Mitotic MAX bookmarking drives MYC-dependent hypertranscription at TBP-bound promoters.

MAX mitotic bookmarking in mouse embryonic stem cells drives MYC-dependent hypertranscription at TBP-bound promoters, with early G1 hypertranscription strongly impaired in MAX-deficient cells.

• Why it matters: Postmitotic genome reactivation is required to preserve cell identity, but how MYC/MAX activity is inherited across mitosis to shape global transcription is unclear.
• What they did: Cell cycle-resolved single-cell RNA-seq in inducible Max -/- mouse embryonic stem cells assessed early G1 hypertranscription; mitotic binding and high-temporal profiling tested MAX–MYC recruitment using MYC/MAX inhibition and acute MAX degradation at mitotic exit.
• The result: MAX remains bound to thousands of promoters during mitosis and, at mitotic exit, triggers rapid MYC recruitment and transcriptional amplification at TBP-bound promoters by increasing RNA polymerase II occupancy and initiation/elongation efficiency.

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.