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The P53 Tumor Suppressor Protein

Biophysical Characterization of the Carboxy-Terminal Oligomerization Domain

  • Chapter
Methods in Protein Structure Analysis

Abstract

In response to damaged DNA, mammalian cell growth is arrested at cell cycle checkpoints in Gl, near the border of S phase, or in G2, before mitosis (Murray, 1992; Hunter, 1993; Weinert and Lydall, 1993). In some circumstances, DNA damage initiates apoptosis, a program that results in cell death. Recent studies have shown that the p53 tumor suppressor protein is an essential component of the G1 checkpoint pathway (Kastan et al., 1991); it also modulates the initiation of apoptosis (Oren, 1994). The arrest of cell cycle progression provides time for DNA damage to be repaired, whereas apoptosis may insure the death of more severely damaged cells that are at risk of loss of growth control through genome rearrangements. Thus, these functions account, at least in part, for the importance of p53 in suppressing or eliminating preneoplastic or neoplastic cells in the human and other vertebrate species. In turn, p53 function is mediated through its physical characteristics, and these may be modulated by post-translational mechanisms (Ullrich et al., 1992; Meek, 1994). Thus, biophysical studies of p53 and its functional domains are fundamental to an understanding of those properties that are important for normal p53 function.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Cell Biology, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA

    Ettore Appella, Kazuyasu Sakaguchi & Hiroshi Sakamoto

  2. Biomedical Engineering and Instrumentation Program, National Center for Research Resources, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA

    Marc S. Lewis

  3. Laboratory of Chemical Physics, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20892, USA

    James G. Omichinski, Angela M. Gronenborn & G. Marius Clore

  4. Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, 11973, USA

    Carl W. Anderson

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  1. Ettore Appella
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  2. Kazuyasu Sakaguchi
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  3. Hiroshi Sakamoto
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  4. Marc S. Lewis
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  5. James G. Omichinski
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA

    M. Zouhair Atassi

  2. National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

    Ettore Appella

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Appella, E. et al. (1995). The P53 Tumor Suppressor Protein. In: Atassi, M.Z., Appella, E. (eds) Methods in Protein Structure Analysis. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1031-8_36

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1031-8_36

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

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