NM23-H1 tumor suppressor and its interacting partner STRAP activate p53 function.

p53 plays a critical role in a variety of growth inhibitory responses, including cell cycle arrest, differentiation, and apoptosis, and contributes to tumor suppression. Here we show that NM23-H1 and its binding partner STRAP (serine-threonine kinase receptor-associated protein) interact with p53 and potentiate p53 activity. Both NM23-H1 and STRAP directly interact with the central DNA binding domain within residues 113-290. The use of NM23-H1 and STRAP mutants revealed that Cys(145) of NM23-H1 and Cys(152) (or Cys(270)) of STRAP were responsible for p53 binding. Furthermore, Cys(176) and Cys(135) of p53 were required to bind NM23-H1 and STRAP, respectively. Ectopic expression of wild-type NM23-H1 and STRAP, but not NM23-H1(C145S) and STRAP(C152S/C270S), positively regulated p53-mediated transcription in a dose-dependent manner. Knockdown of endogenous NM23-H1 or STRAP produced an opposite trend and inhibited the p53-mediated transcription. Similarly, NM23-H1 and STRAP stimulated p53-induced apoptosis and growth inhibition, whereas the NM23-H1(C145S) and STRAP(C152S/C270S) mutants had no effect. We also demonstrated that p53 activation by NM23-H1 and STRAP was mediated by removing Mdm2, a negative regulator of p53, from the p53-Mdm2 complex. These results suggest that NM23-H1 and its interacting partner STRAP physically interact with p53 and positively regulate its functions, including p53-induced apoptosis and cell cycle arrest.