Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UNIPROT:P62988 (Ubiquitin)
 4,326 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The increase in the p53 activity in response to DNA damage is thought to be one of the important mechanisms by which p53 contributes to transcriptional activation of p21(wafl), mdm2, and other downstream regulatory genes. To investigate the p53 response to ultraviolet (UV) type of DNA damage, p53 protein level, its transcriptional activity and in vivo ubiquitination were compared in repair-proficient normal human fibroblasts (NHFs) and repair-deficient xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) group A and group C (XP-C) fibroblasts subsequent to irradiation with UV light. Accumulation of p53 protein level was observed with increasing UV doses in all the cell lines; however, discordance between p53 and p21(waf1) and mdm2 levels was observed in NHF and XP-A cells. Induction of p21(waf1) and mdm2 was inhibited by UV irradiation, requiring higher doses in NHF and lower doses in XP-A cells. However, inhibition of p21(waf1) and mdm2 induction was not observed in XP-C cells. Ubiquitin-p53 conjugates could be detected in irradiated or unirradiated NHF and XP-A cells but not in XP-C cells irradiated with 30 and 50 J/m(2) UV light. Using a p53 reporter assay, p53 transcriptional activities were found to be induced by 10 J/m(2) UV exposure and dramatically inhibited with increasing UV doses in NHF cells. Compared with repair-proficient NHF cells, UV inhibition of p53 transcriptional activity was relatively more sensitive in XP-A cells but resistant in XP-C cells. These results indicate that DNA damage by UV, in addition to inducing p53, acts as a trigger for inhibition of p53 transcriptional activity. Overall, recognition of DNA damage links both p53 induction and p53 degradation to DNA repair mechanisms.
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PMID:Modulation of transcriptional activity of p53 by ultraviolet radiation: linkage between p53 pathway and DNA repair through damage recognition. 1097 91

The mdm2 gene product is an important regulator of p53 function and stability. mdm2 is an E3 ubiquitin ligase for p53 and the RING finger domain of mdm2 is critical for ligase activity. Ubiquitin (Ub) conjugation is a general targeting modification and poly-ubiquitin chains specifically target proteins to the proteasome for degradation. In this report, we show that the multistep cascade of mdm2-mediated p53 ubiquitination can be reduced to three purified recombinant proteins: ubiquitin-conjugated E2, mdm2, and p53. This simplification allows enzymatic analysis of the isolated ligase reaction. The simplified reaction recapitulates the ubiquitination of p53 observed with individual components and the p53-Ub((n)) is qualitatively similar to p53-Ub((n)) detected in lactacystin-treated cells. Surprisingly, we find that p53 is modified with multiple mono-ubiquitin moieties as opposed to a poly-ubiquitin chain. Finally, kinetic analysis indicates the transfer reaction proceeds either through a modified Ping Pong mechanism involving requisite enzyme isomerization steps, or through a Rapid Equilibrium Random Bi Bi mechanism involving very large anti-cooperative interactions between the two substrate binding pockets on the enzyme, mediated through allosteric changes in enzyme structure.
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PMID:Human mdm2 mediates multiple mono-ubiquitination of p53 by a mechanism requiring enzyme isomerization. 1139 92

Mdm2 is one of the main E3 ubiquitin ligases, which targets both wild type and mutant p53 for degradation. The ability of post-translational modifications, such as phosphorylation, to modulate the function and stability of wild type p53 has been extensively studied. However, their ability to modulate the functions and stability of mutant forms of p53 remains poorly documented. Here we show, for the first time, that the stability of mutant p53 can be regulated by phosphorylation. Mutation of serine 392 to alanine shortens the half life of p53H175, and renders p53H175A392 more sensitive to mdm2-mediated degradation than p53H175. This effect of Ser392 phosphorylation specifically affects p53H175, a misfolded mutant, and does not affect p53W248 which maintains a native conformation. Detailed analysis subsequently showed that the reduced stability of p53H175A392 is not due to an increase in mdm2/p300 binding or polyubiquitin chain formation, uncoupling the extent of polyubiquitin chain formation and the stability of mutant p53. This is supported by the observation that Ser392 mutation enhances polyubiquitin chain formation on p53W248, without reducing its stability. These results suggest that the inhibition of phosphorylation at Ser392 of p53, together with the use of an mdm2-enhancing agent such as nutlin, could present a new therapeutic strategy with which to treat tumors expressing mutant p53H175.
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PMID:Mutation at Ser392 specifically sensitizes mutant p53H175 to mdm2-mediated degradation. 2042 15