What is it about?

Cells under stresses such as DNA damage trigger their internal self-defense mechanisms. One pivotal stress-response is the activation of tumor suppressor protein p53 which represents a key node for governing cell fate by regulating many target genes. Because of the key role of p53 in mediating cell fate, it is important to tightly control p53 dynamics.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

Although many studies revealed the effects of the feedback loop in p53 dynamics, few studies addressed the effects of the multiple time delays in p53 oscillation. In this study, we found that the time delay of Mdm2 protein synthesis can well control the pulse shape but cannot induce p53 oscillation alone, while the time delay of Wip1 protein synthesis induces a Hopf bifurcation to drive p53 oscillation. Furthermore, the synergy of the two delays will cause the p53 to oscillate in advance, indicating that the damage cells begin repair process earlier.

Perspectives

I hope this study will enrich the understanding of the p53 oscillation mechanism and provide new insights into the new p53 pathway for cancer treatment.

Wang Conghua
Shanghai University

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Contribution of time delays to p53 oscillation in DNA damage response, IET Systems Biology, March 2019, the Institution of Engineering and Technology (the IET),
DOI: 10.1049/iet-syb.2019.0006.
You can read the full text:

Read

Contributors

The following have contributed to this page