p53 increases intra-cellular calcium release by transcriptional regulation of calcium channel TRPC6 in GaQ3-treated cancer cells.

p53 and calcium signaling are inter-dependent and are known to show both synergistic and antagonistic effects on each other in the cellular environment. However, no molecular mechanism or cellular pathway is known which shows direct regulation between these important cellular signaling molecules. Here we have shown that in cancer cells treated with anti-neoplastic drug GaQ3, p53, there is an increase in intracellular calcium levels by transcriptional regulation of a novel calcium channel gene TRPC6. p53 directly binds to a 22 bp response element in the TRPC6 gene promoter and increase its mRNA and protein expression. Over-expression of TRPC6 results in calcium-dependent apoptotic death and activation of apoptotic genes in a variety of cancer cells. This research work shows that p53 and its transcriptional activity is critical in regulation of calcium signaling and an increase in the intracellular calcium level might be one of the anti-cancer strategies to induce apoptosis in cancer cells.