Skip to main content
The EMBO Journal logoLink to The EMBO Journal
. 1994 Jun 1;13(11):2535–2544. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1994.tb06543.x

A temperature-sensitive mutant of human p53.

W Zhang 1, X Y Guo 1, G Y Hu 1, W B Liu 1, J W Shay 1, A B Deisseroth 1
PMCID: PMC395127  PMID: 8013454

Abstract

We discovered that the human 'hot-spot' p53 mutant 143Ala is temperature sensitive for the binding of two DNA elements and for mediating the transcription of a downstream luciferase reporter gene. At 32.5 degrees C, 143Ala possesses strong DNA binding ability. In addition, its transcriptional activities are stronger than those of wild-type p53. At 37.5 degrees C, however, both the mutant's DNA binding and transcriptional activation functions are greatly reduced or abolished. The activity differences correlate with the presence of two conformational states of p53, which are recognized by monoclonal antibodies: at 32.5 degrees C, 143Ala is recognized by PAb1620, which is specific for the wild-type conformation, whereas at 37.5 degrees C, 143Ala is almost undetectable by PAb1620-mediated immunoprecipitation. Although 143Ala's binding to p53 DNA recognition elements and its activation of reporter gene transcription at 32.5 degrees C is markedly higher than that of the wild-type p53, 143Ala inhibited proliferation less robustly than wild-type p53 and it did not increase inhibition of ras-induced focus formation. These results indicate a partial correlation between the events involved in transcriptional activation and events involved in the proliferation suppression of p53. 143Ala therefore will be of use in dissecting the relationship between the structure of p53 and its different cellular functions.

