title: p53 Activity Dominates That of p73 upon Mdm4 Loss in Development and Tumorigenesis.
abstract: Mdm4 negatively regulates the p53 tumor suppressor. Mdm4 loss in mice leads to an embryonic lethal phenotype that is p53-dependent. Biochemical studies indicate that Mdm4 also binds p73, a member of the p53 family, with higher affinity than p53. In this study, the significance of the Mdm4 and p73 interaction in vivo during embryogenesis and tumorigenesis was examined. The data revealed that p73 loss did not rescue either the early Mdm4-deficient embryonic lethality or the runted phenotype of Mdm4(Δ2/Δ2) p53(+/-) embryos. Furthermore, studies in the developing central nervous system wherein both genes have prominent roles indicated that loss of p73 also did not rescue the Mdm4-null brain phenotype as did p53 loss. This p53 dependency occurred despite evidence for p73-specific transcriptional activity. In tumor studies, the combination of Mdm4 overexpression and p73 loss did not alter survival of mice or the tumor spectrum as compared with Mdm4 overexpression alone. In summary, these data demonstrate that the Mdm4-p73 axis cannot override the dominant role of p53 in development and tumorigenesis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Genetic characterization of the Mdm4 and p73 interaction during development and tumorigenesis suggests new insight into the role of p53 family members, which may influence treatment options for patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Program in Genes and Development.
authors.forename: Mehrnoosh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tashakori
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Shunbin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: M James
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: You
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Program in Genes and Development. gglozano@mdanderson.org.
authors.forename: Guillermina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lozano
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis; D063646:Carcinogenesis; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D047108:Embryonic Development; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011518:Proto-Oncogene 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*; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C461497:Mdm4 protein, mouse; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; C000606368:Trp73 protein, mouse; D000072160:Tumor Protein p73; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases