One of the major role in the maintenance of normal cellular function has been ascribed to regulatory genes know as tumour suppressor genes. The molecular changes in these genes and their proteins, are anticipated to be involved in cancer development and progression. Understanding the function and regulation of tumour suppressors is a major goal in cancer biology. This project has been designed to study the functions of p53, p73 and IRF-1 proteins in process of malignant transformation, and in the reg ulation of the cells response to DNA damage. Our major interest is to study the regulation of the p53 function in different types of tumours after DNA damage as well as the role of p53 and IRF-1 proteins in regulation of p21-dependent growth arrest. Ou r complex study will help define the biochemical events involved in disruption of the cell-cycle machinery and will allow us to clarify whether the p53, p73 and IRF-1 pathways status after induced DNA damage could be a useful marker for the choice of

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