Beyond gene expression: how MYC relieves transcription stress

Abstract

MYC oncoproteins are key drivers of tumorigenesis. As transcription factors, MYC proteins regulate transcription by all three nuclear polymerases and gene expression. Accumulating evidence shows that MYC proteins are also crucial for enhancing the stress resilience of transcription. MYC proteins relieve torsional stress caused by active transcription, prevent collisions between the transcription and replication machineries, resolve R-loops, and repair DNA damage by participating in a range of protein complexes and forming multimeric structures at sites of genomic instability. We review the key complexes and multimerization properties of MYC proteins that allow them to mitigate transcription-associated DNA damage, and propose that the oncogenic functions of MYC extend beyond the modulation of gene expression.