Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 2, 2025

Investigating Protein-protein Interactions in Live Cells Using Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer
Published on: May 26, 2014
FOXL2 and FOXA1 cooperatively assemble on the TP53 promoter in alternative dimer configurations
Yuri Choi1, Yongyang Luo2, Seunghwa Lee3
1Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
Abstract:
Although both the p53 and forkhead box (FOX) family proteins are key transcription factors associated with cancer progression, their direct relationship is unknown. Here, we found that FOX family proteins bind to the non-canonical homotypic cluster of the p53 promoter region (TP53). Analysis of crystal structures of FOX proteins (FOXL2 and FOXA1) bound to the p53 homotypic cluster indicated that they interact with a 2:1 stoichiometry accommodated by FOX-induced DNA allostery. In particular, FOX proteins exhibited distinct dimerization patterns in recognition of the same p53-DNA; dimer formation of FOXA1 involved protein-protein interaction, but FOXL2 did not. Biochemical and biological functional analyses confirmed the cooperative binding of FOX proteins to the TP53 promoter for the transcriptional activation of TP53. In addition, up-regulation of TP53 was necessary for FOX proteins to exhibit anti-proliferative activity in cancer cells. These analyses reveal the presence of a discrete characteristic within FOX family proteins in which FOX proteins regulate the transcription activity of the p53 tumor suppressor via cooperative binding to the TP53 promoter in alternative dimer configurations.
Related Concept Videos
Abnormal Proliferation
General Transcription Factors
Cooperative Binding of Transcription Regulators
Combinatorial Gene Control
The expression of more than 30,000 genes is controlled by approximately 2000-3000 transcription factors. This is possible because a single transcription factor can recognize more than one regulatory sequence. The specificity in gene...
Protein Complexes with Interchangeable Parts
The SCF ubiquitin ligase is a protein complex of five individual proteins. This complex attaches ubiquitin to other target proteins to mark them for degradation. In order...
Master Transcription Regulators

