Literature Seminar Abstract

Tumor growth is regulated by the tumor suppressing protein p53. Nearly half of all cancers contain a mutation in tp53, the gene that codes for p53.[i] Therefore, understanding how p53 functions is a key component in understanding cancer. Previous studies have shown that in healthy cells, p53 tetramerizes and binds to DNA to regulate abnormal cell growth.[ii] In cancerous cells, p53 function can be inhibited by overexpression of proteins regulating the tetramerization (s100 family proteins) and p53 degradation (mdm2).^1.[iii] Understanding the kinetics of p53 in cancer cells could lead to new treatment methods. Presented here is the analysis of the kinetics of p53 in healthy cells by Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy (FCS), as well as a mathematical model to analyze FCS results to determine oligomerization kinetics.[iv]^,[v] This provides a method for determining p53 oligomerization kinetics in cancerous cells.

[i] Gaglia, G.; Guan, Y.; Shah, J. V.; Lahav, G. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2013, 110 (38), 15497.

[ii] Mclure, K. G. The EMBO Journal 1998, 17 (12), 3342.

[iii] Urso, L.; Calabrese, F.; Favaretto, A.; Conte, P.; Pasello, G. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology 2016, 97, 220

[iv] Gaglia, G.; Guan, Y.; Shah, J. V.; Lahav, G. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2013, 110 (38), 15497

[v] Kanno, D. M.; Levitus, M. The Journal of Physical Chemistry B 2014, 118 (43), 12404