Year: 2005
Type: preprint
Abstract: Although the p53 tumor suppressor was identified nearly three decades ago and plays a pivotal role in human cancer, its complexity continues to surprise the research community. Indeed, it was only recently discovered that p53 belongs to a multigene family that also includes p63 and p73 (Kaghad et al. 1997; Schmale and Bamberger 1997). Both p63 and p73 express an array of isoforms as a result of multiple promoter usage and alternative splicing (Yang et al. 1998; Zaika et al. 2002). This complexity within the p53 gene family has, until now, been considered a unique feature of p63 and p73. In this issue, Bourdon et al. (2005) use currently available molecular techniques to revisit the structure of p53, the founding member of this gene family. This work reveals that like the p53-related genes p63 and p73, p53 also makes use of several promoters and undergoes alternative splicing to generate multiple isoforms. Thus, a comparison of p53-related genes reveals strikingly similar traits among family members that produce a plethora of related but functionally diverse proteins that add further complexity to the role of p53-related proteins in development, cancer, and aging
Source: Genes & Development
DOI: 10.1101/gad.1362905
Author: Alea A. Mills
Institution: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Language: English
Subfield: Oncology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2145036053