biostudies-literatureHishida TNINDS NIH HHSNIGMS NIH HHS786031https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC8931341biostudies-literatureUnknown10It is widely believed that cellular senescence plays a critical role in both aging and cancer, and that senescence is a fundamental, permanent growth arrest that somatic cells cannot avoid. Here we show that Myc plays an important role in self-renewal of esophageal epithelial cells, contributing to their resistance to cellular senescence. Myc is homogeneously expressed in basal cells of the esophageal epithelium and Myc positively regulates their self-renewal by maintaining their undifferentiated state. Indeed, Myc knockout induced a loss of the undifferentiated state of esophageal epithelial cells resulting in cellular senescence while forced MYC expression promoted oncogenic cell proliferation. A superoxide scavenger counteracted Myc knockout-induced senescence, therefore suggesting thatFrontiers in cell and developmental biologyMyc Supports Self-Renewal of Basal Cells in the Esophageal Epithelium.PMC8931341R01 NS106878R01 GM116919Sahu SKO'Keefe DDHishida-Nozaki YNunez Delicado EKato RIzpisua Belmonte JCHatanaka FYoshida KRodriguez Esteban CTakahashi YKnoepfler PSNakagawa HTakemoto YCastells AHishida TVazquez-Ferrer EPrieto JReddy PCampistol JMfalseMyc Supports Self-Renewal of Basal Cells in the Esophageal Epithelium.It is widely believed that cellular senescence plays a critical role in both aging and cancer, and that senescence is a fundamental, permanent growth arrest that somatic cells cannot avoid. Here we show that Myc plays an important role in self-renewal of esophageal epithelial cells, contributing to their resistance to cellular senescence. Myc is homogeneously expressed in basal cells of the esophageal epithelium and Myc positively regulates their self-renewal by maintaining their undifferentiated state. Indeed, Myc knockout induced a loss of the undifferentiated state of esophageal epithelial cells resulting in cellular senescence while forced MYC expression promoted oncogenic cell proliferation. A superoxide scavenger counteracted Myc knockout-induced senescence, therefore suggesting that2022-01-01T00:00:00Z20222025-04-04T14:50:07.481Z2025-04-04T14:50:07.481ZS-EPMC89313413530993110.3389/fcell.2022.786031