Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Yeast As a Chassis for Developing Functional Assays to Study Human P53
Published on: August 4, 2019
A C-terminal alpha-helix plus basic region motif is the major structural determinant of p53 tetramerization
H W Stürzbecher1, R Brain, C Addison
1Cell Proliferation Laboratory, Marie Curie Research Institute, Surrey, UK.
Abstract:
The p53 gene product has been implicated in both human and animal tumorigenesis. p53 forms heterologous complexes with the transforming proteins encoded by several different DNA tumor viruses. p53 also assembles into stable homo-oligomers. We demonstrate that the major structural determinant for the tetramerization of p53 is an alpha-helical plus basic region motif near the C-terminus of the protein. A monomeric p53 mutant adopts a conformation distinct from both 'wild-type' and 'mutant' form as defined by PAb1620 and PAb240 monoclonal antibody recognition. Nevertheless, monomeric and dimeric mutant p53 proteins retain the ability to suppress SV40 origin-directed DNA replication in vivo. Thus, p53-p53 interaction and expression of the PAb1620 epitope is not a prerequisite for such activity. We present data suggesting that suppression of replication by p53 may occur by a mechanism that is independent of detectable p53-T antigen association.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Protein Folding
Protein and Protein Structure
A protein's shape is critical to its function. For example, an enzyme can...
Covalently Linked Protein Regulators
These groups modify specific amino acids in a protein.
Histone Variants at the Centromere
Protein Folding
Protein Structure Is Critical to Its Biological Function
Proteins perform a wide range of biological functions such as catalyzing chemical reactions, providing...
Catenins
Catenins in Cell Junctions
Catenins bind to cell adhesion molecules such as cadherins and link them to different cytoskeletal proteins depending on the type of cell junction. At the adherens...

