Transcriptional programs regulated by MYCN in liver tumorigenesis

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer-related death, often diagnosed at advanced stages and characterized by high recurrence rates. While chronic liver inflammation and metabolic dysfunction are recognized contributors to tumorigenesis, the molecular mechanisms linking early microenvironmental stress to malignant transformation remain poorly understood. MYCN, a proto-oncogenic transcription factor, has emerged as a potential biomarker of cancer stemness, yet its functional role in hepatocarcinogenesis is unclear. Here, we applied CUT&RUN-seq analysis and integrated the data with RNA-seq to investigate the direct transcriptional impact of MYCN in liver tumorigenesis. Transcriptomic profiling revealed that MYCN-driven tumors exhibit features of human HCC subtypes enriched in stress-adaptive gene programs. We found genes with upstream MYCN binding showed significantly greater expression changes between tumor and non-tumor samples, suggesting that MYCN binding in promoter-proximal regions has a stronger influence on transcriptional regulation. Pathway analysis revealed significant enrichment in pathways related to cytoskeletal organization, cell motility, and membrane dynamics, all of which are central to intercellular interactions and tumor microenvironment remodeling, indicating that MYCN regulates pathways contributing to tumor microenvironment remodeling and cellular interactions.