Expression of the p53 protein in sun-damaged skin

The expression of the p53 protein in photodamaged skin from the face, forearm and neck of 18 subjects was compared to non-exposed skin taken at autopsy from the abdomens of 9 subjects of the same age. Paraffin sections and the polyclonal antibody CM1 were used with the ABC technique. The p53 protein was expressed in the nuclei of keratinocytes in 7 of the 18 samples obtained from sun-exposed skin and in 1 of 9 samples from non-exposed skin. The expression in sun-exposed skin can be due either to its overexpression due to DNA damage or to the appearance of mutant forms.