title: Phylogeny and function of the invertebrate p53 superfamily.
abstract: The origin of the p53 superfamily predates animal evolution and first appears in unicellular Flagellates. Invertebrate p53 superfamily members appear to have a p63-like domain structure, which seems to be evolutionarily ancient. The radiation into p53, p63, and p73 proteins is a vertebrate invention. In invertebrate models amenable to genetic analysis p53 superfamily members mainly act in apoptosis regulation in response to genotoxic agents and do not have overt developmental functions. We summarize the literature on cnidarian and mollusc p53 superfamily members and focus on the function and regulation of Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans p53 superfamily members in triggering apoptosis. Furthermore, we examine the emerging evidence showing that invertebrate p53 superfamily proteins also have functions unrelated to apoptosis, such as DNA repair, cell cycle checkpoint responses, compensatory proliferation, aging, autophagy, and innate immunity.
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Trust Centre for Gene Regulation and Expression, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, Scotland, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Rachael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rutkowski
authors.forename: Kay
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hofmann
authors.forename: Anton
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gartner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53