Divergent Evolution of Human p53 Binding Sites
Author Information
Author(s): Horvath Monica M, Wang Xuting, Resnick Michael A, Bell Douglas A
Primary Institution: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Hypothesis
Does evolutionary conservation of p53 binding sites differ between apoptosis and cell cycle regulation?
Conclusion
The study found that p53 response elements in apoptosis genes show less conservation compared to those in cell-cycle genes, suggesting different evolutionary pressures.
Supporting Evidence
- The average p53 response element was not significantly more conserved than background genomic sequence.
- p53 response elements in apoptosis genes showed very little conservation.
- Filtering predictions by 80% rodent sequence identity resulted in a high false positive rate.
Takeaway
Scientists looked at how similar p53 binding sites are in different animals and found that sites related to cell death are less similar than those related to cell growth.
Methodology
The study used comparative genomics to evaluate the conservation of 83 validated human p53 binding sites across several mammalian genomes.
Potential Biases
Potential ascertainment bias in the selection of p53 response elements could affect the findings.
Limitations
The study may not account for all evolutionary changes in p53 binding sites due to species-specific selective pressures.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p < 1.0 e−12
Statistical Significance
p < 1.0 e−12
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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