title: p53-dependent growth arrest following calcium phosphate-mediated transfection of murine fibroblasts.
abstract: A variety of genotoxic agents can induce an accumulation of p53 protein in the nuclei of mammalian cells and lead to either growth arrest or apoptosis in a p53-dependent manner. Recently, the induction of the p53 pathway has also been reported for non-genotoxic agents such as heat shock and hypoxia, rendering it likely that p53 activity might be triggered by a wider range of cellular stress factors. Here we report the effect of calcium phosphate-mediated transfection, a technique commonly used in studies of transient gene expression in mammalian cells, on fibroblasts containing wild-type p53. Incubation with a calcium phosphate precipitate results in a transient growth arrest in the presence or absence of plasmid DNA. The effect is accompanied by a rise in p53 protein levels and increased transcription of a p53-dependent reporter construct and is not observed in fibroblasts derived from p53 knockout mice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Dundee.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Renzing
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Lane
mesh_terms: D016475:3T3 Cells; D000818:Animals; D002130:Calcium Phosphates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects*; D051379:Mice; D010957:Plasmids; D014162:Transfection / Q000379:methods*; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002130:Calcium Phosphates; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53