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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Dec 18.
Published in final edited form as: Nature. 2015 Sep 2;525(7568):199–200. doi: 10.1038/nature15212

Figure 1. Gaining on p53.

Figure 1

‘Gain-of-function’ mutations in the tumour-suppressor gene TP53 enable the transcription factor that it encodes to bind to abnormal targets, leading to cancer. Zhu et al.3 report that gain-of-function p53 binds to the transcription factor ETS2 and activates the genes MLL1, MLL2 and MOZ. MLL1 and MLL2 encode MLL enzymes that add methyl groups (Me) to the histone proteins around which genes are packaged as chromatin, and MOZ adds acetyl groups (Ac) to these histones. Both modifications increase local gene expression, leading to an increase in the proliferation of cancer cells through as-yet-unknown mechanisms.