Mechanistic studies for the role of cellular nucleic-acid-binding protein (CNBP) in regulation of c-myc transcription.

•Cellular nucleic-acid-binding protein (CNBP) binds to oncogene c-myc promoter region.•We found that human CNBP bound to c-myc NHE III1 and promoted G-quadruplex formation.•CNBP induced a transient decrease followed by an increase in c-myc transcription.•Interaction of CNBP with NM23-H2 led to the increase of c-myc transcription.•New c-myc regulatory mechanism was proposed suggesting CNBP as an anti-tumor target.