title: The carboxyl-terminal domain of the p53 protein regulates sequence-specific DNA binding through its nonspecific nucleic acid-binding activity.
abstract: The murine p53 protein contains two nucleic acid-binding sites, a sequence-specific DNA-binding region localized between amino acid residues 102-290 and a nucleic acid-binding site without sequence specificity that has been localized to residues 364-390. Alternative splicing of mRNA generates two forms of this p53 protein. The normal, or majority, splice form (NSp53) retains its carboxyl-terminal sequence-nonspecific nucleic acid-binding site, which can negatively regulate the sequence-specific DNA-binding site. The alternative splice form of p53 (ASp53) replaces amino acid residues 364-390 with 17 different amino acids. This protein fails to bind nucleic acids nonspecifically and is constitutive for sequence-specific DNA binding. Thus, the binding of nucleic acids at the carboxyl terminus regulates sequence-specific DNA binding by p53. The implications of these findings for the activation of p53 transcriptional activity following DNA damage are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Lewis Thomas Laboratory, Princeton University, NJ 08544, USA.
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Bayle
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Elenbaas
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Levine
mesh_terms: D017398:Alternative Splicing; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D004247:DNA