Cancer Institute A national cancer institute
designated cancer center

Jinfeng Shen

Publication Details

  • PRIMA-1(MET)/APR-246 targets mutant forms of p53 family members p63 and p73.

    Rökaeus N, Shen J, Eckhardt I, Bykov VJ, Wiman KG, Wilhelm MT. Oncogene. 2010; 29 (49): 6442-51

    The low molecular weight compound PRIMA-1 and the structural analog PRIMA-1(MET), also named APR-246, reactivate mutant p53 through covalent binding to the core domain and induce apoptosis in tumor cells. Here, we asked whether PRIMA-1(MET)/APR-246 can rescue mutant forms of the p53 family members p63 and p73 that share high sequence homology with p53. We found that PRIMA-1(MET)/APR-246 can restore the pro-apoptotic function to mutant TAp63γ and TAp73β in tumor cells but has less effect on TAp73α. Moreover, PRIMA-1(MET)/APR-246-stimulated DNA binding of mutant TAp63γ and induced expression of the p53/p63/p73 downstream targets p21 and Noxa. The reactivation of mutant p53, p63 and p73 by PRIMA-1(MET)/APR-246 indicates a common mechanism, presumably involving homologous structural elements in the p53 family proteins. Our findings may open avenues for therapeutic intervention in human developmental disorders with mutations in p63.

    PubMedID: 20818419

Stanford Medicine Resources:

Footer Links: