ATM-mediated phosphorylations inhibit Mdmx/Mdm2 stabilization by HAUSP in favor of p53 activation.

The p53 tumor suppressor protein has a major role in protecting genome integrity. Under normal circumstances Mdmx and Mdm2 control the activity of p53. Both proteins inhibit the transcriptional regulation by p53, while Mdm2 also functions as an E3 ubiquitin ligase to target both p53 and Mdmx for proteasomal degradation. HAUSP counteracts the destabilizing effect of Mdm2 by direct deubiquitination of p53. Subsequently, HAUSP was shown to deubiquitinate Mdm2 and Mdmx, thereby stabilizing these proteins. The ATM protein kinase is a key regulator of the p53 pathway in response to double strand breaks (DSBs) in the DNA. ATM fine-tunes p53's response to DNA damage by directly phosphorylating it, by regulating additional post-translational modifications of this protein, and by affecting two p53 regulators: Mdm2 and Mdmx. ATM directly and indirectly induces Mdm2 and Mdmx phosphorylation, resulting in decreased activity and stability of these proteins. We recently provided a mechanism for the reduced stability of Mdm2 and Mdmx by showing that ATM-dependent phosphorylation lowers their affinity for the deubiquitinating enzyme HAUSP. Altogether, the emerging picture portrays an elaborate, but fine-tuned, ATM-mediated control of p53 activation and stabilization following DNA damage. Further insight into the mechanism by which ATM switches the interactions between HAUSP, Mdmx, Mdm2 and p53, to favor p53 activation may offer new tools for therapeutic intervention in the p53 pathway for cancer treatment.