Loss of p53 in enterocytes facilitates an inflammatory microenvironment enabling invasion and metastasis of carcinogen-induced colorectal tumors

Here, we examined the role of intestinal epithelial specific tumor suppressive function of 53. We provide evidence that p53 plays a dual role during carcinogen-induced tumorigenesis. At the initiation stage, p53 controls DNA damage and survival of initiated epithelia. In contrast, at later stages, loss of p53 is associated with the formation of an inflammatory microenvironment that is linked to epithelial mesenchymal transition, invasion and metastasis and the activation of NF-kappaB and Stat3. Thus, we propose a novel p53 controlled tumor suppressive function during the progression stage of colorectal cancer that is independent of its well-established role in cell cycle regulation, apoptosis and senescence. 6 samples were analyzed. We compared 3 wt colon tumor samples and 3 p53-knockout tumor samples.