title: Bax suppresses tumorigenesis and stimulates apoptosis in vivo.
abstract: The protein p53 is a key tumour-suppressor, as evidenced by its frequent inactivation in human cancers. Animal models have indicated that attenuation of p53-dependent cell death (apoptosis) can contribute to both the initiation and progression of cancer, but the molecular mechanisms are unknown. Although p53-mediated transcriptional activation is one possible explanation, none of the known p53-responsive genes has been shown to function in p53-dependent apoptosis. Here we test the role of the death-promoting gene bax in a transgenic mouse brain tumour, a model in which p53-mediated apoptosis attenuates tumour growth. Inactivation of p53 causes a dramatic acceleration of tumour growth owing to a reduction in apoptosis of over ninety per cent. We show that p53-dependent expression of bax is induced in slow-growing apoptotic tumours. Moreover, tumour growth is accelerated and apoptosis drops by fifty per cent in Bax-deficient mice, indicating that it is required for a full p53-mediated response. To our knowledge this is the first demonstration that Bax acts as a tumour suppressor, and our findings indicate that Bax could be a component of the p53-mediated apoptotic response in this system.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina School of Medicine at Chapel Hill, 27599, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Knudson
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Korsmeyer
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Van Dyke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics; D002831:Choroid Plexus / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D016147:Genes, Tumor Suppressor; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein
chemical_list: C494827:Bax protein, mouse; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein