Fig. 1.

Functional inactivation of p53 immortalizes WT and αB-crystallin^−/− KO MEFs. a Immunoblot analysis of WT and αB-crystallin^−/− KO MEFs. Human mammary epithelial cells (HMEC) were used as a positive control. b WT and αB-crystallin^−/− KO MEFs stably expressing a dominant negative (DN) p53 cDNA or vector control were analyzed by immunoblotting. c WT and αB-crystallin^−/−KO MEFs stably expressing empty vector or DN were stained for senescence-associated β-galactosidase activity. The percentage of β-galactosidase positive cells was scored (mean ± SD, n = 3). ***P < 0.001 versus vector controls