title: Role of MYC in B Cell Lymphomagenesis.
abstract: B cell lymphomas mainly arise from different developmental stages of B cells in germinal centers of secondary lymphoid tissue. There are a number of signaling pathways that affect the initiation and development of B cell lymphomagenesis. The functions of several key proteins that represent branching points of signaling networks are changed because of their aberrant expression, degradation, and/or accumulation, and those events determine the fate of the affected B cells. One of the most influential transcription factors, commonly associated with unfavorable prognosis for patients with B cell lymphoma, is nuclear phosphoprotein MYC. During B cell lymphomagenesis, oncogenic MYC variant is deregulated through various mechanisms, such as gene translocation, gene amplification, and epigenetic deregulation of its expression. Owing to alterations of downstream signaling cascades, MYC-overexpressing neoplastic B cells proliferate rapidly, avoid apoptosis, and become unresponsive to most conventional treatments. This review will summarize the roles of MYC in B cell development and oncogenesis, as well as its significance for current B cell lymphoma classification. We compared communication networks within transformed B cells in different lymphomas affected by overexpressed MYC and conducted a meta-analysis concerning the association of MYC with tumor prognosis in different patient populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Division of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Horvatovac 102a, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. petra.korac@biol.pmf.hr.
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Korać
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Cytology, University Hospital Center Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. sdotlic30@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Snježana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dotlić
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Division of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, Horvatovac 102a, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. maja.matulic@biol.pmf.hr.
authors.forename: Maja
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matulić
authors.affiliation: Institute for Anthropological Research, Gajeva 32, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. matea@inantro.hr.
authors.forename: Matea
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zajc Petranović
authors.affiliation: Medical School Zagreb, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. mara.dominis@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mara
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dominis
keywords: B cell; MYC; lymphoma; meta-analysis; prognostic factor; signaling pathways