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Interactions of mutant p53 with DNA: guilt by association

Oncogene volume 26, pages 2185–2190 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Since the very early days of p53 research, the gain of oncogenic activities by some mutant p53 proteins had been suspected as an important factor contributing to cancer progression. Considerable progress towards understanding the biology of mutant p53 has been made during the last years, the quintessence being the realization that the impact of mutant p53 proteins on the transcriptome of a tumor cell is much more global than previously thought. The emerging role of mutant p53 proteins in coordinating oncogenic signaling and chromatin modifying activities reveals an until now unsuspected function of these proteins as important modifiers of the oncogenic transcriptional response. Notwithstanding the fact that the sequence-specific DNA binding activity of mutant p53 proteins is impaired, they are still able to associate with specific loci on DNA by utilizing different mechanisms. The ability to associate with DNA appears to be crucial for the master role of mutant p53 proteins in coordinating oncogenic transcriptional responses.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Martina Hintz-Malchow for assistance in preparing the manuscript. Research performed in the WD and EK laboratories and cited in this review was supported by the DFG (De 212/19-5), the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie, and by EC FP5 and FP6 funding. The publication reflects only the authors' views and the Community is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. The Heinrich-Pette-Institut is financially supported by the Freie und Hansesstadt Hamburg and the Bundesministerium für Gesundheit.

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  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Translational Neuro-Oncology Group, Georg-August-University of Goettingen, Robert-Koch-Strasse 40, Goettingen, Germany

    E Kim

  2. Heinrich-Pette-Institute, Martinistrasse 52, Hamburg, Germany

    W Deppert

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Correspondence to E Kim.

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Kim, E., Deppert, W. Interactions of mutant p53 with DNA: guilt by association. Oncogene 26, 2185–2190 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.onc.1210312

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