Role of p53 Protein Loss in Cancer Cell Proliferation Explored

A protein known as p53 is, of all tumor suppressors in human cancer, the most frequently altered by gene mutations. When mutations cause it to be absent or nonfunctional, its loss can allow populations of mutant cells to expand through normal tissue. Researchers have long known that loss of p53 does more than remove a block to cell growth. But how p53 loss changes tissue behavior to permit this growth remains unclear.