@phdthesis{Wiese2015, author = {Wiese, Katrin Evelyn}, title = {Sensing supraphysiological levels of MYC : mechanisms of MIZ1-dependent MYC-induced Apoptosis in Mammary Epithelial Cells}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-132532}, school = {Universit{\"a}t W{\"u}rzburg}, year = {2015}, abstract = {Deregulated MYC expression contributes to cellular transformation as well as progression and maintenance of human tumours. Interestingly, in the absence of additional genetic alterations, potentially oncogenic levels of MYC sensitise cells to a variety of apoptotic stimuli. Hence, MYC-induced apoptosis has long been recognised as a major barrier against cancer development. However, it is largely unknown how cells discriminate physiological from supraphysiological levels of MYC in order to execute an appropriate biological response. The experiments described in this thesis demonstrate that induction of apoptosis in mammary epithelial cells depends on the repressive actions of MYC/MIZ1 complexes. Analysis of gene expression profiles and ChIP-sequencing experiments reveals that high levels of MYC are required to invade low-affinity binding sites and repress target genes of the serum response factor SRF. These genes are involved in cytoskeletal dynamics as well as cell adhesion processes and are likely needed to transmit survival signals to the AKT kinase. Restoration of SRF activity rescues MIZ1- dependent gene repression and increases AKT phosphorylation and downstream function. Collectively, these results indicate that association with MIZ1 leads to an expansion of MYC's transcriptional response that allows sensing of oncogenic levels, which points towards a tumour-suppressive role for the MYC/MIZ1 complex in epithelial cells.}, subject = {Myc}, language = {en} }