Full text

PDF
2535

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Agoff S. N., Hou J., Linzer D. I., Wu B. Regulation of the human hsp70 promoter by p53. Science. 1993 Jan 1;259(5091):84–87. doi: 10.1126/science.8418500. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Baker S. J., Markowitz S., Fearon E. R., Willson J. K., Vogelstein B. Suppression of human colorectal carcinoma cell growth by wild-type p53. Science. 1990 Aug 24;249(4971):912–915. doi: 10.1126/science.2144057. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Barak Y., Juven T., Haffner R., Oren M. mdm2 expression is induced by wild type p53 activity. EMBO J. 1993 Feb;12(2):461–468. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1993.tb05678.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bartek J., Iggo R., Gannon J., Lane D. P. Genetic and immunochemical analysis of mutant p53 in human breast cancer cell lines. Oncogene. 1990 Jun;5(6):893–899. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Bischoff F. Z., Yim S. O., Pathak S., Grant G., Siciliano M. J., Giovanella B. C., Strong L. C., Tainsky M. A. Spontaneous abnormalities in normal fibroblasts from patients with Li-Fraumeni cancer syndrome: aneuploidy and immortalization. Cancer Res. 1990 Dec 15;50(24):7979–7984. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Chellappan S. P., Hiebert S., Mudryj M., Horowitz J. M., Nevins J. R. The E2F transcription factor is a cellular target for the RB protein. Cell. 1991 Jun 14;65(6):1053–1061. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90557-f. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Chen J. Y., Funk W. D., Wright W. E., Shay J. W., Minna J. D. Heterogeneity of transcriptional activity of mutant p53 proteins and p53 DNA target sequences. Oncogene. 1993 Aug;8(8):2159–2166. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Debbas M., White E. Wild-type p53 mediates apoptosis by E1A, which is inhibited by E1B. Genes Dev. 1993 Apr;7(4):546–554. doi: 10.1101/gad.7.4.546. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Eliyahu D., Michalovitz D., Eliyahu S., Pinhasi-Kimhi O., Oren M. Wild-type p53 can inhibit oncogene-mediated focus formation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Nov;86(22):8763–8767. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.22.8763. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Farmer G., Bargonetti J., Zhu H., Friedman P., Prywes R., Prives C. Wild-type p53 activates transcription in vitro. Nature. 1992 Jul 2;358(6381):83–86. doi: 10.1038/358083a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Fields S., Jang S. K. Presence of a potent transcription activating sequence in the p53 protein. Science. 1990 Aug 31;249(4972):1046–1049. doi: 10.1126/science.2144363. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Finlay C. A., Hinds P. W., Levine A. J. The p53 proto-oncogene can act as a suppressor of transformation. Cell. 1989 Jun 30;57(7):1083–1093. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90045-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Frebourg T., Barbier N., Kassel J., Ng Y. S., Romero P., Friend S. H. A functional screen for germ line p53 mutations based on transcriptional activation. Cancer Res. 1992 Dec 15;52(24):6976–6978. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Funk W. D., Pak D. T., Karas R. H., Wright W. E., Shay J. W. A transcriptionally active DNA-binding site for human p53 protein complexes. Mol Cell Biol. 1992 Jun;12(6):2866–2871. doi: 10.1128/mcb.12.6.2866. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Gannon J. V., Greaves R., Iggo R., Lane D. P. Activating mutations in p53 produce a common conformational effect. A monoclonal antibody specific for the mutant form. EMBO J. 1990 May;9(5):1595–1602. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1990.tb08279.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Gannon J. V., Lane D. P. Protein synthesis required to anchor a mutant p53 protein which is temperature-sensitive for nuclear transport. Nature. 1991 Feb 28;349(6312):802–806. doi: 10.1038/349802a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Ginsberg D., Michael-Michalovitz D., Ginsberg D., Oren M. Induction of growth arrest by a temperature-sensitive p53 mutant is correlated with increased nuclear localization and decreased stability of the protein. Mol Cell Biol. 1991 Jan;11(1):582–585. doi: 10.1128/mcb.11.1.582. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Harper J. W., Adami G. R., Wei N., Keyomarsi K., Elledge S. J. The p21 Cdk-interacting protein Cip1 is a potent inhibitor of G1 cyclin-dependent kinases. Cell. 1993 Nov 19;75(4):805–816. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(93)90499-g. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Hollstein M., Sidransky D., Vogelstein B., Harris C. C. p53 mutations in human cancers. Science. 1991 Jul 5;253(5015):49–53. doi: 10.1126/science.1905840. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Hupp T. R., Meek D. W., Midgley C. A., Lane D. P. Regulation of the specific DNA binding function of p53. Cell. 1992 Nov 27;71(5):875–886. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(92)90562-q. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Johnson P., Gray D., Mowat M., Benchimol S. Expression of wild-type p53 is not compatible with continued growth of p53-negative tumor cells. Mol Cell Biol. 1991 Jan;11(1):1–11. doi: 10.1128/mcb.11.1.1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Kastan M. B., Onyekwere O., Sidransky D., Vogelstein B., Craig R. W. Participation of p53 protein in the cellular response to DNA damage. Cancer Res. 1991 Dec 1;51(23 Pt 1):6304–6311. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Kastan M. B., Zhan Q., el-Deiry W. S., Carrier F., Jacks T., Walsh W. V., Plunkett B. S., Vogelstein B., Fornace A. J., Jr A mammalian cell cycle checkpoint pathway utilizing p53 and GADD45 is defective in ataxia-telangiectasia. Cell. 1992 Nov 13;71(4):587–597. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(92)90593-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Kern S. E., Kinzler K. W., Bruskin A., Jarosz D., Friedman P., Prives C., Vogelstein B. Identification of p53 as a sequence-specific DNA-binding protein. Science. 