Abstract
In addition to c-myc rearrangement, over 50% of Burkitt's lymphoma cases present clustered mutations in exon 2, where many of the functional activities of c-Myc protein are based. This report describes the functional consequences induced by tumour-derived c-myc mutations located in c-myc box II. Two mutated alleles were studied, focusing on the P138C mutation, and compared to wild-type c-myc. The c-Myc transformation, transactivation and apoptosis activities were explored based on cells over-expressing c-Myc. While the transcriptional activation activity was not affected, our experiments exploring the anchorage-independent growth capacity of c-Myc-transfected Ratla cells showed that c-Myc box II mutants were less potent than wild-type c-Myc in promoting cell transformation. Considering the possibility that these mutations could be interfering with the ability of c-Myc to promote apoptosis, we tested c-Myc-transfected Ratla fibroblasts under several conditions: serum deprivation-, staurosporine- and TNFα-induced cell death. Interestingly, the mutated alleles were characterized by an overall decrease in ability to mediate apoptosis. Our study indicates that point mutations located in c-Myc box II can decrease the ability of the protein to promote both transformation and apoptosis without modifying its transactivating activity.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 6084-6094 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Oncogene |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 42 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 20 2001 |
Keywords
- Apoptosis
- Burkitt's lymphoma
- c-Myc
- Staurosporine
- TNFα
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Molecular Biology
- Cancer Research
- Genetics