Snail family transcriptional repressor 1–Tumor protein p53 protein–protein interface (Snail–p53 PPI)

The Snail family transcriptional repressor 1 (SNAI1)–Tumor protein p53 (TP53) protein–protein interface is a critical regulatory junction involved in cancer progression and the suppression of apoptosis. Snail, a key inducer of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), physically interacts with the tumor suppressor p53, leading to its accelerated degradation via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway (Lee et al., 2009, Cancer Research). This interaction effectively neutralizes p53-mediated tumor suppression, facilitating tumor cell survival, invasion, and resistance to chemotherapy (Ni et al., 2016, Nature Communications). By disrupting this interface, therapeutic agents can stabilize p53 and restore its ability to induce cell cycle arrest and programmed cell death in malignant cells. Small molecules such as GN25 have been developed to specifically inhibit this interaction, demonstrating the potential to reverse EMT and sensitize cancer cells to treatment (Lee et al., 2010, Oncogene). Consequently, the Snail–p53 interface represents a promising target for drug development aimed at treating metastatic and chemoresistant cancers.

Other names

SNAI1–TP53 interfaceSnail–p53 complexSnail–p53 interactionSnail1–p53 interface

Inhibition of the physical interaction between Snail and p53 to prevent Snail-mediated p53 degradation and restore p53-dependent tumor suppression.