Analysis of MIZ1, MYC-ER and MYC-ERVD binding sites in MCF10A cells

Oncogenic levels of Myc expression sensitize cells to multiple apoptotic stimuli and this protects long-lived organisms from cancer development. How cells discriminate physiological from supra-physiological levels of Myc is largely unknown. Here we show that induction of apoptosis by Myc in breast epithelial cells requires association of Myc with Miz1. Gene expression and ChIP-sequencing experiments show that oncogenic levels of Myc, but not of MycV394D, a point mutant that does not bind Miz1, recruit Miz1 to core promoters and enable binding of Myc/Miz1 complexes to low-affinity target sites, correlating with repression of a specific set of target genes. Repressed genes encode proteins involved in cell adhesion, migration and wound healing; their promoters are enriched for binding sites of the serum response (SRF) factor. Restoring SRF activity attenuates Myc-induced apoptosis in response to glutamine starvation, exposure to Trail and to DNA damage. We propose that supra-physiological levels of Myc engage Miz1 in repressive DNA binding complexes and suppress transcriptional progress.