Demonstration that drug-targeted down-regulation of MYC in non-Hodgkins lymphoma is directly mediated through the promoter G-quadruplex

Robert V. Brown, Forest L. Danford, Vijay Gokhale, Laurence H. Hurley, Tracy A. Brooks

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

153 Scopus citations

Abstract

Most transcription of the MYC proto-oncogene initiates in the near upstream promoter, within which lies the nuclease hypersensitive element (NHE) III 1 region containing the CT-element. This dynamic stretch of DNA can form at least three different topologies: single-stranded DNA, double-stranded DNA, or higher order secondary structures that silence transcription. In the current report, we identify the ellipticine analog GQC-05 (NSC338258) as a high affinity, potent, and selective stabilizer of the MYC G-quadruplex (G4). In cells, GQC-05 induced cytotoxicity with corresponding decreased MYC mRNA and altered protein binding to the NHE III 1 region, in agreement with a G4 stabilizing compound. We further describe a unique feature of the Burkitt's lymphoma cell line CA46 that allowed us to clearly demonstrate the mechanism and location of action of GQC-05 within this region of DNA and through the G4. Most importantly, these data present, as far as we are aware, the most direct evidence of intracellular G4-mediated control of a particular promoter.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)41018-41027
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Biological Chemistry
Volume286
Issue number47
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 25 2011

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology

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