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Thymocyte apoptosis induced by p53-dependent and independent pathways

Abstract

DEATH by apoptosis is characteristic of cells undergoing deletion during embryonic development, T- and B-cell maturation and endocrine-induced atrophy1. Apoptosis can be initiated by various agents1–5 and may be a result of expression of the oncosuppressor gene p53 (refs 6–8). Here we study the dependence of apoptosis on p53 expression in cells from the thymus cortex. Short-term thymocyte cultures were prepared from mice constitutively heterozygous or homozygous for a deletion in the p53 gene introduced into the germ line after gene targeting. Wild-type thymocytes readily undergo apoptosis after treatment with ionizing radiation, the glucocorticoid methylprednisolone, or etoposide (an inhibitor of topoisomerase II), or after Ca2+-dependent activation by phorbol ester and a calcium ionophore. In contrast, homozygous null p53 thymocytes are resistant to induction of apoptosis by radiation or etoposide, but retain normal sensitivity to glucocorticoid and calcium. The time-dependent apoptosis that occurs in untreated cultures is unaffected by p53 status. Cells heterozygous for p53 deletion are partially resistant to radiation and etoposide. Our results show that p53 exerts a significant and dose-dependent effect in the initiation of apoptosis, but only when it is induced by agents that cause DNA-strand breakage.

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Clarke, A., Purdie, C., Harrison, D. et al. Thymocyte apoptosis induced by p53-dependent and independent pathways. Nature 362, 849–852 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/362849a0

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