Deregulation of the MYC transcription factor is a key driver in lymphomagenesis. MYC induces global changes in gene expression that contribute to cell growth, proliferation and oncogenesis by stimulating the activity of RNA polymerases. A key feature in its ability to stimulate RNA Pol II activity is recruitment of pTEFb, an elongation factor whose catalytic core comprises CDK9/cyclin T complexes. Hence, MYC expression and function may be susceptible to CDK9 inhibition. Non-specific inhibitors of multiple CDKs have shown promise in B-cell malignancies, where their pro-apoptotic effect has been attributed to a reduction in transcription and downmodulation of short lived pro-survival proteins (e.g., Mcl-1). However, they lack a defined mechanism of action. Here we selectively targeted CDK9 in a pre-clinical study in DLBCL. SOURCE: Alexey Danilov Oregon Health and Science Univeristy

Pluto Bioinformatics

GSE113035: Seletive inhibition of CDK9 in DLBCL cell lines