MITF controls the interface of nucleotide excision repair and transcription through direct regulation of GTF2H1

Survival, proliferation and differentiation of the melanocytic lineage are determined by the Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF). MITF's pivotal role in lineage survival is underscored by the observations that its mutation entails a substantial loss of melanocyte viability and its expression is largely maintained upon malignant transformation. Even though it is still incompletely understood how MITF is linked to melanomagenesis. We observed that the lineage-survival oncogene MITF controls the interface of nucleotide excision repair (NER) and transcription, an essential instrument to maintain genomic stability in eukaryotes, through transactivation of the general transcription factor 2H1 (GTF2H1), a TFIIH core element