p53 (human), (recombinant) (GST-tag)

p53 is a much studied and complex multifunctional protein, which acts as a tumor suppressor in many tumor types and induces growth arrest or apoptosis depending on the physiological circumstances and cell type. It is involved in cell cycle regulation as a trans-activator that acts to negatively regulate cell division by controlling a set of genes required for this process. One of the activated genes is an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases. Apoptosis induction appears to be mediated either by stimulation of BAX and FAS antigen expression, or by repression of Bcl-2 expression. The p53 pathway responds to stresses that can disrupt the fidelity of DNA replication and cell division. A stress signal is transmitted to the p53 protein by post-translational modifications. Such modification results in the activation of p53 protein as a transcription factor that initiates a program of cell cycle arrest, cellular senescence or apoptosis.