p53 is arguably one of the most important tumor suppressor genes in humans. Due to the paramount importance of p53 in the onset of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, the p53 gene is found either silenced or mutated in the vast majority of cancers. Furthermore, activated wild-type p53 exhibits a strong bystander effect, thereby activating apoptosis in surrounding cells without being physically present there. For these reasons, p53-targeted therapy that is designed to restore the function of wild-type p53 in cancer cells seems to be a very appealing therapeutic approach. Systemic delivery of p53-coding DNA or RNA using nanoparticles proved to be feasible both in vitro and in vivo. In fact, one p53-based therapeutic (gendicine) is currently approved for commercial use in China. However, the broad use of p53-based therapy in p53-inactivated cancers is severely restricted by its inadequate efficacy. This review highlights the current state-of-the-art in this area of biomedical research and also discusses novel approaches that may help overcome the shortcomings of p53-targeting nanomedicine.
Keywords: apoptosis; bystander effect; gene therapy; nanoparticles; p53.