Reversal of in vitro p53 squelching by both TFIIB and TFIID

p53, the protein encoded by one of the most significant human tumor suppressor genes, is a sequence-specific transcriptional activator. When activated by a double-stranded DNA break, p53 function arrests cells in G1 and can induce apoptosis. Transcriptional activation function is critical for p53 tumor suppression, although transcriptional repressing and nontranscriptional functions of p53 may contribute. p53 activation requires that it bind to TFIID through interactions with TATA box-binding protein (TBP)-associated factors and potentially with TBP. Here, we studied the mechanism of p53 activation using in vitro transcription and a sufficiently high p53 concentration to squelch activated transcription. Squelching is thought to result when target molecules that interact with activation domains are titrated by binding to excess activator. Addition of either excess TFIIB or TFIID but not other proteins required for p53-activated transcription reversed squelching by high p53 concentrations, whereas neither stimulated transcription in reactions without excess p53. These results reveal that both TFIIB and TFIID are inhibited by high concentrations of p53 and suggest that p53 activation may work through direct or indirect interactions with both TFIIB and TFIID.