Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P04637 (p53)
 77,613 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Mutations in the p53 gene have been found in a large proportion of human skin cancers. These mutations show the same characteristics as mutations induced by UV light in experimental systems. To establish correlations between formation of DNA adducts by a known carcinogen and incidence of mutations within a specific human gene, we have investigated the formation of UV-induced photoproducts along exons 5-9 of the p53 gene after UV irradiation of human cells. The two major types of DNA photoproducts, cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers and pyrimidine (6-4) pyrimidone photoproducts [(6-4) photoproducts], were mapped at the DNA sequence level by strand cleavage at the sites of photoproducts. This was followed by ligation-mediated polymerase chain reaction (LMPCR) to amplify gene-specific fragments. In human skin cancers, mutations were most frequently found at codons 151/152, 245, 248, 278 and 286 of the p53 gene. The frequency of UV photoproducts is particularly high at codon 286, which is within a run of 12 adjacent pyrimidines. High levels of both photoproducts were also seen at codons 151 and 278. However, UV-induced DNA adducts are barely detectable at codons 245 and 248, which are mutation hotspots also for internal malignancies. At these positions, the frequency of photoproducts is much lower than at surrounding dipyrimidine sequences. These findings have some implications on molecular mechanisms of mutagenesis in the human genome.
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PMID:The distribution of UV photoproducts along the human p53 gene and its relation to mutations in skin cancer. 833 34

We have analyzed predicted helical twist angles in the 21-bp repeat region of the SV40 genome, using a semi-empirical model previously shown to accurately predict backbone conformations. Unexpectedly, the pattern of twist angles characteristic of the six GC-boxes is repeated an additional five times at positions that are regularly interspersed with the six GC-box sequences. These patterns of helical twist angles are associated with a second, imperfectly-repeated sequence motif, the TR-box 5'-RRNTRGG. Unrelated DNA sequences that interact with trans-acting factors (p53 and GABP) exhibit similar twist angle patterns, due to elements of the general form 5'-RRRYRRR that occur as interspersed arrays with a spacing of 10-11 bp and an offset of 4-6 bp. Arrays of these elements, which we call pyrimidine sandwich elements (PSEs), may play an important role in the interaction of trans-acting factors with DNA control regions. In 13 human proto-oncogenes analyzed, we identified 31 PSE arrays, 11 of which were in the 5'-flanking regions of the genes. The most extensive array was found in the promoter region of the K-ras gene. Extending over 80 bp of DNA, it contained 16 PSEs that showed an average deviation from the SV40 criterion pattern of angles of only 1.2 degrees.
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PMID:Identification of a DNA structural motif that includes the binding sites for Sp1, p53 and GA-binding protein. 838 18

The p53 protein is apparently central to the development of human cancers because both alleles are often found to be mutated in different tumour types. In addition, wild-type p53 can inhibit transformation by viral and cellular oncogenes in vitro, so p53 has been classified as a tumour suppressor. Investigations of the normal function of p53 have indicated that at least one of its functions could involve the activation of gene expression through the binding of specific DNA-regulatory sequences. Also, overexpression of p53 can mediate growth arrest and repress transcription from a variety of promoters. We demonstrate here both in vivo and in vitro that expression of wild-type p53 specifically represses the activity of promoters whose initiation is dependent on the presence of a TATA box. Promoters whose accurate transcription is directed by a pyrimidine-rich initiator element, however, are immune to the effects of p53. Furthermore, we observe that repression is mediated by an interaction of p53 with basal transcription factor(s). Thus, p53 appears to repress the activity of certain promoters through direct communication with TATA box-dependent basal transcription machinery.
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PMID:Specific repression of TATA-mediated but not initiator-mediated transcription by wild-type p53. 838 45

A series of human embryo fibroblasts has previously been shown to display increasing resistance to the antimetabolites methotrexate (MTX) and N-phosphonacetyl-L-aspartate (PALA) with increasing tumorigenicity. This increased resistance was found to be further increased as a result of salvage pathway activity for purine and pyrimidine biosynthesis. A similar pattern of increasing resistance paralleling increasing tumorigenicity has now been shown to occur with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), which is independent of salvage pathway activity. The KMS normal cell line was found to be more sensitive to 5-FU than either the immortalised KMST or tumorigenic KN-NM cell lines. Immunohistochemical analysis of the three cell lines demonstrated high levels of p53 protein in the KMST and KN-NM cell lines, but undetectable p53 levels in the KMS cell line. From these data it was hypothesised that a difference in p53 function may be causing the difference in the patterns of sensitivity observed in the three cell lines. P53 is now believed to function as a regulator of a G1 to S cell cycle checkpoint and as an inducer of apoptosis following DNA damage to the cell. The differences in sensitivity of the cell lines could not be explained by differences in the levels of apoptosis but could be attributed to differences in cell cycle response. Our evidence suggests that loss of cell cycle control, possibly through loss of p53 function, is an important factor in increasing the drug resistance of fibroblast cell lines.
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PMID:Differences in resistance to 5-fluorouracil as a function of cell cycle delay and not apoptosis. 851 49

