p53 mutations as fingerprints of environmental carcinogens*
Rengul Cetin-Atalay** and Mehmet Ozturk
Bilkent University, Department of Molecular Biology
and Genetics 06533 Bilkent, Ankara, Turkey
Abstract: Mutations of the p53 tumor suppressor gene occur in
a great majority of human cancers. The protein product of p53 gene is
involved in DNA damage response. Consequently, p53 gene may be a preferred
target for environmental carcinogens, which also act as DNA-damaging
agents. This is probably why p53 mutations are frequent in cancers linked
to environmental carcinogens. Moreover, these carcinogens leave molecular
fingerprints on the p53 gene. Thus, the study of p53 mutation spectra
has been a useful approach to implicate suspected carcinogens to different
human cancers. This review provides further insight into the significance
of p53 mutation spectra in ten common human malignancies (skin, liver,
lung, bladder, breast, head and neck, esophagus, stomach and colorectal
cancers, and hematological malignancies), in relation with environmental
carcinogens.
*Lectures presented
at the 4th Congress of Toxicology in Developing Countries (4th CTOX-DC),
Antalya, Turkey, 6-10 November 1999
**Corresponding author
Back to Contents for access to full
text
