肿瘤抑制基因P53综述

本文从Ｐ５３研究的历史，Ｐ５３的基本分子生物学，Ｐ５３与细胞周期调控，Ｐ５３与肿瘤发生以臁Ｐ５３参与转泉调控来实现其生物学功能等诸方面概述Ｐ５３研究的进展。     

The cellular oncogene p53 can be activated by mutagenesis

P53 is a cellular phosphoprotein of short half-life (t1/2) which is present at elevated levels in cells transformed by various stimuli including viruses, chemicals and radiation. p53 forms specific stable complexes with simian virus 40 (SV40) large-T antigen and an adenovirus E1b protein of relative molecular mass (Mr) 57,000. A number of reports have associated p53 with cell proliferation, and p53 complementary DNA expression constructs immortalize primary cells in vitro and render them sensitive to transformation by an activated ras oncogene. We have examined the biological properties of a set of p53 expression constructs, and report here that cellular immortalization by a wild-type p53 cDNA gene is conditional upon the promoter/enhancer construction used, but that p53 can extend cellular lifespan by a second distinct mechanism involving rearrangements of the coding sequence which give rise to stable protein products. Cells immortalized by one of these mutants are refractory to subsequent transformation by a ras oncogene, indicating that cellular immortalization and ras cooperation are separate activities.     

Tumour biology: senescence in premalignant tumours

Oncogene-induced senescence is a cellular response that may be crucial for protection against cancer development, but its investigation has so far been restricted to cultured cells that have been manipulated to overexpress an oncogene. Here we analyse tumours initiated by an endogenous oncogene, ras, and show that senescent cells exist in premalignant tumours but not in malignant ones. Senescence is therefore a defining feature of premalignant tumours that could prove valuable in the diagnosis and prognosis of cancer.     

NUMB controls p53 tumour suppressor activity

NUMB is a cell fate determinant, which, by asymmetrically partitioning at mitosis, controls cell fate choices by antagonising the activity of the plasma membrane receptor of the NOTCH family. NUMB is also an endocytic protein, and the NOTCH-NUMB counteraction has been linked to this function. There might be, however, additional functions of NUMB, as witnessed by its proposed role as a tumour suppressor in breast cancer. Here we describe a previously unknown function for human NUMB as a regulator of tumour protein p53 (also known as TP53). NUMB enters in a tricomplex with p53 and the E3 ubiquitin ligase HDM2 (also known as MDM2), thereby preventing ubiquitination and degradation of p53. This results in increased p53 protein levels and activity, and in regulation of p53-dependent phenotypes. In breast cancers there is frequent loss of NUMB expression. We show that, in primary breast tumour cells, this event causes decreased p53 levels and increased chemoresistance. In breast cancers, loss of NUMB expression causes increased activity of the receptor NOTCH. Thus, in these cancers, a single event-loss of NUMB expression-determines activation of an oncogene (NOTCH) and attenuation of the p53 tumour suppressor pathway. Biologically, this results in an aggressive tumour phenotype, as witnessed by findings that NUMB-defective breast tumours display poor prognosis. Our results uncover a previously unknown tumour suppressor circuitry.     

Tumour biology: herceptin acts as an anti-angiogenic cocktail

Malignant tumours secrete factors that enable them to commandeer their own blood supply (angiogenesis), and blocking the action of these factors can inhibit tumour growth. But because tumours may become resistant to treatments that target individual angiogenic factors by switching over to other angiogenic molecules, a cocktail of multiple anti-angiogenic agents should be more effective. Here we show that herceptin, a monoclonal antibody against the cell-surface receptor HER2 (for human epidermal growth factor receptor-2; ref. 4), induces normalization and regression of the vasculature in an experimental human breast tumour that overexpresses HER2 in mice, and that it works by modulating the effects of different pro- and anti-angiogenic factors. As a single agent that acts against multiple targets, herceptin, or drugs like it, may offer a simple alternative to combination anti-angiogenic treatments.     

