Myc target genes

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Oct 2, 2026

Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Assay for Tissue-specific Genes using Early-stage Mouse Embryos
11:02

Chromatin Immunoprecipitation Assay for Tissue-specific Genes using Early-stage Mouse Embryos

Published on: April 29, 2011

C Grandori1, R N Eisenman

  • 1Division of Basic Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98104, USA.

Trends in Biochemical Sciences
|May 1, 1997
PubMed

Insights

The Myc-Max complex, a transcription factor, regulates cell growth and proliferation. It directly activates genes crucial for DNA synthesis, RNA metabolism, and cell-cycle progression.

Area of Science:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Oncology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • The Myc family of proto-oncogenes encodes basic helix-loop-helix leucine-zipper (bHLHZ) transcription factors.
  • Myc proteins typically heterodimerize with Max to function as transcriptional activators, but can also act as repressors.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify genes directly regulated by the Myc-Max transcription factor complex.
  • To elucidate the role of Myc-Max in cellular processes.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized recent advancements in molecular biology techniques to identify direct Myc-Max target genes.
  • Analysis of gene expression patterns related to cell growth and proliferation.

Main Results:

  • A growing list of candidate genes directly controlled by Myc-Max has been identified.
  • Myc-Max directly activates genes involved in DNA synthesis.
  • Myc-Max directly activates genes involved in RNA metabolism and cell-cycle progression.

Conclusions:

  • Myc-Max plays a significant role in regulating cell growth and proliferation.
  • Direct transcriptional activation of specific gene sets by Myc-Max underlies its influence on cellular processes.

More Related Videos

Genome-wide Screen for miRNA Targets Using the MISSION Target ID Library08:40

Genome-wide Screen for miRNA Targets Using the MISSION Target ID Library

Published on: April 6, 2012

Identifying Targets of Human microRNAs with the LightSwitch Luciferase Assay System using 3'UTR-reporter Constructs and a microRNA Mimic in Adherent Cells07:19

Identifying Targets of Human microRNAs with the LightSwitch Luciferase Assay System using 3'UTR-reporter Constructs and a microRNA Mimic in Adherent Cells

Published on: September 28, 2011

Related Concept Videos

Master Transcription Regulators02:23

Master Transcription Regulators

Master transcription regulators are regulatory proteins that are predominantly responsible for regulating the expression of multiple genes. Often these genes work in concert to drive a  complex process. Activation of a master transcription regulator can lead to a cascade of transcriptional activation necessary for that outcome. These regulators can directly bind to the regulatory sequences of the various genes involved, or they can indirectly regulate transcription by binding to regulatory...
Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway02:54

Canonical Wnt Signaling Pathway

The gene encoding the main signaling molecules of the Wnt signaling pathways (the Wnt proteins) was discovered almost four decades ago by Nüsslein-Volhard and Wieschaus. They identified and originally named the gene "wingless" (wg) after a phenotype discovered during their landmark genetic screen in Drosophila for body pattern defects. At around the same time, another researcher named Harold Varmus found that a murine tumor virus activates the mammalian wg homolog, Int-1, which results in tumor...
Abnormal Proliferation02:23

Abnormal Proliferation

Under normal conditions, most adult cells remain in a non-proliferative state unless stimulated by internal or external factors to replace lost cells. Abnormal cell proliferation is a condition in which the cell's growth exceeds and is uncoordinated with normal cells. In such situations, cell division persists in the same excessive manner even after cessation of the stimuli, leading to persistent tumors. The tumor arises from the damaged cells that replicate to pass the damage to the daughter...
Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes01:33

Cancer-Critical Genes I: Proto-oncogenes

Genes usually encode proteins necessary for the proper functioning of a healthy cell. Mutations can often cause changes to the gene expression pattern, thereby altering the phenotype.
When the function of certain critical genes, especially those involved in cell cycle regulation and cell growth signaling cascades, gets disrupted, it upsets the cell cycle progression. Such cells with unchecked cell cycles start proliferating uncontrollably and eventually develop into tumors.
Such genes that act...
mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression03:03

mTOR Signaling and Cancer Progression

The mammalian target of rapamycin or mTOR protein was discovered in 1994 due to its direct interaction with rapamycin. The protein gets its name from a yeast homolog called TOR. The mTOR protein complex in mammalian cells plays a major role in balancing anabolic processes such as the synthesis of proteins, lipids, and nucleotides and catabolic processes, such as autophagy in response to environmental cues, such as availability of nutrients and growth factors.
The mTOR pathway or the...
Somatic to iPS Cell Reprogramming01:29

Somatic to iPS Cell Reprogramming

Reprogramming alters the gene expression in somatic cells, transforming them into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells over several generations. Scientists can reprogram cells by introducing genes for four transcription factors—Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc (OSKM) by viral or non-viral methods. These factors are also known as Yamanaka factors after Shinya Yamanaka, who first generated iPS cells using mouse skin cells. Yamanaka was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012 for this...