Identification of targets specifically regulated by TAp73

The p53 family consists of three members, p53, p73, and p63. These proteins share a high degree of amino-acid sequence similarity and major functional domains. The p53 gene, the first member of the family to be identified, is the most frequent target gene for genetic alterations in human cancers. In contrast, p73 and p63 are mainly involved in normal development and differentiation. These differences among the p53 family are likely to depend on activation or repression of different sets of target genes. In this study, to identify targets specifically regulated by p73, we performed microarray analysis and compared expression patterns in a human steosarcoma cell line Saos-2 infected separately with p53 and TAp73beta expressing adenovirus. Saos2 osteosarcoma cells were infected with p53, TAp73beta expressing or control adenovirus for 24 h and then harvested.