Werner's syndrome (WS) is a human segmental progerioid disorder with an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance. Patients with WS exhibit a number of symptoms resembling a premature aging phenotype. We have examined the fine structure of the DNA repair of UV-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-transformed WS lymphoblastoid cell lines and in a primary WS fibroblast cell line. The repair was measured at the level of the gene and also in the general genome. Gene-specific and strand-specific DNA repair was measured in the actively transcribed genes dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), c-myc, and p53, and in the transcriptionally inactive regions, delta globin and the X-linked 754 domain. Both gene-specific repair and strand-specific repair were deficient in the transformed WS lymphoblastoid cell lines compared to normal controls. In normal cells, repair in the transcribed strand was 25 (4 h), 43 (8 h), and 72% (24 h); in the WS cells on average, repair in the transcribed strand was 18 (4 h), 27 (8 h), and 44% (24 h). However, in the primary WS fibroblast cell line, we found a pattern of preferential gene repair which was similar to that in normal human cells. In contrast to cells from patients with the gene-specific repair deficient disease Cockayne's syndrome, which show greatly delayed RNA synthesis recovery after UV irradiation, the WS cells had normal recovery of RNA synthesis. The DNA repair results differ for the different cell types, and our findings thus do not establish a general DNA repair phenotype for WS cells. The fibroblasts had proficient repair, but in the WS lymphoblasts we find a deficiency in DNA repair which could contribute to the reported hypermutability in these cells. The lymphoblasts are, however, transformed cells, and it raises the concern that biological findings in transformed cells may not reflect the situation in primary cells.
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PMID:DNA repair fine structure in Werner's syndrome cell lines. 861 4

Human cells from patients suffering with xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) characterized by extreme sensitivity to UV light and a high incidence of skin tumors fall into seven complementation groups, XPA to XPG, and are lacking a functional helicase, endonuclease, or lesion-recognizing protein involved in the initial steps during nucleotide excision repair (NER); a number of proteins involved in DNA repair are termed XPA to XPG depending on which one is defective in a particular complementation group of XP and include: (i) proteins involved in the recognition of (6-4) photoproducts (XPE) and of a broad range of lesions such as pyrimidine dimers (XPA); (ii) proteins that are DNA helicases and integral parts of the general transcription factor TFIIH functioning in both transcription and repair (XPB, XPD); (iii) endonucleases that perform the two incisions, the XPG incising six nucleotides (nt) to the 3' side from a photodimer and the ERCC1-XPF protein complex incising 22 nt to the 5' side of the lesion; and (iv) single-strand DNA-binding proteins (XPC). The ERCC6 helicase is largely responsible for coupling transcription to repair whereas XPC seems to be responsible for the repair of the inactive parts of the genome as well as for the repair of the nontranscribed strand in active genes. p53 recognizes insertion/deletion mismatches as well as free ends of DNA produced by ionizing radiation to arrest the cell cycle. Most of the human DNA repair proteins have their counterparts in both budding and fission yeasts and some of them also in E. coli evoking an evolutionary conservation of DNA repair pathways. Accumulation of mutations within repair genes in single cells followed by their escape from the immune surveillance and in clonal expansion may greatly contribute to the appearance and development of human cancers.
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PMID:Xeroderma pigmentosum and molecular cloning of DNA repair genes. 868 16

To study the triggering mechanism(s) of the induction of apoptosis following exposure to u.v. light, we used a genetic approach involving cell strains derived from patients with inherited deficiencies in nucleotide excision repair. It was found that cells from patients with Cockayne's syndrome, which are deficient in the processing of u.v.-induced pyrimidine dimers from the transcribed DNA strand, are induced to undergo apoptosis at much lower doses of u.v. light than cells with proficient strand-specific repair. The induction of apoptosis correlated to the induction of p53 and to the inhibition of total RNA and poly(A) mRNA synthesis. We also show that active p53 proteins accumulate following u.v.-irradiation without any apparent requirement for DNA strand breaks or excision repair intermediates. We propose that the blockage of RNA polymerases at DNA lesions in the transcribed strand triggers the induction of a pathway leading to apoptosis. These findings may help explain a long standing enigma of why, despite the DNA repair deficiency, patients with Cockayne's syndrome do not experience an elevated risk for skin cancer since potentially pre-mutagenic cells are eliminated by an easily triggered apoptotic pathway.
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PMID:Blockage of RNA polymerase as a possible trigger for u.v. light-induced apoptosis. 876 4

