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Abstract
While the tumor suppressor functions of p53 have long been recognized, the contribution
of p53 to numerous other aspects of disease and normal life is only now being appreciated.
This burgeoning range of responses to p53 is reflected by an increasing variety of
mechanisms through which p53 can function, although the ability to activate transcription
remains key to p53's modus operandi. Control of p53's transcriptional activity is
crucial for determining which p53 response is activated, a decision we must understand
if we are to exploit efficiently the next generation of drugs that selectively activate
or inhibit p53.