Regulation of ribosomal gene transcription by c-MYC during differentiation and lymphomagenesis.

医学生物学中的一个基本问题围绕着细胞如何对生长和产生蛋白质的需求做出反应，特别是在癌细胞快速生长的背景下。细胞生长的一个重要方面是产生细胞生命所有领域所需的新蛋白质。众所周知，细胞生长涉及蛋白质的产生，这反过来又需要核糖体RNA(RRNAs)的转录或复制。然而，对rRNA合成的控制还不是很清楚。我们已经确定了一种新的方法，将致癌基因c-myc与通过调节rRNA合成来控制细胞中的蛋白质生产联系起来。我们的实验将检验c-myc直接影响rRNA产生的假设。最后，我们将测试c-myc导致细胞恶性生长的能力与其在促进rRNA合成方面的作用之间的联系。这些发现可能会为癌症等细胞生长调节障碍的新疗法奠定基础。

A fundamental question in medical biology revolves around how cells respond to the demands to grow and produce proteins, particularly in the setting of the rapid growth of cancer cells. One of the important facets of cellular growth is the production of new proteins needed for all areas of cell life. It is well known that cellular growth involves the production of proteins and this in turn requires the transcription or duplication of ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs). The control of rRNA synthesis, however, is not well understood. We have identified a novel process to link a cancer causing gene c-MYC to the control of protein production in cells through regulation of rRNA synthesis. Our experiments will examine the hypothesis that c-MYC directly affects the production of rRNA . Finally we will test the link between the ability of c-MYC to cause malignant growth of cells and its role in increasing synthesis of rRNA. These findings may lay the basis for new treatments for disorders of regulated cell growth such as cancer.