Promotion of growth and apoptosis in c-myc nullizygous fibroblasts by other members of the myc oncoprotein family.

c-myc nullizygous fibroblasts (KO cells) were used to compare the abilities of c-myc, N-myc and L-myc oncoproteins to accelerate growth, promote apoptosis, revert morphology, and regulate the expression of previously described c-myc target genes. All three myc oncoproteins were expressed following retroviral transduction of KO cells. The proteins all enhanced the growth rate of KO cells and significantly shortened the cell cycle transition time. They also accelerated apoptosis following serum deprivation, reverted the abnormal KO cell morphology, and modulated the expression of previously described c-myc target genes. In most cases, L-myc was equivalent to c-myc and N-myc in restoring all of the c-myc-dependent activities. These findings contrast with the previously reported weak transforming and transactivating properties of L-myc. Myc oncoproteins may thus impart both highly similar as well as dissimilar signals to the cells in which they are expressed.