Regulation of p53 activity through lysine methylation

p53 is a tumour suppressor that regulates the cellular response to genotoxic stresses. p53 is a short-lived protein and its activity is regulated mostly by stabilization via different post-translational modifications. Here we report a novel mechanism of p53 regulation through lysine methylation by Set9 methyltransferase. Set9 specifically methylates p53 at one residue within the carboxyl-terminus regulatory region. Methylated p53 is restricted to the nucleus and the modification positively affects its stability. Set9 regulates the expression of p53 target genes in a manner dependent on the p53-methylation site. The crystal structure of a ternary complex of Set9 with a p53 peptide and the cofactor product S-adenosyl-l-homocysteine (AdoHcy) provides the molecular basis for recognition of p53 by this lysine methyltransferase.     

Virus-mediated killing of cells that lack p53 activity

A major goal of molecular oncology is to identify means to kill cells lacking p53 function. Most current cancer therapy is based on damaging cellular DNA by irradiation or chemicals. Recent reports support the notion that, in the event of DNA damage, the p53 tumour-suppressor protein is able to prevent cell death by sustaining an arrest of the cell cycle at the G2 phase. We report here that adeno-associated virus (AAV) selectively induces apoptosis in cells that lack active p53. Cells with intact p53 activity are not killed but undergo arrest in the G2 phase of the cell cycle. This arrest is characterized by an increase in p53 activity and p21 levels and by the targeted destruction of CDC25C. Neither cell killing nor arrest depends upon AAV-encoded proteins. Rather, AAV DNA, which is single-stranded with hairpin structures at both ends, elicits in cells a DNA damage response that, in the absence of active p53, leads to cell death. AAV inhibits tumour growth in mice. Thus viruses can be used to deliver DNA of unusual structure into cells to trigger a DNA damage response without damaging cellular DNA and to selectively eliminate those cells lacking p53 activity.     

Deubiquitination of p53 by HAUSP is an important pathway for p53 stabilization

The p53 tumour suppressor is a short-lived protein that is maintained at low levels in normal cells by Mdm2-mediated ubiquitination and subsequent proteolysis. Stabilization of p53 is crucial for its tumour suppressor function. However, the precise mechanism by which ubiquitinated p53 levels are regulated in vivo is not completely understood. By mass spectrometry of affinity-purified p53-associated factors, we have identified herpesvirus-associated ubiquitin-specific protease (HAUSP) as a novel p53-interacting protein. HAUSP strongly stabilizes p53 even in the presence of excess Mdm2, and also induces p53-dependent cell growth repression and apoptosis. Significantly, HAUSP has an intrinsic enzymatic activity that specifically deubiquitinates p53 both in vitro and in vivo. In contrast, expression of a catalytically inactive point mutant of HAUSP in cells increases the levels of p53 ubiquitination and destabilizes p53. These findings reveal an important mechanism by which p53 can be stabilized by direct deubiquitination and also imply that HAUSP might function as a tumour suppressor in vivo through the stabilization of p53.     

p53振子的形成机制及microRNA对p53目标基因表达的精细调控

肿瘤抑制因子p53调控着大量的基因,在肿瘤抑制中起着关键作用.实验结果表明,当DNA受损后,p53的表达呈现周期性振荡.已有的一些p53振子的理论模型,其振子产生机制通常依赖于p53和Mdm2之间相互作用的时滞因素.考虑基因表达的转录和翻译过程,运用动力学方程建模的方法,给出一种新模型,并利用Hopf分叉理论,给出p53振子产生的条件.数值模拟结果表明,与已有的时滞模型相比,该模型对参数具有更好的鲁棒性,较好地解释了p53振子的产生机制.最近的许多实验表明,p53调控着miR-34家族中大量microRNA的表达,这些microRNA又在后转录水平上对p53的下游目标基因起着调控作用.在这一模型基础上,研究microRNA加入p53调控网络后所起的调控作用,数值模拟结果初步表明,microRNA对p53下游目标基因表达起到了精细调控作用.     

胃癌中p53基因失活及其蛋白产物的免疫组化分析

应用ＰＣＲ－ＳＳＣＰ银染，Ｓｏｕｔｈｅｒｎ杂我及免疫组化等方法同步研究２５例胃癌标本的ｐ５３基因突变，杂合性丢失及蛋白持表达，在２２例胃癌中同时获得有关ｐ５３基因突变和杂合性丢失的检测结果，被检出ｐ５３基因突变的５例胃癌中，２例伴有杂合性丢失，３例仅有ｐ５３基因突变。