Mutations in the gene encoding the tumour-suppressor protein p53 often underlie cancer, but a compound can reverse the effects of a common p53 mutation in mice.

Darren Carpizo and his team at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in New Brunswick identified the compound in a cancer drug database. The authors found that it induced programmed cell death in cancer cells carrying the R175 mutant form of the p53 protein, while leaving non-tumour cell lines relatively intact. The compound slowed down the growth of human tumours bearing this mutation that were implanted in mice, but had little to no effect on tumours carrying other p53 mutations or a non-mutant form of p53. The chemical seems to restore the conformation of the mutated protein, enabling it to function normally.

The compound could be a candidate for drug development, the authors say.

Cancer Cell 21, 614–625 (2012)