Cell
Volume 80, Issue 2, 27 January 1995, Pages 293-299
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Article
Tumor suppressor p53 is a direct transcriptional activator of the human bax gene

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Abstract

The bax gene promoter region contains four motifs with homology to consensus p53-binding sites. In co-transfection assays using p53-deficient tumor cell lines, wild-type but not mutant p53 expression plasmids transactivated a reporter gene plasmid that utilized the bax gene promoter to drive transcription of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase. In addition, wildtype p53 transactivated reporter gene constructs containing a heterologous minimal promoter and a 39-bp region from the bax gene promoter in which the p53-binding site consensus sequences reside. Introduction of mutations into the consensus p53-binding site sequences abolished p53 responsiveness of reporter gene plasmids. Wild-type but not mutant p53 protein bound to oligonucleotides corresponding to this region of the bax promoter, based on gel retardation assays. Taken together, the results suggest that bax is a p53 primary-response gene, presumably involved in a p53-regulated pathway for induction of apoptosis.

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