The DU145 human prostate carcinoma cell line harbors a temperature-sensitive allele of p53

Abstract

Some nuances of mutant and wild-type p53 activity have been uncovered utilizing temperature sensitive (TS) alleles. However, few human tumor derived cell lines possess a TS p53 mutant. The cell lines DU145 (heterozygous p53, P223L, and V274F) and PC3 (p53-null, where exogenous P223L and V274F were introduced individually or in combination) were examined for TS p53 activity as revealed by reporter construct and target gene activation. TS p53 function was observed in DU145 and expression of the P223L allele in PC3 conferred a TS p53 profile. Activation of p21Waf1 demonstrated that P223L TS activity may have been influenced by cellular context. The DU145 cell line harbors a TS mutant of p53 and, in addition to being a widely used model of human prostate carcinoma, may also reveal new insights into p53 function due to the unique transcriptional properties of its TS phenotype.