Shared requirement for MYC upstream super-enhancer region in tissue regeneration and cancer

Abstract

Cancer has been characterized as a wound that does not heal. Malignant cells are morphologically distinct from normal proliferating cells, but have extensive similarities to tissues undergoing wound healing and/or regeneration. The mechanistic basis of this similarity has, however, remained enigmatic. Here we show that the genomic region upstream of Myc, which is required for intestinal tumorigenesis, is also required for intestinal regeneration after radiation damage. The region is also critical for growth of adult intestinal cells in 3D organoid culture, indicating that culture conditions that recapitulate most aspects of normal tissue architecture still reprogram normal cells to proliferate using a mechanism similar to that employed by cancer cells. Our results uncover a genetic link between tissue regeneration and tumorigenesis, and establish that normal tissue renewal and regeneration of tissues after severe damage are mechanistically distinct.