Ras inhibition leads to transcriptional activation of p53 and down-regulation of Mdm2: two mechanisms that cooperatively increase p53 function in colon cancer cells.

Activated Ras, operating through the Raf/MEK/ERK pathway, is known to regulate transcription of both Mdm2 and its inhibitor p19ARF, resulting in opposing effects on the tumor suppressor protein p53. We show here that a decrease in Ras in SW480 cells induced either by the Ras inhibitor farnesylthiosalicylic acid (FTS) or by K-Ras antisense oligonucleotides, resulted in a similar increase in p53 protein. The increase in p53 was accompanied by an increase in p21(waf1/cip1) mRNA transcripts and protein. Consistent with the Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK-mediated control of Mdm2, treatment of SW480 cells with the Ras inhibitor FTS caused a marked (80%) decrease in Mdm2, which itself would account for the increase in p53. However, FTS also caused a 1.6-fold increase in p53 mRNA, indicative of a Ras-dependent mechanism that regulates p53 transcription. Thus, oncogenic Ras appears to attenuate p53 in SW480 cells by two independent regulatory mechanisms, the one leading to increased Mdm2-dependent p53 degradation and the other leading to a decrease in p53 transcription.