The diversity of cellular stresses that activate the 'guardian of the genome' -- p53 -- begs the question of how these signals all converge on one protein. Perhaps the key to this integration is the nucleolus. If there is beauty in simplicity then the p53 protein is unlikely to win any contests. As one of our key defences against cancer, p53 lies at the heart of a massive research effort that has generated an avalanche of papers. The result is a bewildering complexity to virtually every aspect of p53 biology that leaves outsiders -- and many within the field -- bemused and confused. Now, a paper from Rubbi and Milner in EMBO Journal offers some hope of rationalizing the pathways that regulate p53.
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