1991 Jun 21;252(5013):1708–1711. doi: 10.1126/science.2047879. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Kern S. E., Pietenpol J. A., Thiagalingam S., Seymour A., Kinzler K. W., Vogelstein B. Oncogenic forms of p53 inhibit p53-regulated gene expression. Science. 1992 May 8;256(5058):827–830. doi: 10.1126/science.1589764. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Koeffler H. P., Miller C., Nicolson M. A., Ranyard J., Bosselman R. A. Increased expression of p53 protein in human leukemia cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Jun;83(11):4035–4039. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.11.4035. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Kuerbitz S. J., Plunkett B. S., Walsh W. V., Kastan M. B. Wild-type p53 is a cell cycle checkpoint determinant following irradiation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Aug 15;89(16):7491–7495. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.16.7491. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Lassar A. B., Davis R. L., Wright W. E., Kadesch T., Murre C., Voronova A., Baltimore D., Weintraub H. Functional activity of myogenic HLH proteins requires hetero-oligomerization with E12/E47-like proteins in vivo. Cell. 1991 Jul 26;66(2):305–315. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90620-e. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Levine A. J., Momand J., Finlay C. A. The p53 tumour suppressor gene. Nature. 1991 Jun 6;351(6326):453–456. doi: 10.1038/351453a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Liu X., Miller C. W., Koeffler P. H., Berk A. J. The p53 activation domain binds the TATA box-binding polypeptide in Holo-TFIID, and a neighboring p53 domain inhibits transcription. Mol Cell Biol. 1993 Jun;13(6):3291–3300. doi: 10.1128/mcb.13.6.3291. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Livingstone L. R., White A., Sprouse J., Livanos E., Jacks T., Tlsty T. D. Altered cell cycle arrest and gene amplification potential accompany loss of wild-type p53. Cell. 1992 Sep 18;70(6):923–935. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(92)90243-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Lowe S. W., Ruley H. E., Jacks T., Housman D. E. p53-dependent apoptosis modulates the cytotoxicity of anticancer agents. Cell. 1993 Sep 24;74(6):957–967. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(93)90719-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Lowe S. W., Ruley H. E. Stabilization of the p53 tumor suppressor is induced by adenovirus 5 E1A and accompanies apoptosis. Genes Dev. 1993 Apr;7(4):535–545. doi: 10.1101/gad.7.4.535. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Mack D. H., Vartikar J., Pipas J. M., Laimins L. A. Specific repression of TATA-mediated but not initiator-mediated transcription by wild-type p53. Nature. 1993 May 20;363(6426):281–283. doi: 10.1038/363281a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Martinez J., Georgoff I., Martinez J., Levine A. J. Cellular localization and cell cycle regulation by a temperature-sensitive p53 protein. Genes Dev. 1991 Feb;5(2):151–159. doi: 10.1101/gad.5.2.151. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Mercer W. E., Shields M. T., Amin M., Sauve G. J., Appella E., Romano J. W., Ullrich S. J. Negative growth regulation in a glioblastoma tumor cell line that conditionally expresses human wild-type p53. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Aug;87(16):6166–6170. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.16.6166. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Michalovitz D., Halevy O., Oren M. Conditional inhibition of transformation and of cell proliferation by a temperature-sensitive mutant of p53. Cell. 1990 Aug 24;62(4):671–680. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(90)90113-s. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Milner J. Different forms of p53 detected by monoclonal antibodies in non-dividing and dividing lymphocytes. Nature. 1984 Jul 12;310(5973):143–145. doi: 10.1038/310143a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Milner J., Medcalf E. A. Cotranslation of activated mutant p53 with wild type drives the wild-type p53 protein into the mutant conformation. Cell. 1991 May 31;65(5):765–774. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(91)90384-b. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Milner J., Watson J. V. Addition of fresh medium induces cell cycle and conformation changes in p53, a tumour suppressor protein. Oncogene. 1990 Nov;5(11):1683–1690. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Mitsudomi T., Steinberg S. M., Nau M. M., Carbone D., D'Amico D., Bodner S., Oie H. K., Linnoila R. I., Mulshine J. L., Minna J. D. p53 gene mutations in non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines and their correlation with the presence of ras mutations and clinical features. Oncogene. 1992 Jan;7(1):171–180. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Nowell P. C. Mechanisms of tumor progression. Cancer Res. 1986 May;46(5):2203–2207. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. O'Rourke R. W., Miller C. W., Kato G. J., Simon K. J., Chen D. L., Dang C. V., Koeffler H. P. A potential transcriptional activation element in the p53 protein. Oncogene. 1990 Dec;5(12):1829–1832. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. Prosser J., Thompson A. M., Cranston G., Evans H. J. Evidence that p53 behaves as a tumour suppressor gene in sporadic breast tumours. Oncogene. 1990 Oct;5(10):1573–1579. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  45. Raycroft L., Wu H. Y., Lozano G. Transcriptional activation by wild-type but not transforming mutants of the p53 anti-oncogene. Science. 1990 Aug 31;249(4972):1049–1051. doi: 10.1126/science.2144364. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  46. Schärer E., Iggo R. Mammalian p53 can function as a transcription factor in yeast. Nucleic Acids Res. 1992 Apr 11;20(7):1539–1545. doi: 10.1093/nar/20.7.1539. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  47. Seto E., Usheva A., Zambetti G. P., Momand J., Horikoshi N., Weinmann R., Levine A. J., Shenk T. Wild-type p53 binds to the TATA-binding protein and represses transcription. