The CXXC finger 5 protein is required for DNA damage-induced p53 activation

The tumor suppressor p53 is a critical component of the DNA damage response pathway that induces a set of genes responsible for cell cycle arrest,senescence,apoptosis,and DNA repair.The ataxia te-langiectasia mutated protein kinase(ATM) responds to DNA-damage stimuli and signals p53 stabiliza-tion and activation,thereby facilitating transactivation of p53 inducible genes and maintainence of genome integrity.In this study,we identified a CXXC zinc finger domain containing protein termed CF5 as a critical component in the DNA damage signaling pathway.CF5 induces p53 transcriptional activity and apoptosis in cells expressing wild type p53 but not in p53-deficient cells.Knockdown of CF5 in-hibits DNA damage-induced p53 activation as well as cell cycle arrest.Furthermore,CF5 physically interacts with ATM and is required for DNA damage-induced ATM phosphorylation but not its recruitment to chromatin.These findings suggest that CF5 plays a crucial role in ATM-p53 signaling in response to DNA damage.