PRIVES LABORATORY
Wild-type p53 structure and transcriptional choice

Research programme 01

Wild-type p53 structure and transcriptional choice

We define how p53 recognises chromatin, binds response elements and selects context-specific programmes of arrest, repair, metabolism and cell death.

Central question

How do protein conformation, DNA sequence, chromatin environment and stress intensity determine which p53 targets are activated?

p53 is a sequence-specific transcription factor whose tumour-suppressive output depends on more than simply binding DNA. The laboratory investigates how its core and regulatory domains, post-translational modifications, cofactors and local chromatin environment shape target-gene selection.

This programme connects purified-protein biochemistry with genome-scale and cellular measurements to explain why p53 can produce different outcomes in different tissues and stress contexts.

Confocal immunofluorescence showing p53 protein in murine embryonic stem cells, with p53 staining in green and nuclei in blue. Figure 1, Cell Death & Disease (2015). Reused unchanged under CC BY 4.0.
Confocal immunofluorescence showing p53 protein in murine embryonic stem cells, with p53 staining in green and nuclei in blue. Figure 1, Cell Death & Disease (2015). Reused unchanged under CC BY 4.0.
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