The transcriptional program of a human B cell line in response to Myc

The proto-oncogene c-myc (myc) encodes a transcription factor (Myc) that pr omotes growth, proliferation and apoptosis, Myc has been suggested to induc e these effects by induction/repression of downstream genes. Here we report the identification of potential Myc target genes in a human B cell line th at grows and proliferates depending on conditional myc expression, Oligonuc leotide microarrays were applied to identify downstream genes of Myc at the level of cytoplasmic mRNA, In addition, we identified potential Myc target genes in nuclear run-on experiments by changes in their transcription rate , The identified genes belong to gene classes whose products are involved i n amino acid/protein synthesis, lipid metabolism, protein turnover/folding, nucleotide/DNA synthesis, transport, nucleolus function/RNA binding, trans cription and splicing, oxidative stress and signal transduction, The identi fied targets support our current view that myc acts as a master gene for gr owth control and increases transcription of a large variety of genes.