Gain-of-function p53 mutants have widespread genomic locations partially overlapping with p63

Oncotarget. 2012 Feb;3(2):132-43. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.447.

Abstract

p53 and p63 are transcription factors -TFs- playing master roles in the DNA-damage response and in the development and maintenance of pluristratified epithelia, respectively. p53 mutations are common in epithelial tumors and HaCaT keratinocytes harbor two p53 alleles -H179Y and R282Q- with gain-of-function (GOF) activity. Indeed, functional inactivation of mutp53 affects the growth rate of HaCaT. We investigated the strategy of mutp53, by performing ChIP-Seq experiments of mutp53 and p63 and analyzed the transcriptome after mutp53 inactivation. Mutp53 bind to 7135 locations in vivo, with a robust overlap with p63. De novo motifs discovery recovered a p53/p63RE with high information content in sites bound by p63 and mutp53/p63, but not by mutp53 alone: these sites are rather enriched in elements of other TFs. The HaCaT p63 locations are only partially overlapping with those of normal keratinocytes; importantly, and enriched in mutp53 sites which delineate a functionally different group of target genes. Our data favour a model whereby mutp53 GOF mutants act both by tethering growth-controlling TFs and highjacking p63 to new locations.

MeSH terms

  • Apoptosis / genetics
  • Chromatin Immunoprecipitation / methods
  • DNA / metabolism
  • DNA Damage
  • DNA Repair
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Humans
  • Keratinocytes / metabolism
  • Promoter Regions, Genetic
  • Transcription Factors / genetics*
  • Transcription Factors / metabolism*
  • Transcriptome
  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / genetics*
  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / metabolism*
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins / genetics*
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins / metabolism*

Substances

  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • TP53 protein, human
  • TP63 protein, human
  • Transcription Factors
  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53
  • Tumor Suppressor Proteins
  • DNA