Dynamic supercoiling sponsors transcription amplification by MYC.

Reducing TOP1 activity by genetic knockdown or low-dose inhibition potentiates MYC-driven transcription amplification by increasing promoter melting and RNA polymerase loading.

• Why it matters: MYC is linked to major cancer gene-expression changes, but how its transcription amplification is coordinated with DNA topology is unclear.
• What they did: The authors built a cell system to distinguish MYC-driven activation versus amplification, then used biochemical and cellular assays to test how supercoiling and TOP1 modulation affect early transcription steps.
• The result: Dynamic interplay between MYC amplification and DNA supercoiling shows that early transcription complexes are enabled by negative supercoiling, which MYC then uses to boost output.

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