The human p53 gene is repaired in UV (254 nm)-irradiated xeroderma pigmentosum group C (XP-C) cells as part of a large genomic region that is about twice the size of the gene. Surrounding genomic regions are not repaired. Through DNA cloning and measurements of DNA repair, we mapped the location of the repair domain, including the terminal regions, relative to the topological features of the gene. The domain includes only the DNA strand that is transcribed and extends in both 3' and 5' directions beyond the promoter and transcription termination sites. No transcriptional activity other than that associated with the p53 gene was detected. The results suggest that nontranscribed regions adjacent to the p53 transcribed regions are efficiently repaired in XP-C cells. This means that factors associated with transcription other than RNA polymerase II and the associated transcription repair coupling factor must also play a role in the selective repair process in XP-C cells. We also found that a DNA fragment that contains the p53 promoters is nearly twice as sensitive to cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer induction by UV irradiation than are the surrounding fragments, which have the expected sensitivity.
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PMID:Definition of a DNA repair domain in the genomic region containing the human p53 gene. 876 29

Susceptibility to environmental carcinogenesis is the consequence of a complex interplay between intrinsic hereditary factors and actual exposures to potential carcinogenic agents. We must learn the nature of these interactions as well as the genetic defects that confer enhanced risk. In some genetic diseases an increased cancer risk correlates with a defect in the repair or replications of damaged DNA. Examples include xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), ataxia telangiectasia, Fanconi's anemia, and Bloom's syndrome. In Cockayne's syndrome the Specific defect in transcription-coupled repair (TCR) does not predispose the patients to the sunlight-induced skin cancer characteristic of XP. The demonstration of TCR in the XP129 partial revertant of XP-A cells indicates that ultraviolet (UV) resistance correlates with repair of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in active genes. Repair measured as an average over the genome can be misleading, and it is necessary to consider genomic locations of DNA damage and repair for a meaningful assessment of the biological importance of particular DNA lesions. Mutations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene are found in many human tumors. TCR accounts for the resulting mutational spectra in the p53 gene in certain tumors. Li-Fraumeni syndrome fibroblasts expressing only mutant p53 are more UV-resistant and exhibit less UV-induced apoptosis than normal human cells or heterozygotes for mutations in only one allele of p53. The p53-defective cells are deficient in global excision repair capacity but have retained TCR. The loss of p53 function may lead to greater genomic instability by reducing the efficiency of global DNA repair while cellular resistance may be assured through the operation of TCR and the elimination of apoptosis.
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PMID:Role of transcription-coupled DNA repair in susceptibility to environmental carcinogenesis. 878 81

Differentially regulated expression of activators and inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases (cdks) modulate cell cycle progression. In normal fibroblasts, these complexes consist of the cdk inhibitor p21WAF1/PCNA/G1 cyclin/cdk. We now show that bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd), a thymidine analogue and radiation sensitizer, inhibits growth and activity of cyclin A-cdk2 kinase in metastatic C8161 and nonmetastatic neo 6.3/C8161 human melanoma cells. Inhibition is not due to altered levels of cyclin D or catalytic cdk2 but involves a decrease in cyclin A and proliferating cell nuclear antigen, paralleled by higher levels of p21WAF1 without increases in p53. In contrast to serum starvation, which prevents accumulation of cyclins A and D in normal fibroblasts, such treatment did not down-regulate either cyclin in these melanoma cells, implying an aberrant control for G1 cyclins in these tumor cells. However, cyclin A was decreased by BrdUrd, suggesting that this pyrimidine analogue arrests melanoma cells at a G1 transition point, unlike that of serum starvation. This is the first report indicating that the antitumor therapeutic action of BrdUrd may be mediated by a p53-independent reciprocal effect on activators and inhibitors of cdk kinases.
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PMID:p53-independent increase in p21WAF1 and reciprocal down-regulation of cyclin A and proliferating cell nuclear antigen in bromodeoxyuridine-mediated growth arrest of human melanoma cells. 882 3


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