Robert N. Eisenman PhD

Dr. Eisenman has conducted research on the Myc family of transcription factors that has elucidated many intracellular regulatory networks commonly disrupted in breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer, Burkitt’s lymphoma, and neuroblastoma. He is regarded as one of the premier experts on how Myc proteins contribute to cancer cell proliferation, development, differentiation, metabolism, and growth.

Dr. Eisenman discovered that transcription factors such as Myc possess the ability to promote carcinogenesis through their targeted activation of gene expression, mediated through interactions with dimerization partner proteins. He discovered that Myc binds to Max (myc-associated factor X) and that this heterodimer binds to DNA at E-box sequences (CACGTG) to regulate gene expression. He demonstrated the competitive inhibition of Myc-Max function when he discovered that Max also interacts with Mad (Mxd) family members and that this interaction involves the recruitment of histone deacetylases and the co-repressor mSin3 to elicit transcriptional repression.