title: Role of the p53 family in stabilizing the genome and preventing polyploidization.
abstract: Cellular defects resulting in chromosomal instability and aneuploidy are the most common features of human cancers. As a major tumor suppressor and intrinsic part of several cellular checkpoints, p53 contributes to maintenance of the stability of the genetic material, both in quality (ensures faithful replication) and quantity (preservation of diploidy). Although the exact trigger of p53 in case of numerical chromosomal aberrations is unknown, the absence of p53 allows polyploid cells to proliferate and generate unstable aneuploid progeny. A more recent addition to the p53 family, p73, emerged as an important contributor to genomic integrity when p53 is inactivated. p73 loss in p53-null background leads to a rapid increase in polyploidy and aneuploidy, markedly exceeding that caused by p53 loss alone. Constitutive deregulation of Cyclin-Cdk and p27/Kip1 activities and excess failure of the G2/M DNA damage checkpoint are important deficiencies associated with p73 loss.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Health Science Center, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11794, USA.
authors.forename: Flaminia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Talos
authors.forename: Ute M
authors.initials: UM
authors.lastname: Moll
mesh_terms: D000782:Aneuploidy; D000818:Animals; D002455:Cell Division / Q000235:genetics; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D002877:Chromosomes, Human / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016195:G2 Phase / Q000235:genetics; D042822:Genomic Instability; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011123:Polyploidy; D000072160:Tumor Protein p73; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C495901:TP53 protein, human; C000606460:TP73 protein, human; D000072160:Tumor Protein p73; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins