p53: a new player in reproduction

Hu, W., Feng, Z., Atwal, G. S., Levine, A. J. (April 2008) p53: a new player in reproduction. Cell Cycle, 7 (7). pp. 848-52. ISSN 1551-4005 (Electronic)1551-4005 (Linking)

URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18414047
DOI: 10.4161/cc.7.7.5658

Abstract

The roles of the p53 protein in tumor suppression have been firmly established. However, the functions of this protein under normal conditions or in the absence of stress, if any, have remained a mystery. In humans, some alleles containing a functional single nucleotide polymorphism in the p53 gene and its negative regulator, the Mdm2 gene, are under positive selection over evolutionary time frames, suggesting that the p53 pathway might have important functions that are optimized and selected for by evolutionary or reproductive pressures. Indeed, a recent study demonstrated a new function for the p53 protein in the regulation of maternal reproduction in mice, through transcriptional regulation of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), a novel p53 target gene. Sufficient uterine LIF levels are essential for the implantation of blastocysts or early embryos into the uterus. p53 deficient (p53(-/-)) female mice have a reduced pregnancy rate and litter size, due to impaired implantation resulting from decreased uterine LIF levels. Administration of LIF to pregnant p53(-/-) mice restored maternal reproduction by improving implantation. An association has been reported between women carrying the p53 codon 72 polymorphism (a proline to arginine change) with recurrent implantation failure, suggesting a similar function for p53 in humans. These findings of a new function for the p53 protein in reproduction may help to explain the observed evolutionary selection of some alleles of the p53 and Mdm2 genes. This may also be an excellent example of antagonistic pleiotrophy.

Item Type: Paper
Uncontrolled Keywords: Animals Female Humans Leukemia Inhibitory Factor/ metabolism Mice Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mdm2/ metabolism Reproduction/ genetics Tumor Suppressor Protein p53/ genetics/ metabolism Uterus/metabolism
Subjects: bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > genes, structure and function
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > genes, structure and function > genes: types
bioinformatics > genomics and proteomics > genetics & nucleic acid processing > DNA, RNA structure, function, modification > genes, structure and function > genes: types > p53
CSHL Authors:
Communities: CSHL labs > Atwal lab
Depositing User: Matt Covey
Date: 1 April 2008
Date Deposited: 25 Feb 2013 21:55
Last Modified: 25 Feb 2013 21:55
Related URLs:
URI: https://repository.cshl.edu/id/eprint/27588

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