TP53 exon-6 truncating mutations produce separation of function isoforms with pro-tumorigenic functions
Abstract
TP53 truncating mutations are common in human tumors and are thought to give rise to p53-null alleles. Here, we show that TP53 exon-6 truncating mutations occur at higher than expected frequencies and produce proteins that lack canonical p53 tumor suppressor activities but promote cancer cell proliferation, survival, and metastasis. Functionally and molecularly, these p53 mutants resemble the naturally occurring alternative p53 splice variant, p53-psi. Accordingly, these mutants can localize to mitochondria where they promote tumor phenotypes by binding and activating the mitochondria inner pore permeability regulator, Cyclophilin D (CypD). Together, our studies reveal that TP53 exon-6 truncating mutations, contrary to current beliefs, act beyond p53 loss to promote tumorigenesis, and could inform the development of strategies to target cancers driven by these prevalent mutations.
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Article and author information
Author details
Funding
National Cancer Institute (NCI P01 CA129243-06)
- Raffaella Sordella
- Marc Ladanyi
- Scott W Lowe
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Reviewing Editor
- Joaquín M Espinosa, University of Colorado School of Medicine, United States
Ethics
Animal experimentation: All animal experiments were performed in accordance with National Research Council's Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Protocols were approved by the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Animal Care and Use Committee (933922-1 Development of mouse models to study human lung cancer - integrated protocols).
Version history
- Received: May 18, 2016
- Accepted: October 17, 2016
- Accepted Manuscript published: October 19, 2016 (version 1)
- Accepted Manuscript updated: October 24, 2016 (version 2)
- Version of Record published: November 2, 2016 (version 3)
- Version of Record updated: February 1, 2017 (version 4)
Copyright
© 2016, Sordella et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Further reading
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