p63 and p73: teammates or adversaries?
The status and interrelationship of p53 family members are critical elements in tumor progression. An intriguing paper in this issue of Cancer Cell (Rocco et al., 2006) reveals a new twist in the interactions between p63 and p73 following DNA damage, underscoring a role for p73 in the proapoptotic regulation of Puma, Noxa, and Bcl-2 in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). These data define a pathway in which deltaNp63alpha promotes survival in squamous epithelial malignancy by repressing a p73-dependent proapoptotic transcriptional program, suggesting that p63 levels and p73 status may be key determinants of tumor response in patients with HNSCC.
Ratovitski
Edward
E
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Head and Neck Cancer Research, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.
Trink
Barry
B
Sidransky
David
D
D017209:Apoptosis; D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D016147:Genes, Tumor Suppressor; D019254:Genes, bcl-2; D016158:Genes, p53; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors; D000072160:Tumor Protein p73; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins
D051017:Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins; C438378:BBC3 protein, human; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C498702:PMAIP1 protein, human; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; C115051:TP63 protein, human; C000606460:TP73 protein, human; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; D000072160:Tumor Protein p73; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins