DeltaNp63 transcriptionally regulates ATM to control p53 Serine-15 phosphorylation.

Background: DeltaNp63alpha is an epithelial progenitor cell marker that maintains epidermal stem cell self-renewal capacity. Previous studies revealed that UV-damage induced p53 phosphorylation is confined to DeltaNp63alpha-positive cells in the basal layer of human epithelium.

Results: We now report that phosphorylation of the p53 tumour suppressor is positively regulated by DeltaNp63alpha in immortalised human keratinocytes.

Porin new light onto chromatin and nuclear organization.

A recent report identifies sites in the human genome that can associate with nucleoporin 93, a subunit of the nuclear pore complex. These associations are modulated by levels of global histone acetylation and highlight the dynamic nature of chromatin organization in the nucleus.

Recruitment to the nuclear periphery can alter expression of genes in human cells.

The spatial organisation of the genome in the nucleus has a role in the regulation of gene expression. In vertebrates, chromosomal regions with low gene-density are located close to the nuclear periphery. Correlations have also been made between the transcriptional state of some genes and their location near the nuclear periphery.

p63: the phantom of the tumor suppressor.

The last twenty years of research into p53 function has revealed some fascinating discoveries into the orchestration of tumor suppressor pathways with a multitude of putative drug targets being investigated. However, it was not until 1998 that the ancestral mother of p53 was documented. The eldest evolutionary conserved homolog of the p53 family is known today as p63.

CK2-site phosphorylation of p53 is induced in DeltaNp63 expressing basal stem cells in UVB irradiated human skin.

The activity of the tumor suppressor protein p53 is controlled by a balance between E3-ligase mediated p53 protein degradation and protein kinase-mediated assembly of p53:p300 transcription machinery. Genetic studies in mice have shown that mutation of the CK2 phospho-acceptor site in p53 increases UV-induced skin cancer formation,(11) highlighting an unexpected role for p53 phosphorylation in mediating p53-dependent tumor suppression. However, it is not known in which cell types CK2-mediated phosphorylation of p53 occurs.

Signaling to p53: the use of phospho-specific antibodies to probe for in vivo kinase activation.

Phospho-specific antibody technology has been recently adopted to study p53 phosphorylation both in vivo and in vitro. We have developed and carefully characterized p53 phosphospecific reagents directed to major amino- and carboxy-terminal regulatory sites. The specificities of both polyclonal and monoclonal reagents targeting the same phospho-epitope are discussed.