title: AP2alpha alters the transcriptional activity and stability of p53.
abstract: AP2alpha and p53 form nuclear complexes that establish a functional partnership, which regulates the expression of certain genes involved in cell growth and metastasis. The growth effects of AP2alpha are mediated through p21WAF1/CIP1 and the ability for AP2alpha to coactivate p21 requires p53. Herein, we have localized the AP2-binding region of p53 to amino acids 305-375. Analysis of 26 distinct p53 alleles established a correlation between AP2alpha binding and transcriptional coactivation. The L350P point mutation was the only nonbinding allele that retained normal transcriptional activity by reporter assay. Although both wild-type and L350P alleles facilitated binding of AP2alpha to the p21 promoter, the L350P allele was significantly reduced in its ability to induce the endogenous p21 gene, demonstrating a striking difference in activity comparing reporter assays with activation of endogenous p53 target genes. Interestingly, expression of AP2 in the absence of radiation repressed p53-mediated induction of p21 and this effect was explained by a reduction in p53 stability induced by AP2alpha overexpression. We conclude that AP2alpha has competing effects on p53 activity through coactivation and decreased stability. These findings may provide a mechanism to account for the discrepancies reported for the association between AP2 and p21 expression in tumor tissue.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Stabach
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Thiyagarajan
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Woodfield
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Weigel
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D047369:Chromatin Immunoprecipitation; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D050759:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D006801:Humans; D047468:Immunoprecipitation; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D017354:Point Mutation; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D011485:Protein Binding; D050656:Transcription Factor AP-2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D050759:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21; D050656:Transcription Factor AP-2; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53