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Review
. 2014 Mar 1;4(3):a014365.
doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a014365.

MYC degradation

Affiliations
Review

MYC degradation

Amy S Farrell et al. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. .

Abstract

The MYC oncoprotein is an essential transcription factor that regulates the expression of many genes involved in cell growth, proliferation, and metabolic pathways. Thus, it is important to keep MYC activity in check in normal cells in order to avoid unwanted oncogenic changes. Normal cells have adapted several ways to control MYC levels, and these mechanisms can be disrupted in cancer cells. One of the major ways in which MYC levels are controlled in cells is through targeted degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). Here, we discuss the role of the UPS in the regulation of MYC protein levels and review some of the many proteins that have been shown to regulate MYC protein stability. In addition, we discuss how this relates to MYC transcriptional activity, human cancers, and therapeutic targeting.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Structure of MYC. Elements known to regulate MYC protein localization, function, and stability are shown. The substrate recognition subunit of known E3 ubiquitin ligases whose interaction sites have been defined are shown.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
pS62/pT58 MYC degradation pathway. Proteins in red stabilize and/or activate MYC. Proteins in green facilitate MYC degradation.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Patient-matched normal and breast tumor tissue were analyzed for pS62-MYC expression by immunofluorescence.

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