Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2014 May 1;4(5):a018408.
doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a018408.

MYC regulation of cell growth through control of transcription by RNA polymerases I and III

Affiliations
Review

MYC regulation of cell growth through control of transcription by RNA polymerases I and III

Kirsteen J Campbell et al. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. .

Abstract

MYC's tumorigenic potential involves increased ribosome biogenesis and translational capacity, which supply the cell with protein required for enhanced cell growth and subsequent cell division. In addition to activation of protein-encoding genes transcribed by RNA polymerase II, MYC must stimulate transcription by RNA polymerase I and RNA polymerase III to meet this synthetic demand. In the past decade our knowledge of the mechanisms and importance of MYC regulation of RNA polymerases I and III has flourished. Here we discuss MYC's influence on transcription by these "odd" RNA polymerases and the physiological impact of this regulation is evaluated with relevance to cancer development and treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Assembly of Pol I apparatus on rDNA. The SL1 complex, UBF, and Rrn3 proteins are basal Pol I transcription factors. Arrow begins at transcription start site.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Assembly of Pol III apparatus on tRNA and 5S rRNA genes. TFIIIB and TFIIIC complexes are basal Pol III transcription factors. TFIIIA is required for TFIIIC recruitment to the 5S rRNA gene. Arrow begins at transcription start site. Shaded areas in tRNA and 5S rRNA genes indicate internal promoter regions.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
MYC regulates Pol I and Pol III at multiple levels to stimulate protein synthesis and cell growth.

References

    1. Adams JM, Harris AW, Pinkert CA, Corcoran LM, Alexander WS, Cory S, Palmiter RD, Brinster RL 1985. The c-myc oncogene driven by immunoglobulin enhancers induces lymphoid malignancy in transgenic mice. Nature 318: 533–538 - PubMed
    1. Arabi A, Wu S, Ridderstrale K, Bierhoff H, Shiue C, Fatyol K, Fahlen S, Hydbring P, Soderberg O, Grummt I, et al. 2005. c-Myc associates with ribosomal DNA and activates RNA polymerase I transcription. Nat Cell Biol 7: 303–310 - PubMed
    1. Barna M, Pusic A, Zollo O, Costa M, Kondrashov N, Rego E, Rao PH, Ruggero D 2008. Suppression of Myc oncogenic activity by ribosomal protein haploinsufficiency. Nature 456: 971–975 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bergstralh DT, Conti BJ, Moore CB, Brickey WJ, Taxman DJ, Ting JP 2007. Global functional analysis of nucleophosmin in Taxol response, cancer, chromatin regulation, and ribosomal DNA transcription. Exp Cell Res 313: 65–76 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brandenburger Y, Jenkins A, Autelitano DJ, Hannan RD 2001. Increased expression of UBF is a critical determinant for rRNA synthesis and hypertrophic growth of cardiac myocytes. FASEB J 15: 2051–2053 - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources