title: Identification of p53 unbound to T-antigen in human cells transformed by simian virus 40 T-antigen.
abstract: In several clones of SV40-transformed human cells, we investigated the relative amounts of large T-Antigen (T-Ag) and p53 proteins, both unbound and associated within complexes, with the goal of identifying changes associated with transformation and immortalization. Cells were transformed by wild type (wt) T-Ag, a functionally temperature sensitive T-Ag (tsA58) and other T-Ag variants. Western analysis showed that while most of the T-Ag was ultimately bound by p53, most of the p53 remained unbound to T-Ag. Unbound p53 remained in the supernatant after a T-Ag immunoprecipitation and p53 was present in two to fourfold excess of T-Ag. In one transformant there was five to tenfold more p53 than T-Ag. p53 was present in transformants in amounts at least 200-fold greater than in untransformed human cells. In wt and variant T-Ag transformants, including those generated with tsA58 T-Ag, large amounts of unbound p53 were present in both pre-crisis and immortal cells and when the cells were grown at permissive or non-permissive temperatures. We also found that in transformants produced by tsA58, an SV40/JCV chimeric T-Ag and other variants, T-Ag appeared to form a complex with p53 slowly perhaps because one or both proteins matured slowly. The presence in transformed human cells of large amounts of unbound p53 and in excess of T-Ag suggests that sequestration of p53 by T-Ag, resulting from complex formation, is required neither for morphological transformation nor immortalization of human cells. Rather, these results support the proposal that high levels of p53, the T-Ag/p53 complexes, or other biochemical event(s), lead to transformation and immortalization of human cells by T-Ag.
authors.affiliation: Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Department of Oncological Sciences, Salt Lake City 84132, USA.
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Carney
mesh_terms: D000952:Antigens, Polyomavirus Transforming / Q000378:metabolism*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D002472:Cell Transformation, Viral; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006801:Humans; D011233:Precipitin Tests; D011485:Protein Binding; D013696:Temperature; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000952:Antigens, Polyomavirus Transforming; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53