In silico analysis of mutant p53(R249S) oncogenicity in hepatocellular carcinoma

Oncogenic properties of mutant p53 proteins still stand as an ill-known subject, and the mechanism responsible for this phenomenon remains to be uncovered. This thesis aims to uncover the effect of p53 codon R249S ((AGG→AGT, arginine to serine) mutation on the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) through high throughput transcriptomics analysis using oligonucleotide arrays. We compared the expression profiles of HepG2 cells carrying wt and mutant p53(R249S). Microarray data analysis revealed a molecular signature consisting of 84 differentially regulated genes, showing that the expression of mutant p53(R249S) in HepG2 cells resulted in a distinct expression profile. Furthermore, mapping these significant differentiallyexpressed genes to the p53 interaction network revealed a putative interaction network representing functional outcomes of p53(R249S) expression in the context of diverse molecular interactions. Our results clearly demonstrated that several Hepatocyte Nuclear Factors (HNF1A, HNF4A and HNF6) could play an essential role in mediating mutant p53 oncogenic activity in HCC, as the key molecules of the gene network.