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Cancer

p53 turns on the energy switch

Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology volume 7, pages 552–553 (2006)Cite this article

...p53, one of the most frequently mutated genes in human cancers, regulates glycolytic pathways through its direct transcriptional targets.

Although changes in the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase c (COX)-complex activity and subunit composition have been reported in cancer cells, the mechanisms that control these changes remain unclear. Matoba and colleagues investigated the role of p53, one of the usual suspects commonly altered in cancers, in the assembly and activity of the COX complex. Measurements of aerobic respiration in liver mitochondria preparations from wild-type as well as p53+/− and p53−/− mutant mice showed that the loss of p53 was associated with a significant decrease in oxygen consumption and COX enzymatic activity, as previously shown for p53-deficient cells. p53-deficient cells generate significantly higher levels of lactate, which indicates that these cells generate more energy through glycolysis.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPERS

  1. Matoba, S. et al. p53 regulates mitochondrial respiration. Science 312, 1650–1653 (2006)

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  2. Bensaad, K. et al. TIGAR, a novel regulator of glycolysis and apoptosis, is induced by p53. Cell 14, (July 2006)

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Authors
  1. Ekat Kritikou
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Kritikou, E. p53 turns on the energy switch. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 7, 552–553 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm1997

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm1997

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