Restoration of p53 functions by suppression of mortalin-p53 sequestration: an emerging target in cancer therapy.

Abstract

Functional inactivation of wild-type p53 is a major traitof cancerous cells. In many cases, such inactivation occurs by either TP53 gene mutations or due to overexpression of p53 binding partners. This review focuses on an overexpressed p53 binding partner called mortalin, a mitochondrial heat shock protein that sequesters both wild-type and mutant p53 in malignant cells due to changes in subcellular localization. Clinical evidence suggestsa drastic depletion of the overall survival time of cancer patients with high mortalin expression. Therefore, mortalin-p53 sequestration inhibitors could begame changers in improving overall survival rates. This review explores the consequences of mortalin overexpression and challenges, statusand strategies for accelerating drug discovery to suppress mortalin-p53 sequestration.