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. 1997 Mar;17(3):1459-68.
doi: 10.1128/MCB.17.3.1459.

Identification of downstream-initiated c-Myc proteins which are dominant-negative inhibitors of transactivation by full-length c-Myc proteins

G D Spotts  1 , S V Patel, Q Xiao, S R Hann
Affiliations

Identification of downstream-initiated c-Myc proteins which are dominant-negative inhibitors of transactivation by full-length c-Myc proteins

G D Spotts et al. Mol Cell Biol. 1997 Mar.

Abstract

The c-myc gene has been implicated in multiple cellular processes including proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. In addition to the full-length c-Myc 1 and 2 proteins, we have found that human, murine, and avian cells express smaller c-Myc proteins arising from translational initiation at conserved downstream AUG codons. These c-Myc short (c-Myc S) proteins lack most of the N-terminal transactivation domain but retain the C-terminal protein dimerization and DNA binding domains. As with full-length c-Myc proteins, the c-Myc S proteins appear to be localized to the nucleus, are relatively unstable, and are phosphorylated. Significant levels of c-Myc S, often approaching the levels of full-length c-Myc, are transiently observed during the rapid growth phase of several different types of cells. Optimization of the upstream initiation codons resulted in greatly reduced synthesis of the c-Myc S proteins, suggesting that a "leaky scanning" mechanism leads to the translation of these proteins. In some hematopoietic tumor cell lines having altered c-myc genes, the c-Myc S proteins are constitutively expressed at levels equivalent to that of full-length c-Myc. As predicted, the c-Myc S proteins are unable to activate transcription and inhibited transactivation by full-length c-Myc proteins, suggesting a dominant-negative inhibitory function. While these transcriptional inhibitors would not be expected to function as full-length c-Myc, the occurrence of tumors which express constitutive high levels of c-Myc S and their transient synthesis during rapid cell growth suggest that these proteins do not interfere with the growth-promoting functions of full-length c-Myc.

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