SummaryMYC proteins bind globally to active promoters and promote transcriptional elongation by RNA polymerase II (Pol II). To identify effector proteins that mediate this function, we performed mass spectrometry on N-MYC complexes in neuroblastoma cells. The analysis shows that N-MYC forms complexes with TFIIIC, TOP2A, and RAD21, a subunit of cohesin. N-MYC and TFIIIC bind to overlapping sites in thousands of Pol II promoters and intergenic regions. TFIIIC promotes association of RAD21 with N-MYC target sites and is required for N-MYC-dependent promoter escape and pause release of Pol II. Aurora-A competes with binding of TFIIIC and RAD21 to N-MYC in vitro and antagonizes association of TOP2A, TFIIIC, and RAD21 with N-MYC during S phase, blocking N-MYC-dependent release of Pol II from the promoter. Inhibition of Aurora-A in S phase restores RAD21 and TFIIIC binding to chromatin and partially restores N-MYC-dependent transcriptional elongation. We propose that complex formation with Aurora-A controls N-MYC function during the cell cycle.
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