DefinitionThis section has been translated automatically.
- Physiological cellular gene (C-MYC), whose encoded product, the C-Myc protein, was first discovered in Burkitt's lymphoma. C-MYC is similar to the previously known eponymous viral myelocytomatosis oncogene (V-MYC, viral MYC). The protein C-Myc encoded by MYC is one of the transcription factors and regulates the expression of about 15% of all human genes. MYC is therefore a proto-oncogene.
- MYC is activated by a large number of factors such as EGF (see below growth factors) through the MAP kinase signalling pathway. A mutated version of MYC is detected in many tumor cells. This gene mutation can lead to an excessive expression of the protein C-Myc and thus to an unregulated activation of numerous genes that lead to cell proliferation. Versch. leukemia types are characterized by a translocation of the MYC gene (t(8:14)).
Prof. Dr. med. Peter Altmeyer