Although metastasis-associated protein 1 (MTA1) has recently been shown as a DNA damage responsive protein, the underlying mechanism for its role in DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair remains unknown. Here, we show that MTA1 controls p53 stability through inhibiting its ubiquitination by E3 ubiquitin ligases mouse double minute 2 (Mdm2) and constitutive photomorphogenic protein 1 (COP1). The underlying mechanisms involve the ability of MTA1 to compete with COP1 to bind to p53 and/or to destabilize COP1 and Mdm2. Consequently, MTA1 regulates the p53-dependent transcription of p53R2, a direct p53 target gene for supplying nucleotides to repair damaged DNA. Depletion of MTA1 impairs p53-dependent p53R2 transcription and compromises DNA repair. Interestingly, these events could be reversed by MTA1 reintroduction, indicating that MTA1 interjects into the p53-dependent DNA repair. Given the fact that MTA1 is widely up-regulated in human cancers, these findings in conjunction with our earlier finding of a crucial role of MTA1 in DSB repair suggest an inherent role of the MTA1-p53-p53R2 pathway in DNA damage response in cancer cells.The p53 tumor suppressor is a central component of cellular mechanisms that respond to DNA damage signals to preserve genomic integrity (1, 2). Under physiological conditions, p53 is tightly regulated and normally maintained at low levels by the action of several RING finger E3 ubiquitin ligases, including constitutive photomorphogenic protein 1 (COP1) (3), mouse double minute 2 (Mdm2) (4, 5), and p53-induced protein with a RING H2 domain (Pirh2) (6). All of these ligases are transcriptionally stimulated by the p53 protein and in turn, target p53 for the ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis, thereby creating tight negative feedback loops for controlling p53 protein stability (7). Accordingly, disruption of these autoregulatory feedback loops is a pivotal event for the activation of p53 in response to various genotoxic stresses (8, 9). Following DNA damage, p53 protein is stabilized and activated through post-translational modifications, resulting in a controlled activation of a series of downstream target genes that mediate its functions (10 -12). In addition to its important functions in cell cycle arrest and apoptosis (2, 12), the p53 protein plays a critical role in regulating DNA repair caused by various genotoxic stresses (13-17). Loss of p53 function leads to decreased repair of damaged DNA and is reflected by increased sensitivity to DNA damage agents. Therefore, blocking the p53-induced DNA repair could prove to be an efficient approach to enhance the efficacy of DNA-damaging agents (18).Recently, numerous potential mechanisms have been described as to how p53 functions to regulate DNA repair. p53 directly associates with TFIIH, a nucleotide excision repair component (19) and transactivates genes implicated in DNA repair, such as p53R2, a newly identified subunit of ribonucleotide reductase (20, 21). The ability of p53R2 to supply nucleotides for repairing DNA damage requires the presen...