title: Disturbed flow: p53 SUMOylation in the turnover of endothelial cells.
abstract: Disturbed blood flow induces apoptosis of vascular endothelial cells, which causes atherosclerosis. In this issue, Heo et al. (2011. J. Cell Biol. doi:10.1083/jcb.201010051) sheds light on p53's role in this phenomenon. Disturbed flow induces peroxynitrite production, which activates protein kinase C ζ and it's binding to the E3 SUMO (small ubiquitin-like modifier) ligase PIASy (protein inhibitor of activated STATy). This leads to p53 SUMOylation and its export to the cytosol, where it binds to the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2 to induce apoptosis.
authors.affiliation: Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA.
authors.forename: Wakako
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Takabe
authors.forename: Noah
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Alberts-Grill
authors.forename: Hanjoong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jo
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D003600:Cytosol / Q000378:metabolism; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D030421:Peroxynitrous Acid / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism; D000075223:Poly-ADP-Ribose Binding Proteins; D050828:Protein Inhibitors of Activated STAT / Q000378:metabolism; D011493:Protein Kinase C / Q000378:metabolism; D021381:Protein Transport; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D058207:Sumoylation; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000378:metabolism*; D000099221:Protein Kinase C zeta
chemical_list: D030421:Peroxynitrous Acid; D000075223:Poly-ADP-Ribose Binding Proteins; D050828:Protein Inhibitors of Activated STAT; D011493:Protein Kinase C; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D000099221:Protein Kinase C zeta; C485891:PIAS4 protein, human