p51/p63, a member of the tumor suppressor p53 gene family, is crucial for skin development. We describe here identification of ITGA3 encoding integrin ␣ 3 as a target of its trans-activating function, proposing that p51/p63 allows epidermal stem cells to express laminin receptor ␣ 3  1 for anchorage to the basement membrane. When activated by genotoxic stress or overexpressed ectopically in non-adherent cells, p51/p63 transduced a phenotype to attach to extracellular matrices, which was accompanied by expression of ITGA3. Motifs matching the p53-binding consensus sequence were located in a scattered form in intron 1 of human ITGA3, and served as p51/p63-responsive elements in reporter assays. In addition to the trans-activating ability of the TA isoform, we detected a positive effect of the ⌬N isoform on ITGA3. The high level ␣ 3 production in human keratinocyte stem cells diminished upon elimination of p51/p63 by small interfering RNA or by Ca 2؉ -induced differentiation. Furthermore, a chromatin immunoprecipitation experiment indicated a physical interaction of p51/p63 with intron 1 of ITGA3. This study provides a molecular basis for the standing hypothesis that p51/p63 is essential for epidermal-mesenchymal interactions.
We report here that human MFGE8 encoding milk fat globule-EGF factor 8 protein (MFG-E8), also termed 46 kDa breast epithelial antigen and lactadherin, is transcriptionally activated by p63, or TP63, a p53 (TP53) family protein frequently overexpressed in head-and-neck squamous cell carcinomas, mammary carcinomas and so on. Despite that human MFG-E8 was originally identified as a breast cancer marker, and has recently been reported to provide peptides for cancer immunotherapy, its transcriptional control remains an open question. Observations in immunohistochemical analyses, a tetracycline-induced p63 expression system and keratinocyte cultures suggested a physiological link between p63 and MFGE8. By reporter assays with immediately upstream regions of MFGE8, we determined that the trans-activator (TA) isoforms of p63 activate MFGE8 transcription though a p53/p63 motif at À370, which was confirmed by a chromatin immunoprecipitation experiment. Upon siRNAmediated p63 silencing in a squamous cell carinoma line, MFG-E8 production decreased to diminish Saos-2 cell adhesion. Interestingly, the DN-p63 isoform lacking the TA domain enhanced the MFGE8-activating function of TA-p63, if DN-p63 was dominant over TA-p63 as typically observed in undifferentiated keratinocytes and squamous cell carcinomas, implying a self-regulatory mechanism of p63 by the TA:DN association. MFG-E8 may provide a novel pathway of epithelial-nonepithelial cell interactions inducible by p63, probably in pathological processes.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.