c-Myc Function in Neoplasia

This book discusses the histological aspects and current discoveries on the c-Myc proto-oncogene and its protein product Myc. Even though c-Myc is one of the first animal gene homologs identified corresponding to the retrovirally transduced oncogene, significant progress has been made only in the past several years toward understanding the function of Myc. The Myc gene is overexpressed in many human cancers and is implicated in the regulation of normal cell proliferation and neoplastic transformation. It is also found to participate in programmed cell death, which places Myc at the unique crossroad of seemingly opposite cell fates. The book reviews recent studies suggesting that Myc is a transcriptional regulatory protein. Myc participation through protein-protein interactions in a network of related transcriptional factors is discussed. Also reviewed are putative target genes for Myc with consideration of their potential role in programmed cell death and neoplastic transformation.