A closer view of an oncoprotein-tumor suppressor interaction

The cellular response to DNA damage is coordinated by the p53 protein. Mdm2, an oncoprotein, inhibits p53 and promotes p53 degradation. A recent high-resolution structure of the Mdm2-p53 complex may aid the design of small molecules to disrupt this interaction, for use in investigating the interaction further and for designing anticancer drugs.