The development of cell-based therapies using stem cells represents a significant breakthrough in the treatment of limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD). The aim of this study was to develop a novel protocol to differentiate human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into corneal epithelial progenitor cells (CEPCs), with similar features to primary cultured human limbal stem cells (LSCs), using a medium c...

Galectin-7, a member of the β-galactoside-binding protein family, is primarily expressed in stratified epithelial cells, including keratinocytes. There is information in the literature suggesting a role for this protein in regulation of keratinocyte survival and growth, but the underlying mechanism remains relatively unknown. Moreover, its expression pattern in the epidermis suggests that it is...

Cellular senescence is a distinctive form of cell cycle arrest that has been suggested to modulate the processes of tumor suppression and aging. Though a detailed understanding of the cellular machinery regulating this process is emerging, a more thorough understanding of the key players linking senescence to organismal aging is needed. The recent discovery that loss of the p53-related protein ...

T he report in this issue of PNAS by Joerger et al. (1) solves the structure of the p73 oligomerization domain that produces a tetrameric protein and compares this structure with p63 (closely related) and p53 (more distantly related). This provides new information about the comparative evolution of these three (p53, p63, and p73) proteins and more. The human genome contains three genes encoding...

The p53 family activates many of the same genes in response to DNA damage. Because p63 and p73 have structural differences from p53 and play distinct biological functions in development and metastasis, it is likely that they activate a unique transcriptional network. Therefore, we performed a genome-wide analysis using cells lacking the p53 family members after treatment with DNA damage. We ide...

p63 is a transcriptional factor belonging to p53 family of genes. Beside the role in cancer, partially shared with p53 and the other member p73, p63 also plays exclusive roles in development and homeostasis of ectodermal/epidermal-related organs. Here we show that p63 transcriptionally controls the expression of the matrix metallopeptidase 13 (MMP13). p63 binds a p53-like responsive element in ...

Using microarray information from oro-pharyngeal data sets and results from primary human foreskin keratinocytes (HFK) expressing Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)-16 E6/E7 proteins, we show that p63 expression regulates signalling molecules which initiate cell migration such as Src and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and induce invasion in 3D-organotypic rafts; a phenotype that can be reversed by deplet...

Oligomerization of members of the p53 family of transcription factors (p53, p63, and p73) is essential for their distinct functions in cell-cycle control and development. To elucidate the molecular basis for tetramer formation of the various family members, we solved the crystal structure of the human p73 tetramerization domain (residues 351-399). Similarly to the canonical p53 tetramer, p73 fo...

BACKGROUND p63 is a member of the p53 family that has been implicated in maintenance of epithelial stem cell compartments. Previous studies demonstrated that p63 is downregulated in muscle-invasive bladder cancers, but the relationship between p63 expression and survival is not clear. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We used real-time PCR to characterize p63 expression and several genes implica...

The p53-related gene p63 is required for epithelial cell establishment and its expression is often altered in tumor cells. Great strides have been made in understanding the pathways and mechanisms that regulate p63 levels, such as the Wnt, Hedgehog, Notch, and EGFR pathways. We discuss here the multiple signaling pathways that control p63 expression as well as transcription factors and post-tra...