C-Myc has altered expression in canine and feline tumors

Gene expression and mutation study in different cancer types of animal origin has its pivotal role in diagnosis, prognosis and comparative studies. c-Myc gene was selected to study the mutation and expression profiling of different canine and feline tumors due to its predetermined role in tumor pathogenesis. A total of 52 tumor and normal samples were examined, among these, 40 canine and 12 feline samples were analyzed using Sanger sequencing method and RT-qPCR for the mutation and expression profiling of c-Myc gene. The coding region of c-Myc gene (exon2 and 3) did not show any variation in both species. While expression of c-Myc gene was found to be up regulated in different canine (62.5% in mammary adenocarcinoma, 75% in oral squamous cell carcinoma, 66.6% in peri-anal sac adenocarcinoma, 80% in mast cell tumor and 100% in soft tissue sarcoma) and feline (60% in mammary adenocarcinoma and 100% in soft tissue sarcoma) tumors studied. These findings might support the established role of c-Myc in tumor pathogenesis but how this transcription factor affects the downstream targets to achieve the goal remains unanswered. Therefore, further research is desperately needed to understand the mechanism of tumor pathogenesis in animals in order to identify the molecular targets for proper cure of this ailment.