p53 tumor suppressor fragment (232-240),(C41H67N11O14S4), a peptide with the sequence H2N-Lys-Tyr-Met-Cys-Asn-Ser-Ser-Cys-Met-OH, MW= 1066.3. p53 (also known as protein 53 or tumor protein 53), is a tumor suppressor protein that in humans is encoded by the TP53 gene1. p53 is crucial in multicellular organisms, where it regulates the cell cycle and, thus, functions as a tumor suppressor that is involved in preventing cancer. As such, p53 has been described as "the guardian of the genome" because of its role in conserving stability by preventing genome mutation2. p53 has many mechanisms of anticancer function, and plays a role in apoptosis, genomic stability, and inhibition of angiogenesis. In its anti-cancer role, p53 works through several mechanisms:It can activate DNA repair proteins when DNA has sustained damage. It can induce growth arrest by holding the cell cycle at the G1/S regulation point on DNA damage recognition.It can initiate apoptosis, the programmed cell death, if DNA damage proves to be irreparable3.
References:
1. Cho, Y.; Gorina, S.; Jeffrey, P. D.; Pavletich, N. P. (1994). "Crystalstructure of a p53 tumor suppressor-DNA complex: Understanding tumorigenic mutations". Science 265 (5170): 346-355.
2. Read, A. P.; Strachan, T.. Human molecular genetics 2. New York: Wiley; 1999. ISBN 0-471-33061-2. Chapter 18: Cancer Genetics.
3. May P, May E. Twenty years of p53 research: structural and functional aspects of the p53 protein. Oncogene. 1999;18(53):7621-36.