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Molecular and Cellular Biology, June 2006, p. 4746-4757, Vol. 26, No. 12
0270-7306/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/MCB.00959-05
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Department of Experimental Oncology, Regina Elena Cancer Institute, 00158 Rome, Italy,1 S. Pietro Fatebenefratelli Hospital-Associazione Fatebenefratelli per la Ricerca, 00189 Rome, Italy,2 Department of Pathology, Sant'Andrea Hospital, 00189 Rome, Italy,3 Department of Human Pathology, University of Messina, 98100 Messina, Italy,4 Cellular and Molecular Tumor Pathology Laboratory, Cancer Center Karolinska, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden,5 Department of Experimental Medicine and Pathology, II Faculty of Medicine, University "La Sapienza,",6 Institute of Neurobiology, Experimental and Molecular Medicine, Centro Nazionale Ricerche, Rome, Italy7
Received 24 May 2005/ Returned for modification 9 July 2005/ Accepted 17 March 2006
Galectin 3 (Gal-3), a member of the ß-galactoside binding lectin family, exhibits antiapoptotic functions, and its aberrant expression is involved in various aspects of tumor progression. Here we show that p53-induced apoptosis is associated with transcriptional repression of Gal-3. Previously, it has been reported that phosphorylation of p53 at Ser46 is important for transcription of proapoptotic genes and induction of apoptosis and that homeodomain-interacting protein kinase 2 (HIPK2) is specifically involved in these functions. We show that HIPK2 cooperates with p53 in Gal-3 repression and that this cooperation requires HIPK2 kinase activity. Gene-specific RNA interference demonstrates that HIPK2 is essential for repression of Gal-3 upon induction of p53-dependent apoptosis. Furthermore, expression of a nonrepressible Gal-3 prevents HIPK2- and p53-induced apoptosis. These results reveal a new apoptotic pathway induced by HIPK2-activated p53 and requiring repression of the antiapoptotic factor Gal-3.
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