TRIAD1 Is a Novel Transcriptional Target of p53 and Regulates Nutlin-3a-Induced Cell Death

Nutlin-3a is a non-genotoxic, p53-activating, MDM2 inhibitor being investigated as an anticancer agent. Although Nutlin-3a selectively antagonizes the ubiquitin E3 ligase activity of MDM2, its efficacy is not entirely regulated by MDM2 levels in cancer cells. Here, we report that the cytotoxic effects of Nutlin-3a are regulated by TRIAD1 via a positive feedback loop with p53. We found that Nutlin-3a enhanced TRIAD1 transcription in a p53-dependent manner. Using in silico analysis and promoter luciferase assays, we demonstrated that p53-mediated transcription of TRIAD1 is mediated by a p53 consensus sequence in the TRIAD1 promoter region. Silencing TRIAD1 expression in wild-type p53 (p53^WT ) cancer cells suppressed Nutlin-3a-mediated p53 activation and p53 target gene expression. These effects were enhanced in TRIAD1-overexpressing p53^WT cancer cells, but not in p53-deficient cancer cells. Furthermore, TRIAD1 knockdown significantly reduced the growth inhibitory and cytotoxic effects of Nutlin-3a in p53^WT cancer cells, as demonstrated by cell viability assays, cell cycle analysis, clonogenic growth, and soft-agar colony forming assays. Together, these data indicate that TRIAD1 regulates Nutlin-3a-mediated p53 activation and the cytotoxic activity of Nutlin-3a. J. Cell. Biochem. 118: 1733-1740, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.