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Cancer

Two in one

Nature volume 436, pages 787–789 (2005)Cite this article

As cancer develops, at least two cell processes are disrupted — cell growth is promoted, and cell death inhibited. It seems that mutated versions of the notorious cancer-promoting protein MYC can accomplish both at once.

The MYC gene is one of the classic cancer-promoting ‘oncogenes’. It is overexpressed in many types of tumour, and the MYC protein it encodes causes a surge in the proliferation of cells. But it has another effect: it enhances programmed cell death, or ‘apoptosis’. So under normal circumstances, the extra cell divisions MYC causes when overexpressed are cancelled out by a rise in cell fatalities. In MYC-associated tumours, however, there is usually a mutation in an ancillary protein that disrupts the apoptosis pathway, releasing the brakes on cell proliferation. In this issue, Hemann et al. (page 807)1 report that MYC does not need to rely on a partner-in-crime to cause tumours — it can itself be mutated in a way that interferes with its apoptotic function.

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Figure 1: The machinations of MYC.

References

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  1. Division of Molecular Genetics and Centre for Biomedical Genetics, The Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, Amsterdam, 1066 CX, The Netherlands

    Anton Berns

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  1. Anton Berns
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Berns, A. Two in one. Nature 436, 787–789 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/436787a

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