the formation of these cancers, we must determine the function of the c-myc protein in the cell. In this discussion we describe some features of c-myc metabolism which indicate that its expression may normally be strictly modulated; it is possible that the potential oncogenic effect of c-myc in various tumours is the result of loss of this ability to modulate its activity.