Project description:The p53 tumor suppressor belongs to a gene family that includes two other structurally and functionally related members: p63 and p73. However, the regulation of p53 activity differs significantly from that of p73 and p63. To enhance the tumor suppressive activity of p53, we created a p63/p53 hybrid molecule, named p63-53O, which comprises the transcriptional activation and DNA-binding domains of TAp63? and the oligomerization domain of p53. In this study, we generated a series of p63-53O derivatives and developed an advanced hybrid molecule named “Super Hybrid p53 (SHp53).” SHp53 efficiently transactivated several proapoptotic genes, including CASP10, KCNK3, and PYCARD, compared with p53. Moreover, the silencing of these proapoptotic genes partially abolished the apoptotic response to SHp53 in human cancer cells. The potency of SHp53 for suppressing tumorigenesis was also evaluated using in vivo models. Thus, our results identify a better p63/p53 hybrid molecule for the development of anti-cancer therapies. HuH-7 human hepatocellular carcinoma cells were either transduced with adenoviral vectors expressing p53, TAp63gamma, p53-p63 hybrid (super hybrid p53 version 2, p63-53O-FL), or lacZ. After 24 hours, total RNA was isolated and analyzed by hybridization to Agilent-028004 SurePrint G3 Human GE 8x60K Microarray.
