title: Silencing of stathmin induces tumor-suppressor function in breast cancer cell lines harboring mutant p53.
abstract: Cancers harboring dominant-negative p53 mutations are often aggressive and difficult to treat. Direct attempts to restore wild-type p53 function have produced little clinical benefit. We investigated whether targeting a p53-target gene could induce certain tumor-suppressor characteristics. We found that inhibition of stathmin, a microtubule regulator that can be transcriptionally repressed by wild-type p53, restored certain wild-type functions to cancer cells with mutant p53. Silencing of stathmin by small interfering RNA (siRNA) in mutant p53 cell lines lowered expression to that observed following activation of wild-type p53 by DNA damage in wild-type p53 cell lines. siRNA-induced repression of stathmin decreased cell proliferation, viability and clonogenicity in mutant p53 cell lines. Furthermore, knockdown of stathmin partially restored cell-cycle regulation and activation of apoptosis. Therefore, targeting stathmin, a gene product that is overexpressed in the presence of mutant p53, may represent a novel approach to treating cancers with aberrant p53 function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alli
authors.forename: J-M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: W N
authors.initials: WN
authors.lastname: Hait
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000235:genetics; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D020868:Gene Silencing / Q000502:physiology*; D018390:Gene Targeting / Q000379:methods; D006131:Growth Inhibitors / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D050777:Stathmin / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D006131:Growth Inhibitors; D050777:Stathmin; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53