Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Establishment of a Clinic-based Biorepository
Published on: May 29, 2017
p63 mediates survival in squamous cell carcinoma by suppression of p73-dependent apoptosis
James W Rocco1, Chee-Onn Leong, Nicolas Kuperwasser
1Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Cancer Research and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.
Abstract:
We demonstrate that deltaNp63alpha is an essential survival factor in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) through its ability to suppress p73-dependent apoptosis. Inhibition of endogenous p63 expression by RNAi induces apoptosis selectively in HNSCC cells that overexpress deltaNp63alpha. Knockdown of p63 induces the proapoptotic bcl-2 family members Puma and Noxa, and both their induction and subsequent cell death are p53 independent but require transactivating isoforms of p73. Inhibition of p73-dependent transcription by deltaNp63alpha involves both direct promoter binding and physical interaction with p73. In HNSCC cells lacking endogenous deltaNp63alpha expression, bcl-2 is instead upregulated and can suppress p73-mediated death. Together, these data define a pathway whereby deltaNp63alpha promotes survival in squamous epithelial malignancy by repressing a p73-dependent proapoptotic transcriptional program.
Related Concept Videos
Abnormal Proliferation
Negative Regulator Molecules
DNA Damage can Stall the Cell Cycle
DNA Damage Can Stall the Cell Cycle
The Intrinsic Apoptotic Pathway
Interactions Between Signaling Pathways
Convergence and divergence, and cross-talk between signaling pathways
Two distinct signaling pathways can converge on a single functional unit, which may either be a single protein or a complex of proteins. The response is either functionally distinct or synergistic between the two pathways but different from the response...

