Our new research article, result of a great collaboration with Alberto Inga @ CIBIO, is now out in Cell Reports. In this work, we establish the role of two RNA-binding proteins, PCBP2 and DHX30, in modulating the induction of p53-dependent apoptosis by controlling the translation of mRNAs acting via a 3’UTR regulatory element, the CGPD-motif. In particular, we find that the cooperation of these two RNA-binding proteins inhibits p53-dependent apoptosis in cancer when cells are treated with Nutlin. The implications of this mechanism open to the possibility of developing a targeting strategy to exploit it with therapeutic purposes.
Nutlin-Induced Apoptosis Is Specified by a Translation Program Regulated by PCBP2 and DHX30
Dario Rizzotto, Sara Zaccara, Annalisa Rossi, Matthew D. Galbraith, Zdenek Andrysik, Ahwan Pandey, Kelly D. Sullivan, Alessandro Quattrone, Joaquin M. Espinosa, Erik Dassi*, and Alberto Inga*
Cell Reports, 2020. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.03.011
Dassi Lab 