Research Paper Volume 4, Issue 3 pp 202—205
Relative expression of TAp73 and ΔNp73 isoforms
- 1 University of Southampton, Faculty of Medicine, Cancer Sciences Unit, Somers Cancer Research Building, Southampton, SO16 6YD, UK
- 2 Medical Research Council, Toxicology Unit, Hodgkin Building, Leicester University, Leicester LE1 9HN, UK
- 3 Biochemistry Laboratory, IDI-IRCCS, and Department of Experimental Medicine and Biochemical Sciences, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, 00133 Rome, Italy
Received: February 29, 2012 Accepted: March 3, 2012 Published: March 4, 2012
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.100441How to Cite
Abstract
The transcription factor p73 belongs to the p53 family of tumour suppressors and similar to other family members, transcribed as different isoforms with opposing pro- and anti-apoptotic functions. Unlike p53, p73 mutations are extremely rare in cancers. Instead, the pro-apoptotic activities of transcriptionally active p73 isoforms are commonly inhibited by over-expression of the dominant negative p73 isoforms. Therefore the relative ratio of different p73 isoforms is critical for the cellular response to a chemotherapeutic agent. Here, we analysed the expression of N-terminal p73 isoforms in cell lines and mouse tissues. Our data showed that the transcriptionally competent TAp73 isoform is abundantly expressed in cancer cell lines compared to the dominant negative ΔNp73 isoform. Interestingly, we detected higher levels of ΔNp73 in some mouse tissues, suggesting that ΔNp73 may have a physiological role in these tissues.
Abbreviations
TAp73: transcriptional domain–containing active p73; ΔNp73: amino deleted p73.