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Review
. 2017 Apr 4;8(4):115.
doi: 10.3390/genes8040115.

Role of MYC in B Cell Lymphomagenesis

Petra Korać  1 , Snježana Dotlić  2 , Maja Matulić  3 , Matea Zajc Petranović  4 , Mara Dominis  5
Affiliations
Review

Role of MYC in B Cell Lymphomagenesis

Petra Korać et al. Genes (Basel). .

Abstract

B cell lymphomas mainly arise from different developmental stages of B cells in germinal centers of secondary lymphoid tissue. There are a number of signaling pathways that affect the initiation and development of B cell lymphomagenesis. The functions of several key proteins that represent branching points of signaling networks are changed because of their aberrant expression, degradation, and/or accumulation, and those events determine the fate of the affected B cells. One of the most influential transcription factors, commonly associated with unfavorable prognosis for patients with B cell lymphoma, is nuclear phosphoprotein MYC. During B cell lymphomagenesis, oncogenic MYC variant is deregulated through various mechanisms, such as gene translocation, gene amplification, and epigenetic deregulation of its expression. Owing to alterations of downstream signaling cascades, MYC-overexpressing neoplastic B cells proliferate rapidly, avoid apoptosis, and become unresponsive to most conventional treatments. This review will summarize the roles of MYC in B cell development and oncogenesis, as well as its significance for current B cell lymphoma classification. We compared communication networks within transformed B cells in different lymphomas affected by overexpressed MYC and conducted a meta-analysis concerning the association of MYC with tumor prognosis in different patient populations.

Keywords: B cell; MYC; lymphoma; meta-analysis; prognostic factor; signaling pathways.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Germinal center of secondary follicle in secondary lymphatic tissue (a) haematoxylin and eosin stain (HE), 100×; (b) immunohistochemical staining of MYC expressing cells (brown), 100×; (c) simplified schematic representation of the regulation of MYC expression in B cell maturation. (DZ—dark zone of germinal center, LZ—light zone of germinal center.)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest plot showing the meta-analysis of adjusted hazard ratio estimates for overall survival (OS) in patients with MYC overexpression.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest plot showing the meta-analysis of unadjusted hazard ratio estimates for overall survival (OS) in patients with MYC overexpression.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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