In vitro inhibition of c-myc transcription by mithramycin.

Mithramycin is a DNA-binding antibiotic that has been reported to selectively affect c-myc expression [Snyder, R. C. et al., (1991) Biochemistry 30, 4290-4297]. We used in vitro transcription to investigate the specificity of mithramycin action. We found that mithramycin inhibited transcription from the human c-myc P1 and P2 promoters, as well as from a minimal adenovirus-2 major late promoter, with equal efficiencies. Mithramycin also inhibited transcription elongation by creating kinetic blockades to the passage of RNA polymerase II. These data suggest that mithramycin may inhibit transcription non-specifically by affecting general processes such as transcription elongation.