The good, the bad and the ugly: The many roles of c-JUN in cancer

The process of cell division is tightly regulated, as mistakes may lead to cancer. The so-called c-JUN protein has been fingered as causing tumors in both skin and liver. The group of Veronika Sexl at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, has now uncovered a surprising detail with the discovery an additional function of c-JUN's also prevents silencing of an important anti-tumor factor. The results have recently been published in the open-access journal Oncotarget.