A modular gene enhancer plays a role in leukemia

Every day, the bone marrow generates billions of new blood cells. This process, known as hematopoiesis, consists of a series of stages by which hematopoietic stem cells produce red blood cells, macrophages, lymphocytes, etc. The MYC gene and the mechanisms that regulate its expression play a major role in these various stages, but they are also involved in several types of leukemia as a result of the overexpression of MYC in blood cells. Scientists have revealed that hematopoiesis is regulated by a genomic region, distant from MYC, containing several enhancers. In some types of leukemia, it appears that cancerous blood cells overuse this cluster of regulatory elements. The ability to modulate the activity of the cluster could therefore represent a new prospect for the treatment of this type of cancer, which is caused when the genetic programs regulating cellular differentiation are hijacked.

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