Cover Caption

Abstract

p53 has been hailed as the guardian of the genome due to its role in determining whether a cell repairs damage or undergoes apoptosis in response to cellular stress. This month’s cover of Cancer Biology & Therapy shows a wire and solid 3D model of p53 (red) interacting with the spindle assembly checkpoint protein, hBub1 (green). Sam Thiagalingam and colleagues characterize the interaction between p53 and hBub1 in response to spindle checkpoint (SAC) activation, demonstrating that the two proteins can interact after activation of the SAC. After activation of the SAC, hBub1 can inhibit the activation of p53 target genes. Loss of hBub1 allows p53 to activate downstream targets thereby inducing apoptosis. To learn more about the role of p53 and hBub1 in the SAC, see the two articles by Fangming Gao and colleagues from the laboratory of Sam Thiagalingam, as well as the commentary by Beeharry and Yen.