Biochemical Chgaracterization of Recombinant Baculovirus 373 K/E p53 Protein

In this study, we expressed and purified the recombinant baculovirus 373 K/E p53 protein in a baculovirus expression system to characterize this mutant and compare it with wild type p53. Gel- filtration chromatography and chemical cross-linking experiments indicated that purified recombinant baculovirus 373 K/E p53 protein assembles into multimeric forms ranging from tetramers to polymers. Gel-mobility shift assays and protein-DNA cross-linking studies demonstrated that the recombinant protein binds, to a consensus DNA target as a dimer but that additional p53 mutant molecules may then associate with the preformed p53-dimer-DNA complexes to form a larger p53_DNA complexes. These observations suggest that the p53 mutant tetramers and polymers that forms the minimal p53 mutant complex in solution dissociated upon DNA binding to form p53 mutant dimmer DNA complexes. The DNA binding activity of this mutant was then investigated using electrophoretic mobility shift assays as well as supershift assay with anti-p53 antibodies. Binding of the anti-p53 antibody PAb421to the oligomerization promoting domain on p53 stimulated the sequential formation of both the p53_dimer DNA and larger p53-DNA complexes