Wistar Scientists Uncover A Key Mechanism As To How P53 Suppresses Tumors

The Wistar Institute researchers have uncovered a key mechanism as to how p53 suppresses tumors. By using a genetic variant of p53 and comparing what that variant failed to accomplish with what the healthy “wild type” p53 gene could do, the researchers discovered the mechanism by which p53 triggers immune function that, in turn, kills the tumor. Four and a half million people in the United States possess inherited, or germline, mutations in p53, which increases their risk of cancer. Murphy and her team decided to learn how p53 suppresses tumors by exploring how one particular hypomorph fails to suppress cancer.