Fluorescent biosensor for detection of the R248Q aggregation‐prone mutant of p53

摘要： The p53 tumour suppressor and guardian of the genome undergoes missense mutations which lead to functional inactivation in 50% human cancers. These mutations occur mostly in the DNA-binding domain of the protein and several of these result in conformational changes which lead to amyloid-like protein aggregation. Here we describe a fluorescent biosensor that reports on the R248Q mutant of p53 in vitro and in living cells, engineered through conjugation of an environmentally-sensitive probe onto a peptide derived from the primary aggregation segment of p53.This biosensor was characterized both in vitro and by fluorescence microscopy following facilitated delivery into cultured cells. We show that this biosensor preferentially reports on the p53 R248Q mutant in PC9 lung cancer cell line compared to other lung cancer cell lines harbouring either wildtype or no p53.