Abstract-c-Myc, a protooncogene, mediates both proliferative and cellular growth in many cell types. Although not expressed in the adult heart under normal physiological conditions, Myc expression is rapidly upregulated in response to hypertrophic stimuli. Although Myc is capable of sustaining hyperplastic growth in fetal myocytes, the effects of its re-expression in adult postmitotic myocardium and its role in mediating cardiac hypertrophy are unknown.

c‐Myc (Myc) is highly expressed in developing embryos where it regulates body size by controlling proliferation but not cell size. However, Myc is also induced in many postmitotic tissues, including adult myocardium, in response to stress where the predominant form of growth is an increase in cell size (hypertrophy) and not number. The function of Myc induction in this setting is unproven. Therefore, to explore Myc's role in hypertrophic growth, we created mice where Myc can be inducibly inactivated, specifically in adult myocardium. Myc‐deficient hearts demonstrated attenuated stress‐induced hypertrophic growth, secondary to a reduction in cell growth of individual myocytes. To explore the dependence of Myc‐induced cell growth on CycD2, we created bigenic mice where Myc can be selectively activated in CycD2‐null adult myocardium. Myc‐dependent hypertrophic growth and cell cycle reentry is blocked in CycD2‐deficient hearts. However, in contrast to Myc‐induced DNA synthesis, hypertrophic growth is independent of CycD2‐induced Cdk2 activity. These data suggest that Myc is required for a normal hypertrophic response and that its growth‐promoting effects are also mediated through a CycD2‐dependent pathway.