Post-transcriptional regulation of P21^WAF1/CIP1 by P53

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the post-transcriptional regulation of p21^WAF1/CIP1 by p53. Methods: The MDA-MB-468 cells have endogenous mutant p53 and the MCF7 cells lines have wtp53. Recombinant p53 expression and p21^WAF1/CIP1 induction were detected by Western blot analysis. Northern blot analysis was carried out to examine whether changes in p21^WAF1/CIP1 protein levels in MCF7 cells treated with AdCMVp53 are reflected at the mRNA level. Flow cytometric analysis of MCF7 cells following overexpression of recombination. Results: The ratio of p53: p21^WAF1/CIP1 was below 1 at the early stages of AdCMVp53 infection, but increased to 1.6 by day 3 and to 9.7 by day 5 post-infection. As expected, p21^WAF1/CIP1 expression was not detectable in MDA-MB-468 cells despite the presence of high levels of mutant p53 protein. The G1/S ratios in untreated controls and AdCMVβgal infected MCF7 cells were 1.10 and 1.35, respectively. By Northern blot analyzing the p21^WAF1/CIP1: GAPDH ratios at different time points against the ratio at time point 0, a maximum 3-fold induction of p21^WAF1/CIP1 mRNA expression relative to untreated control was observed on day 1 post-infection. The flow cytometric analysis indicated that MCF7 cells infected with AdCMVp53 undergo G1 arrest at both time points studied, with G1/S ratios ranging from 5.54 at day 1 to 5.65 at day 7. The G1/S ratios in untreated controls and AdCMVβgal infected MCF7 cells were 1.10 and 1.35, respectively. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that p53 could regulate p21^WAF1/CIP1 gene expression at both the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels in MCF7 cells. The latter mechanism may be involved in or be responsible for, the induction of cell cycle arrest by transcription-defective mutants of p53.