Midterm 3 Flashcards
(183 cards)
p53 is a ________
tumor suppressor
transcription factor
no cancer cell has an in tact p53 pathway
how is p53 induced?
stress signals such as hyperproliferative signals, dna damage, telomere shortening, and hypoxia induce stable, active p53 to induce cell-cycle arrest, senescence, and apoptosis
roles of p53
tumor supressor
prevents proliferation of damaged cells by enforcing cell cycle checkpoints
if DNA damage is detected it initiates the DNA repair pathway
if damage/stress is prolonged or severe it promotes programmed cell death (apoptosis)
p53 turns on gene that destroys itself, why?
so that in the absence of stress signals it is not present and doing its thing
mdm2
ubiquitin ligase protein product of gene that ubiquitilizes p53
what do stress signals do to keep p53 on?
they activate stress kinases that phosphorylate p53 which makes it so that mdm2 can’t ubiquitlate it
cells that are p53 null and experience DNA damage _____
survive. this is bad because you want to see them get killed so they do not spread their damage
In 50% of all human tumors, p53 is lost. What does this result in?
why are these cancers resistant to chemo?
There is no way to prevent damaged cells from proliferating because cell cycle arrest and apoptosis are p53 dependent
these cancers are resistant to chemotherapy and radiation because they are unable to stop replicating
in unstressed (wild type) cells p53 protein is maintained at _______
very low levels. won’t come up on a western blot
in stressed cells p53 protein _______
accumulates. stress kinases phosphorylate p53 which interferes with p53 binding to mdm2. it sends p53 into nucleus where it acts as a transcription factor and suppresses tumor
how does phosphorylating p53 prevent mdm2 from ubiquitylating it?
alters the 3D shape of the mdm2 binding domain so that mdm2 can’t promote its degradation
HCT 116
human colon cancer cell line. p53wt, mutant ras, and mutant B catenin
CPT
camptothecin inhibits DNA topoisomerase, induces DNA breaks, triggers apoptosis. It is plant-derived, and a common chemotherapeutic
it is the stressor in the western blot on the slides
alpha-Am
peptide toxin produced by mushrooms, it inhibits RNA polymerase which triggers p53 mediated apoptosis
in western blot it served as proof that p53 was phosphorylated in response to stress
p21
broadest cdk inhibitor – it can arrest progression of the cell cycle no matter where we are in the cell cycle
first thing p53 does
trans-activates p21, triggering cell cycle arrest
p53 and mdm2 have ________ ________ interactions
mutually inhibitory;
when stress no longer exists there needs to be at least a little bit of mdm2 to degrade p53 when it should no longer be stabilized (basically as one increases the other decreases)
most tp53 mutations are _________
missense mutations clustered in the DNA-binding domain
why are mutations in the DNA binding domain bad for p53 function?
since p53 cannot bind to the DNA effectively it cannot promote the expression of genes required for cell cycle withdrawal, DNA repair, or programmed cell death
what does it take to have a p53 mutant phenotype?
mutation in just one allele
p53 mutations are ________
dominant negative or interfering alleles
why are p53 mutations often dominant?
the odds that a tetramer contains on mutant subunit is extremely high. In a heterozygote only 1/16 of tetramers will have only wild type
Outcome when:
1) two normal p53 genes
2) homozygous recessive mutation
3) Heterozygous recessive mutation
4) Dominant negative mutation
1) both copies produce normal p53 protein chains that form the final protein
2) no p53 protein chains are produced
3) the normal copy produces normal protein chains that form a functional p53 protein
4) mutant gene produces abnormal protein chain that may assemble with normal p53 chains in a way that prevents a functional p53 chain from coming out
when you have overactive ras you also need ______ to form foci (bacterial cell transformation)
mutant p53
because you can’t just have an active oncogene to have its effect you need a defective tumor suppressor