{Delta}Np73{beta} puts the brakes on DNA repair.
Mammalian cells are barraged with endogenous metabolic byproducts and environmental insults that can lead to nearly a million genomic lesions per cell per day. Networks of proteins that repair these lesions are essential for genome maintenance, and a compromise in these pathways propagates mutations that can cause aging and cancer. The p53 tumor suppressor plays a central role in repairing the effects of DNA damage, and has therefore earned the title of "guardian of the genome." In this issue of Genes & Development, Wilhelm and colleagues (pp. 549-560) demonstrate that p73-an older sibling of p53-inhibits pathways that resolve DNA double-strand breaks.
Vernersson-Lindahl
Emma
E
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, New York 11724, USA.
Mills
Alea A
AA
D000818:Animals; D016922:Cellular Senescence / Q000502:physiology; D053903:DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000235:genetics*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000072160:Tumor Protein p73; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C000606460:TP73 protein, human; D000072160:Tumor Protein p73; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; C000606369:delta Np73 protein, human