c-Myc exerts a protective function through ornithine decarboxylase against cellular insults

c-Myc is known to control cell proliferation and apoptosis, and much effort has been focused on elucidating the mechanisms by which c-Myc works. In this study, we show that c-Myc expression is induced by many cellular insults, including cisplatin, doxorubicin, paclitaxel, 5-flourouracil, H₂O₂, and radiation, and the enhanced expression of c-Myc protects against cell death caused by these cellular insults through ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) induction. To investigate the cellular protective role of c-Myc, we constructed a stable transfectant of ODC, one of the many transcriptional targets of c-Myc in cells, and found that enhanced expression of ODC inhibited cell death induced by cellular insults such as cisplatin, H₂O₂, and radiation. We also found that cisplatin activated nuclear factor-κB, and this subsequently induced c-Myc expression, resulting in the blocking of apoptosis through ODC induction. The results herein, therefore, strongly suggest another role for c-Myc in a stress-response function; that is, it promotes cell survival under stressful conditions.