p53 regulates human insulin-like growth factor II gene expression through active P4 promoter in rhabdomyosarcoma cells.

The developmentally regulated human insulin-like growth factor II (IGFII) gene is expressed at high levels in many types of tumors and promotes the proliferation of tumor cells with a high incidence of p53 gene defects. We have previously shown that p53 inhibits IGFII P3 promoter activity and decreases endogenous IGFII gene expression derived from the P3 promoter in rhabdomyosarcomas by interfering with TBP binding to the TATA element of the IGFII P3 promoter. In this report, we demonstrate that wild-type p53 expression in rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines containing mutant p53 leads to a decrease in the activity of another active IGFII promoter, P4, and a 5-fold reduction of IGFII mRNA derived from the P4 promoter. This inhibition of P4 activity is associated with direct binding of p53 to the P4 proximal promoter element despite the lack of a p53 consensus binding site. Our results suggest that p53 inhibits IGFII P4 promoter activity by a mechanism different than its effect on the P3 promoter. These data also supply further evidence of cross-talk between the IGF and p53 signaling pathways.