A Global Suppressor Motif for P53 Cancer Mutants
A global suppressor motif for p53 cancer mutants Timothy E. Baroni*†‡, Ting Wang*†§, Hua Qian*†¶, Lawrence R. Dearthʈ, Lan N. Truongʈ, Jue Zengʈ, Alec E. Denes*, Stephanie W. Chen*, and Rainer K. Brachmannʈ** *Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, P.O. Box 8069, St. Louis, MO 63110; and ʈDepartment of Medicine, Division of Hematology͞Oncology, University of California, Medical Science I, C250, Zot Code 4075, Irvine, CA 92697 Communicated by Stanley J. Korsmeyer, Dana–Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, February 19, 2004 (received for review December 4, 2003) The transcription factor and tumor suppressor protein p53 is fre- changes account for 30% and 50 amino acid changes for 55% of all quently inactivated in human cancers. In many cases, p53 gene core domain mutants with a single amino acid change (5). Thus, mutations result in high levels of inactive, full-length p53 protein with compounds active on a subset of p53 cancer mutants could benefit one amino acid change in the core domain that recognizes p53 a large number of patients. DNA-binding sites. The ability to endow function to mutated p53 Furthermore, as proof of principle, several compounds, amifos- proteins would dramatically improve cancer therapy, because it tine, ellipticine, CP-31398, and PRIMA-1, have already been would reactivate a central apoptotic pathway. By using genetic identified that endow function to a subset of p53 cancer mutants strategies and p53 assays in yeast and mammalian cells, we identified (11–14). The exact rescue mechanisms of and number of p53 a global suppressor motif involving codons 235, 239, and 240.
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