The structure-based design of Mdm2/Mdmx-p53 inhibitors gets serious.

ABSTRACT: The p53 protein is the cell's principal bastion of defense against tumor-associated DNA damage. Commonly referred as a "guardian of the genome", p53 is responsible for determining the fate of the cell when the integrity of its genome is damaged. The development of tumors requires breaching this defense line. All known tumor cells either mutate the p53 gene, or in a similar number of cases, use internal cell p53 modulators, Mdm2 and Mdmx proteins, to disable its function. The release of functional p53 from the inhibition by Mdm2 and Mdmx should in principle provide an efficient, nongenotoxic means of cancer therapy. In recent years substantial progress has been made in developing novel p53-activating molecules thanks to several reported crystal structures of Mdm2/x in complex with p53-mimic

SUBMITTER: Popowicz GM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3113661 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature