F
IPR002418

Transcription regulator Myc

InterPro entry
Short nameTscrpt_reg_Myc

Description

The class III basic helix-turn-helix (bHLH) transcription factors have proliferative and apoptotic roles and are characterised by the presence of a leucine zipper adjacent to the bHLH domain. The myc oncogene was first discovered in small-cell lung cancer cell lines where it is found to be deregulated
[1]
. The Myc protein contains an N-terminal transcriptional regulatory domain followed by a nuclear localization signal and a C-terminal basic DNA binding domain tethered to a helix-loop-helix-leucine zipper (HLH-Zip) dimerization motif. Myc forms a heterodimer with Max, and this complex regulates cell growth through direct activation of genes involved in cell replication
[2, 3, 4]
.

The `leucine zipper' is a structure that is believed to mediate the function of several eukaryotic gene regulatory proteins. The zipper consists of a periodic repetition of leucine residues at every seventh position, and regions containing them appear to span eight turns of α-helix. The leucine side chains that extend from one helix interact with those from a similar helix, hence facilitating dimerisation in the form of a coiled-coil. Leucine zippers are present in many gene regulatory proteins, including the CREB proteins, Jun/AP1 transcription factors, fos oncogene and fos-related proteins, C-myc, L-myc and N-myc oncogenes, and so on.

References

1.Structure and expression of the human L-myc gene reveal a complex pattern of alternative mRNA processing. Kaye F, Battey J, Nau M, Brooks B, Seifter E, De Greve J, Birrer M, Sausville E, Minna J. Mol. Cell. Biol. 8, 186-95, (1988). View articlePMID: 2827002

2.Conservation of the c-myc coding sequence in transduced feline v-myc genes. Stewart MA, Forrest D, McFarlane R, Onions D, Wilkie N, Neil JC. Virology 154, 121-34, (1986). View articlePMID: 3018999

3.Myc target genes. Grandori C, Eisenman RN. Trends Biochem. Sci. 22, 177-81, (1997). View articlePMID: 9175477

4.MYC on the path to cancer. Dang CV. Cell 149, 22-35, (2012). PMID: 22464321

GO terms

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