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Dec 15;89(24):12028–12032. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.24.12028. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  48. Shiio Y., Yamamoto T., Yamaguchi N. Negative regulation of Rb expression by the p53 gene product. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Jun 15;89(12):5206–5210. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.12.5206. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  49. Stephen C. W., Lane D. P. Mutant conformation of p53. Precise epitope mapping using a filamentous phage epitope library. J Mol Biol. 1992 Jun 5;225(3):577–583. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(92)90386-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  50. Stürzbecher H. W., Brain R., Maimets T., Addison C., Rudge K., Jenkins J. R. Mouse p53 blocks SV40 DNA replication in vitro and downregulates T antigen DNA helicase activity. Oncogene. 1988 Oct;3(4):405–413. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  51. Templeton D. J. Nuclear binding of purified retinoblastoma gene product is determined by cell cycle-regulated phosphorylation. Mol Cell Biol. 1992 Feb;12(2):435–443. doi: 10.1128/mcb.12.2.435. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  52. Vogelstein B., Fearon E. R., Hamilton S. R., Kern S. E., Preisinger A. C., Leppert M., Nakamura Y., White R., Smits A. M., Bos J. L. Genetic alterations during colorectal-tumor development. N Engl J Med. 1988 Sep 1;319(9):525–532. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198809013190901. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  53. Vojtesek B., Bártek J., Midgley C. A., Lane D. P. An immunochemical analysis of the human nuclear phosphoprotein p53. New monoclonal antibodies and epitope mapping using recombinant p53. J Immunol Methods. 1992 Jul 6;151(1-2):237–244. doi: 10.1016/0022-1759(92)90122-a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  54. Vojtesek B., Lane D. P. Regulation of p53 protein expression in human breast cancer cell lines. J Cell Sci. 1993 Jul;105(Pt 3):607–612. doi: 10.1242/jcs.105.3.607. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  55. Wang E. H., Friedman P. N., Prives C. The murine p53 protein blocks replication of SV40 DNA in vitro by inhibiting the initiation functions of SV40 large T antigen. Cell. 1989 May 5;57(3):379–392. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(89)90913-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  56. Weinberg R. A. Oncogenes, antioncogenes, and the molecular bases of multistep carcinogenesis. Cancer Res. 1989 Jul 15;49(14):3713–3721. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  57. Weintraub H., Hauschka S., Tapscott S. J. The MCK enhancer contains a p53 responsive element. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1991 Jun 1;88(11):4570–4571. doi: 10.1073/pnas.88.11.4570. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  58. Xu H. J., Hu S. X., Benedict W. F. Lack of nuclear RB protein staining in G0/middle G1 cells: correlation to changes in total RB protein level. Oncogene. 1991 Jul;6(7):1139–1146. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  59. Yewdell J. W., Gannon J. V., Lane D. P. Monoclonal antibody analysis of p53 expression in normal and transformed cells. J Virol. 1986 Aug;59(2):444–452. doi: 10.1128/jvi.59.2.444-452.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  60. Yin Y., Tainsky M. A., Bischoff F. Z., Strong L. C., Wahl G. M. Wild-type p53 restores cell cycle control and inhibits gene amplification in cells with mutant p53 alleles. Cell. 1992 Sep 18;70(6):937–948. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(92)90244-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  61. Yonish-Rouach E., Resnitzky D., Lotem J., Sachs L., Kimchi A., Oren M. Wild-type p53 induces apoptosis of myeloid leukaemic cells that is inhibited by interleukin-6. Nature. 1991 Jul 25;352(6333):345–347. doi: 10.1038/352345a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  62. Zambetti G. P., Bargonetti J., Walker K., Prives C., Levine A. J. Wild-type p53 mediates positive regulation of gene expression through a specific DNA sequence element. Genes Dev. 1992 Jul;6(7):1143–1152. doi: 10.1101/gad.6.7.1143. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  63. Zauberman A., Barak Y., Ragimov N., Levy N., Oren M. Sequence-specific DNA binding by p53: identification of target sites and lack of binding to p53 - MDM2 complexes. EMBO J. 1993 Jul;12(7):2799–2808. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1993.tb05941.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  64. Zhang W., Funk W. D., Wright W. E., Shay J. W., Deisseroth A. B. Novel DNA binding of p53 mutants and their role in transcriptional activation. Oncogene. 1993 Sep;8(9):2555–2559. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  65. Zhang W., Hu G., Deisseroth A. Polymorphism at codon 72 of the p53 gene in human acute myelogenous leukemia. Gene. 1992 Aug 15;117(2):271–275. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(92)90738-b. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  66. Zhang W., Hu G., Estey E., Hester J., Deisseroth A. Altered conformation of the p53 protein in myeloid leukemia cells and mitogen-stimulated normal blood cells. Oncogene. 1992 Aug;7(8):1645–1647. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  67. Zhang W., Shay J. W., Deisseroth A. Inactive p53 mutants may enhance the transcriptional activity of wild-type p53. Cancer Res. 1993 Oct 15;53(20):4772–4775. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  68. el-Deiry W. S., Kern S. E., Pietenpol J. A., Kinzler K. W., Vogelstein B. Definition of a consensus binding site for p53. Nat Genet. 1992 Apr;1(1):45–49. doi: 10.1038/ng0492-45. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  69. el-Deiry W. S., Tokino T., Velculescu V. E., Levy D. B., Parsons R., Trent J. M., Lin D., Mercer W. E., Kinzler K. W., Vogelstein B. WAF1, a potential mediator of p53 tumor suppression. Cell. 1993 Nov 19;75(4):817–825. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(93)90500-p. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The EMBO Journal are provided here courtesy of Nature Publishing Group

RESOURCES