International Journal of Stem Cells

Korean Society for Stem Cell Research (한국줄기세포학회)
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Alterations and Co-Occurrence of C-MYC, N-MYC, and L-MYC Expression are Related to Clinical Outcomes in Various Cancers

  • Moonjung Lee (Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biotechnology & Institute of Advanced Regenerative Science, Konkuk University) ;
  • Jaekwon Seok (Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biotechnology & Institute of Advanced Regenerative Science, Konkuk University) ;
  • Subbroto Kumar Saha (Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biotechnology & Institute of Advanced Regenerative Science, Konkuk University) ;
  • Sungha Cho (Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biotechnology & Institute of Advanced Regenerative Science, Konkuk University) ;
  • Yeojin Jeong (Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biotechnology & Institute of Advanced Regenerative Science, Konkuk University) ;
  • Minchan Gil (Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biotechnology & Institute of Advanced Regenerative Science, Konkuk University) ;
  • Aram Kim (Department of Urology, Konkuk University Medical Center, Konkuk University School of Medicine) ;
  • Ha Youn Shin (Department of Biomedical Science & Engineering, KU Convergence Science and Technology Institute, Konkuk University) ;
  • Hojae Bae (Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biotechnology & Institute of Advanced Regenerative Science, Konkuk University) ;
  • Jeong Tae Do (Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biotechnology & Institute of Advanced Regenerative Science, Konkuk University) ;
  • Young Bong Kim (Department of Biomedical Science & Engineering, KU Convergence Science and Technology Institute, Konkuk University) ;
  • Ssang-Goo Cho (Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biotechnology & Institute of Advanced Regenerative Science, Konkuk University)
  • Received : 2022.11.15
  • Accepted : 2023.02.15
  • Published : 2023.05.30
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Abstract

Background and Objectives: MYC, also known as an oncogenic reprogramming factor, is a multifunctional transcription factor that maintains induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Although MYC is frequently upregulated in various cancers and is correlated with a poor prognosis, MYC is downregulated and correlated with a good prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma. MYC and two other MYC family genes, MYCN and MYCL, have similar structures and could contribute to tumorigenic conversion both in vitro and in vivo. Methods and Results: We systematically investigated whether MYC family genes act as prognostic factors in various human cancers. We first evaluated alterations in the expression of MYC family genes in various cancers using the Oncomine and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and their mutation and copy number alterations using the TCGA database with cBioPortal. Then, we investigated the association between the expression of MYC family genes and the prognosis of cancer patients using various prognosis databases. Multivariate analysis also confirmed that co-expression of MYC/MYCL/MYCN was significantly associated with the prognosis of lung, gastric, liver, and breast cancers. Conclusions: Taken together, our results demonstrate that the MYC family can function not only as an oncogene but also as a tumor suppressor gene in various cancers, which could be used to develop a novel approach to cancer treatment.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This paper was supported by Konkuk University Premier Research Fund in 2019.

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