# ACTIVATION OF P53 GENE IN TUMOR CELLS

> **NIH NIH R01** · WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE · 1987 · $65,518

## Abstract

Our studies suggest that p53 is an active oncogene that contributes to
tumorigenic conversion.  We found that transfection of a functional gene
into p53 nonproducer cells which have an inactivated p53 gene reconstitute
p53 expression.  This genetic manipulation changed the phenotype of these
regressing tumor cells into cells that develop lethal tumors.  Moreover,
cotransfection of the p53 gene with the ras oncogene induced the appearance
of transformed foci in primary embryonic rat cells.  These findings suggest
that the p53 gene plays a causal role in tumorigenicity and as such can be
classified as an oncogene.  The understanding of the molecular mechanism
responsible for the activation of this protein in human and mouse tumor
cells and its function in correlation with other oncogene proteins in the
malignant process remains unsolved.  Our approach to answering these
questions can be broken down as follows:  (1)\activation of p53 at the
genomic level will be done by comparing structure and function of p53 genes
of transformed and nontransformed cells; (2)\activation of p53 at the
transcriptional level will be done by comparing structure and function of
various p53 cDNA clones of transformed and nontransformed cells; (3)\the
role of p53 in differentiation and development of normal tissues, and its
possible function in the development of tumors in vivo, will be studied by
p53 transfection into bone marrow cells that will be transferred into
irradiated mice; and (4)\the human p53 gene will be studied by transfection
of a functional p53 gene into p53 nonproducer HL-60 cells which have an
amplified c-myc gene.  This may yield indications as to the possible
relationship between these proteins and their function in the
differentiation of those cells.  (X)

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3179423
- **Project number:** 5R01CA040002-03
- **Recipient organization:** WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
- **SAM.gov UEI:** NPJ8YBLFTKX6
- **Principal Investigator:** VARDA ROTTER
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1987
- **Award amount:** $65,518
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1985-08-01 → 1988-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3179423

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3179423, ACTIVATION OF P53 GENE IN TUMOR CELLS (5R01CA040002-03). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3179423. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*