New functions of p53 mRNA and p53 isoforms

Naoki Tamura et al.

p53 regulates cell stemness, division, differentiation, senescence and death; response to stress, infection and disease; reproduction, metabolism, regeneration, aging and life span. The big majority of these new p53 functions are not accomplished by the full-length (FL) p53 protein alone, they are enterprises shared with other p53 gene products: the p53 mRNA and the shorter p53 protein isoforms. Here, we present an overview and analysis of these new functions of p53 mRNA and p53 isoforms and propose strategies for the future evaluation of isoform function specificity.