TR2, Antennapedia-P53
p53, also known as tumor protein 53 (TP53), is a transcription factor that regulates the cell cycle and hence functions as a tumor suppressor. It is very important for cells in multicellular organisms to suppress cancer. p53 has been described as "the guardian of the genome" or the "master watchman", referring to its role in conserving stability by preventing genome mutation.
P53 has many anti-cancer mechanisms:
- It can activate DNA repair proteins when DNA has sustained damage.
- It can also hold the cell cycle at the G1/S regulation point on DNA damage recognition.
- It can initiate apoptosis, the programmed cell death, if the DNA damage proves to be irreparable.
We have shown that p53 linked to the Antennapedia peptide as a carrier for transduction, induced rapid apoptosis in human malignant cell lines. The peptide was comparatively nontoxic to proliferating nonmalignant human cell lines containing WT p53. We are currently optimizing expression and designing the animal model to test this product.