Expression of wild-type and mutant p53 proteins by recombinant vaccinia viruses.

To facilitate the purification of wild type p53 protein, we established a recombinant p53 vaccinia viral expression system. Using this efficient eukaryotic expression vector, we found that the expressed p53 proteins retained their specific structural characteristics. A comparison between wild type and mutant p53 proteins showed the conservation of the typical subcellular localization and the expression of specific antigenic determinants. Furthermore, wild type p53 exhibited a typical binding with large T antigen, whereas no binding was detected with mutant p53. Both wild type and mutant p53 proteins were highly stable and constituted 5-7% of total protein expressed in the infected cells. These expression recombinant viruses offer a simple, valuable system for the purification of wild type and mutant p53 proteins that are expressed abundantly in eukaryotic cells.