GSE43227
Myc correlates globally with transcription complexes rather than specific DNA elements
The Myc-Max heterodimer has been thought of as a sequence specific DNA binding protein that regulates transcription of a large number of genes. We demonstrate here that the positions of the human genome occupied by Myc-Max correlate with the RNA polymerase II (Pol II) transcription complex rather than to the canonical DNA binding sequence element CACGTG. The heterodimer is positioned slightly upstream of essentially all promoter proximal paused polymerases and is found throughout the transcribed regions of genes. Using a multi-genome analysis of promoter regions we show that the heterodimers are oriented with respect to the direction of transcription with Myc downstream of Max. In strong support of a model in which the Myc is recruited by transcription complexes rather than specific DNA sequences, we found that the difference in affinities of Myc-Max heterodimers for CACGTG versus non-specific DNA is not great enough to drive the pattern of genome occupancy exhibited. Overall design: A total of 2 ChIP-Seq data for Myc and Max in human HeLa cell.