P53-induced p21 controls DNA replication

The p21 protein, a regulator of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), has been thought to be one of the key proteins to function in cell proliferation suppression upon DNA damage. In normal cells but not in many tumor cells, p21 forms a quaternary complex with a cyclin, a CDK and the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), one of the DNA replication and repair factors, suggesting that this complex might play an important role in maintaining the integrity of the genome. Here, we have focused on the p21-PCNA interaction in the context of DNA replication or DNA repair, presenting the data from both in vitro and in vivo studies of the p21 function.