Apoptosis Database

Description [+]

Synonyms: CEP-1, TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR CEP-1, C.ELEGANS P53-LIKE PROTEIN 1
Species: Metazoa;Bilateria;Ecdysozoa;Nematoda; Caenorhabditis elegans
Short gene description: Ancestral member of the p53 family (p53, p63, p73)
Family: Other
Process: undefined,
Pathways: undefined,
Criteria: manually curated
Curator comment: Promotes DNA damage-induced apoptosis and is required for normal meiotic segregation in the C. elegans germ line. Affects sensitivity to hypoxia-induced lethality and longevity in response to starvation. Implicated in autophagy. Expressed in the germ line and during embryogenesis.
WIKI: CEP-1-C_elegans

References [+]

Caenorhabditis elegans p53: role in apoptosis, meiosis, and stress resistance.
Derry WB,Putzke AP,Rothman JH
We have identified a homolog of the mammalian p53 tumor suppressor protein in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans that is expressed ubiquitously in embryos. The gene encoding this protein, cep-1, promotes DNA damage-induced apoptosis and is required for normal meiotic chromosome segregation in the germ line. Moreover, although somatic apoptosis is unaffected, cep-1 mutants show hypersensitivity to hypoxia-induced lethality and decreased longevity in response to starvation-induced stress. Overexpression of CEP-1 promotes widespread caspase-independent cell death, demonstrating the critical importance of regulating p53 function at appropriate levels. These findings show that C. elegans p53 mediates multiple stress responses in the soma, and mediates apoptosis and meiotic chromosome segregation in the germ line. Science. 2001 Oct 19;294(5542):591-5. Epub 2001 Sep 13.

The C. elegans homolog of the p53 tumor suppressor is required for DNA damage-induced apoptosis.
Schumacher B,Hofmann K,Boulton S,Gartner A
In mammals, one of the key regulators necessary for responding to genotoxic stress is the p53 transcription factor. p53 is the single most commonly mutated tumor suppressor gene in human cancers. Here we report the identification of a C. elegans homolog of mammalian p53. Using RNAi and DNA cosuppression technology, we show that C. elegans p53 (cep-1) is required for DNA damage-induced apoptosis in the C. elegans germline. However,cep-1 RNAi does not affect programmed cell death occurring during worm development and physiological (radiation-independent) germ cell death. The DNA binding domain of CEP-1 is related to vertebrate p53 members and possesses the conserved residues most frequently mutated in human tumors. Consistent with this, CEP-1 acts as a transcription factor and is able to activate a transcriptional reporter containing consensus human p53 binding sites. Our data support the notion that p53-mediated transcriptional regulation is part of an ancestral pathway mediating DNA damage-induced apoptosis and reveals C. elegans as a genetically tractable model organism for studying the p53 apoptotic pathway. Curr Biol. 2001 Oct 30;11(21):1722-7.

Structure & Sequence [+]

Source	Domain Name	Start	End
PFAM A	Trans_fact_CEP1	223	418

Evolution [+]

Information from other databases [+]

CEP-1 (Caenorhabditis elegans)