Key signalling nodes in mammary gland development and cancer: Myc
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* Corresponding author: Nancy E Hynes nancy.hynes@fmi.ch
Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, Maulbeerstraße 66, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland
Breast Cancer Research 2009, 11:210 doi:10.1186/bcr2406
Published: 15 October 2009Abstract
Myc has been intensely studied since its discovery more than 25 years ago. Insight has been gained into Myc's function in normal physiology, where its role appears to be organ specific, and in cancer where many mechanisms contribute to aberrant Myc expression. Numerous signals and pathways converge on Myc, which in turn acts on a continuously growing number of identified targets, via transcriptional and nontranscriptional mechanisms. This review will concentrate on Myc as a signaling mediator in the mammary gland, discussing its regulation and function during normal development, as well as its activation and roles in breast cancer.