The onset of p53 loss of heterozygosity is differentially induced in various stem cell types and may involve the loss of either allele.

p53 loss of heterozygosity (p53LOH) is frequently observed in Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) patients who carry a mutant (Mut) p53 germ-line mutation. Here, we focused on elucidating the link between p53LOH and tumor development in stem cells (SCs). Although adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) robustly underwent p53LOH, p53LOH in induced embryonic pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) was significantly attenuated. Only SCs that underwent p53LOH induced malignant tumors in mice. These results may explain why LFS patients develop normally, yet acquire tumors in adulthood. Surprisingly, an analysis of single-cell sub-clones of iPSCs, MSCs and ex vivo bone marrow (BM) progenitors revealed that p53LOH is a bi-directional process, which may result in either the loss of wild-type (WT) or Mut p53 allele. Interestingly, most BM progenitors underwent Mutp53LOH. Our results suggest that the bi-directional p53LOH process may function as a cell-fate checkpoint. The loss of Mutp53 may be regarded as a DNA repair event leading to genome stability. Indeed, gene expression analysis of the p53LOH process revealed upregulation of a specific chromatin remodeler and a burst of DNA repair genes. However, in the case of loss of WTp53, cells are endowed with uncontrolled growth that promotes cancer.

p53 counteracts reprogramming by inhibiting mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition.

The process of somatic cell reprogramming is gaining increasing interest as reprogrammed cells are considered to hold a great therapeutic potential. However, with current technologies this process is relatively inefficient. Recent studies reported that inhibition of the p53 tumor suppressor profoundly facilitates reprogramming and attributed this effect to the ability of p53 to restrict proliferation and induce apoptosis. Given that mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) was recently shown to be necessary for reprogramming of fibroblasts, we investigated whether p53 counteracts reprogramming by affecting MET. We found that p53 restricts MET during the early phases of reprogramming and that this effect is primarily mediated by the ability of p53 to inhibit Klf4-dependent activation of epithelial genes. Moreover, transcriptome analysis revealed a large transcriptional signature enriched with epithelial genes, which is markedly induced by Klf4 exclusively in p53(-/-) cells. We also found that the expression of the epithelial marker E-Cadherin negatively correlates with p53 activity in a variety of mesenchymal cells even before the expression of reprogramming factors. Finally, we demonstrate that the inhibitory effect of p53 on MET is mediated by p21. We conclude that inhibition of the p53-p21 axis predisposes mesenchymal cells to the acquisition of epithelial characteristics and renders them more prone to reprogramming. Our study uncovers a novel mechanism by which p53 restrains reprogramming and highlights the role of p53 in regulating cell plasticity.