Mechanism of p53 downstream effectors p21 and Gadd45 in DNA damage surveillance

Both p21( WAF1/CIP1) and Gadd45 were activated in a p53-dependent manner in MCF-7 cells after being exposed to ionizing radiation. In order to investigate their roles in DNA damage surveillance, p21as/MCF-7 cells stably transfected by p21 antisense expression plasmid pC-WAFl-AS and Gadd45as/MCF-7 stably transfected by Gadd45 antisense expression plasmid pCMVas45 were established. It was observed that G1 arrest induced by radiation was significantly reduced in Gadd45as/MCF-7 cells as well as in p21as/MCF-7 cells. Repair of radiation damaged report gene greatly reduced in Gadd45asMCF-7 and p21as/MCF-7 cells. Apoptosis significantly increased in p21as/MCF-7 after exposure to radiation. These results suggest that both p21 and Gadd45 support cellular survival by taking roles in G1 arrest and DNA repair, furthermore, p21 protects cells from death by inhibiting apoptosis after exposure to ionizing radiation.