2. Mechanism of p53 and MDM2-Binding
In normal cells or cells that are repaired, the concentration of p53 is low because of a regulator protein called the murine double minute 2 (MDM2). As mentioned above, the
MDM2 gene is a negative regulator of p53, as it acts as a ubiquitin ligase
[13][14]. It first physically interacts with p53 at TAD, which is amphipathic in nature. The binding pocket within the N-terminal p53-binding domain of MDM2 is hydrophobic in nature
[15]. The p53 amino acid residues, including Phe19, Trp23, and Leu26, form the hydrophobic side of the amphipathic α-helix of the TAD. Although Phe19, Trp23, and Leu26 are not the only p53 residues that create the α-helix, these three amino acids play a key role in p53/MDM2 interactions
[15]. Once the hydrophobic α-helix is formed, it contacts the hydrophobic binding pocket of MDM2, and thus, forms the p53/MDM2 complex via hydrogen bonding (
Figure 2). During this interaction, Mdm2 induces the ubiquitination of p53 at the N-terminal activation domain, resulting in proteasomal degradation and inhibition of its transcriptional activity. One of p53 target genes is the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor
p21, which is a negative regulator of the cell cycle
[16]. If the p53 is mutated, there will be no p21 activation, resulting the progression of the cell cycle even with damaged DNA
[17]. As mentioned earlier, many of the human cancers inactivate p53 to allow for the continuation of cell cycle progression and cell survival. Thus, the p53-MDM2 interaction serves as an important focus area within cancer therapeutic studies. Current cancer therapeutics strive to increase levels of p53, by restoring the p53 function with the inhibition of its interaction with MDM2 or the degradation by MDM2. This strategy will prevent the survival and proliferation of tumor cells.
Figure 2. The mechanism of p53- and MDM2-binding. MDM2, indicated as black, binds to p53 at the N-terminal activation domain of p53, or the red area, to form p53/MDM2 complex. The two proteins are in direct contact via hydrogen bonding, with hydrophobic p53 residues Phe19, Trp23 and Leu26 that help such interaction. The structure of the p53/MDM2 complex, which is shown with the corresponding colors, black and red, leads to the ubiquitination and the proteasomal degradation of p53. This results in the inhibition of the transcriptional activity of p53.
3. The Role of p53 in Cancer Chemotherapy
P53 is activated when DNA damage is sensed by the protein kinases ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) and ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3-related (ATR), which activate the checkpoint kinases Chk2 and Chk1, respectively
[18][19]. The ATM-Chk2 pathway is activated by the double-strand DNA breaks (DSB), while the ATR-Chk1 pathway is triggered by single-strand DNA breaks
[20]. Both Chk1 and Chk2 induce the phosphorylation of p53, specifically, at serine (Ser)-15 and Ser-20 of the N-terminal activation domain, and thus, stabilize and activate p53 function
[21][22] As the levels of p53 increase, the activation of p53-dependent transcription of certain genes occurs, including
p21 and
MDM2 [23][24]. Similar to p53, p21 also acts as a tumor suppressor by regulating cell cycle and triggering apoptosis
[25].
Under normal conditions, the complexes of CDK4/Cyclin D and CDK6/Cyclin D phosphorylate retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (Rb) and release the E2F transcription factor, which promotes the cell cycle to continue through the G
1 phase into the S phase
[26][27]. However, cells that express DNA damage increase p53-depnent expression of p21 causing cell cycle arrest at G
1 by binding and inactivating CDK4-Cyclin D and CDK6/Cyclin D complexes. After the cell cycle arrest at G
1 phase, the DNA damage can be repaired, and the cell cycle can progress through S phase. However, if the DNA damage cannot be fixed by the DNA repair machinery, there will be accumulation of DNA damage that can induce programmed cell death
[28][29].
4. Strategies of Blocking the p53/MDM2 Interaction
The blocking of the p53/MDM2 interaction can be achieved by the following two mechanisms: first, by inhibiting the p53 and MDM2-binding, and second, by increasing the phosphorylation of p53. In the MDM2-binding mechanism, several small molecules have been discovered that bind to MDM2 by mimicking the p53-binding pocket residues Phe19, Trp23, and Leu26
[30][31]. Prohibiting the binding of MDM2 to p53 allows for the restoration of p53 tumor suppressor function. On the other hand, instead of directing binding to MDM2, compounds can also prevent the interaction by inducing the phosphorylation of p53. Several studies showed that DNA double-strand breaks induce the phosphorylation of p53 at Ser15 by ATM or DNA-protein kinase (DNA-PK) and at Ser20 by Chk2
[32][33][34][35]. Both of these are part of MDM2 binding
[36]. The phosphorylation of p53 at these residues abrogates binding with Mdm2, and thus it spares p53 from ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation
[33]. Besides these two ways, there are several other mechanisms that can inhibit the interaction, such as the degradation of MDM2. However, this entry will focus on compounds that have MDM2 binding abilities or lead to the phosphorylation of p53 as mechanisms of action. The MDM2 residues that are critical for its interaction with p53 protein are G58, D68, V75, and C77
[37]. Some of the many existing compounds that target p53-MDM2 interaction and that may be used in future cancer treatments are summarized in
Table 1 [38].
Table 1. List of compounds that target p53-MDM2 interaction, either via MDM2-binding or phosphorylation of p53
[39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53].