Rescuing the function of mutant p53.
Bullock AN., Fersht AR.
One protein--p53--plays nemesis to most cancers by condemning damaged cells to death or quarantining them for repair. But the activity of p53 relies on its intact native conformation, which can be lost following mutation of a single nucleotide. With thousands of such mutations identified in patients, how can a future cancer drug buttress this fragile protein structure and restore the cell's natural defence?