p73 is a protein related to the p53 tumor protein. Because of its structural resemblance to p53, it has also been considered a tumor suppressor. It is involved in cell cycle regulation, and induction of apoptosis. Like p53, p73 is characterized by the presence of different isoforms of the protein. This is explained by splice variants, and an alternative promoter in the DNA sequence. This gene encodes a member of the p53 family of transcription factors involved in cellular responses to stress and development. It maps to a region on chromosome 1p36 that is frequently deleted in neuroblastoma and other tumors, and thought to contain multiple tumor suppressor genes. The demonstration that this gene is monoallelically expressed (likely from the maternal allele), supports the notion that it is a candidate gene for neuroblastoma. Many transcript variants resulting from alternative splicing and/or use of alternate promoters have been found for this gene, but the biological validity and the full-length nature of some variants have not been determined. [provided by RefSeq].
Participates in the apoptotic response to DNA damage. Isoforms containing the transactivation domain are pro-apoptotic, isoforms lacking the domain are anti-apoptotic and block the function of p53 and transactivating p73 isoforms. May be a tumor suppressor protein.