Nucleic Acids Research, 2020 1 doi: 10.1093/nar/gkaa666
SURVEY AND SUMMARY
Tumor suppressor p53: from engaging DNA to target Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/nar/advance-article/doi/10.1093/nar/gkaa666/5892750 by University at Albany user on 14 August 2020 gene regulation Morgan A. Sammons 1,*,†, Thuy-Ai T. Nguyen 2,*,†, Simon S. McDade 3,*,† and Martin Fischer 4,*,†
1Department of Biological Sciences and The RNA Institute, University at Albany, State University of New York, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, NY 12222, USA, 2Genome Integrity & Structural Biology Laboratory and Immunity, Inflammation and Disease Laboratory, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/National Institutes of Health, 111 TW Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA, 3Patrick G Johnston Centre for Cancer Research, Queen’s University Belfast, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 7AE, UK and 4Computational Biology Group, Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Beutenbergstraße 11, 07745 Jena, Germany
Received May 24, 2020; Revised July 24, 2020; Editorial Decision July 28, 2020; Accepted July 30, 2020
ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION The p53 transcription factor confers its potent tumor The TP53 gene encoding the tumor suppressor p53 is the suppressor functions primarily through the regula- most frequently mutated gene in human cancers (1,2). p53 tion of a large network of target genes. The recent ex- is also deactivated or repressed in a large proportion of tu- plosion of next generation sequencing protocols has mors containing wild-type p53 through diverse mechanisms enabled the study of the p53 gene regulatory network including aberrant degradation, deregulation of activators, effectors, or repressors such that most, if not all, cancers cir- (GRN) and underlying mechanisms at an unprece- cumvent the p53 signaling pathway. p53 is the eponymous dented depth and scale, helping us to understand member of the p53 transcription factor (TF) family that precisely how p53 controls gene regulation. Here, we evolved from an ancestral p63/p73 gene that can be found in discuss our current understanding of where and how most invertebrates (3,4). Functionally the ancestral p63/p73 p53 binds to DNA and chromatin, its pioneer-like role, gene protects organismal integrity and the germ line by in- and how this affects gene regulation. We provide an ducing cell death in cells with genome damage. In higher overview of the p53 GRN and the direct and indirect vertebrates all three p53 family members can be found and mechanisms through which p53 affects gene regula- their function has diversified. While p53 largely functions as tion. In particular, we focus on delineating the ubiqui- a tumor suppressor, p63 and p73 play important develop- tous and cell type-specific network of regulatory ele- mental roles in addition to context-dependent tumor sup- ments that p53 engages; reviewing our understand- pressive and tumor promoting activities. p53 functions as a sequence-specific TF, which is acti- ing of how, where, and when p53 binds to DNA and vated in normal cells in response to a diverse range of stress- the mechanisms through which these events regu- induced stimuli, in particular DNA damage, to regulate a late transcription. Finally, we discuss the evolution large network of target genes through which it exerts the of the p53 GRN and how recent work has revealed re- majority of its tumour suppressive functions (5,6). The tran- markable differences between vertebrates, which are scriptional output of the complex p53 gene regulatory net- of particular importance to cancer researchers using work determines whether cells pause until stress/damage is mouse models. resolved or repaired, terminally arrest, or die. Consistent with its tumor suppressive TF function, cancers most fre-
*To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +49 3641 656876; Fax: +49 3641 656255; Email: [email protected] Correspondence may also be addressed to Thuy-Ai T. Nguyen. Email: [email protected] Correspondence may also be addressed to Simon S. McDade. Email: [email protected] Correspondence may also be addressed to Morgan A. Sammons. Email: [email protected] †The authors wish it to be known that, in their opinion, all authors should be regarded as Joint First Authors.