Affinage

CDKN2A

Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A · UniProt P42771

Length
156 aa
Mass
16.5 kDa
Annotated
2026-06-09
100 papers in source corpus 32 papers cited in narrative 30 extracted findings
Cross-family judge vs UniProt: tie faithfulness: 5/5 claims corpus-supported (100%)

Mechanistic narrative

Synthesis pass · prose summary of the discoveries below

The CDKN2A locus is a central node of tumor suppression that encodes two mechanistically distinct proteins from overlapping reading frames: p16INK4a, an ankyrin-repeat protein that inhibits CDK4 and CDK6 to block RB phosphorylation and enforce G1 arrest, and p14ARF (p19Arf in mice), which blocks MDM2-mediated inhibition of p53, placing the locus at the intersection of the RB and p53 pathways (PMID:9757829, PMID:12573439, PMID:11584300). p16INK4a competes with cyclin D for CDK binding, and its ankyrin repeats are functionally required for kinase inhibition (PMID:9482902); mutational dissection establishes CDK4 as the principal in vivo target in primary fibroblasts, with CDK4 and CDK6 acting non-redundantly (PMID:17909018). p16INK4a accumulates as cells approach replicative senescence, and its loss predisposes cells to polyploidy and immortalization, defining it as a senescence checkpoint enforcer (PMID:9244355); beyond cell-cycle arrest it also prevents centriole pair splitting to suppress aneuploidy (PMID:16464125). The two products are functionally separable: p16INK4a drives melanocyte senescence and differentiation whereas ARF triggers cell death, and ARF is the dominant transformation barrier in murine fibroblasts and reprogramming while INK4a dominates in human cells (PMID:11904317, PMID:14724566, PMID:19668188). In vivo, the locus is an effector of oncogene-induced senescence that gatekeeps malignant progression downstream of activated Kras in pancreatic and intestinal epithelium and downstream of Nf1 loss in Schwann cells (PMID:14681207, PMID:20708155, PMID:31091306), and engineered p16INK4a promoter epimutation alone is sufficient to drive tumorigenesis (PMID:25061879). p16INK4a expression is tightly controlled: transcriptionally by activators including JunB, Tcf1, and Slug-mediated repression (PMID:10856241, PMID:28346462, PMID:31189923), by Polycomb repression (EZH2/H3K27me3 and BMI-1/H2A ubiquitylation) that is reversed by SWI/SNF-mediated PRC eviction (PMID:18332116, PMID:19390090, PMID:19390085), by Cdc6-recruited heterochromatinization of the RD-INK4/ARF element (PMID:16572177), and by the lncRNA MIR31HG which sustains Polycomb repression (PMID:25908244); post-transcriptionally it is repressed by miR-24 and by an ADAR1-HuR-SIRT1 axis that controls its translation (PMID:18365017, PMID:35851616), and the protein is turned over by p62-directed autophagy-lysosomal degradation (PMID:32662244). The locus additionally has non-canonical roles: p16INK4a restrains hepatic gluconeogenesis via PKA-CREB-PGC1α signaling (PMID:24789920), regulates lineage-specific lymphocyte aging (PMID:21245485), and marks sentinel fibroblasts required for epithelial regeneration after lung injury (PMID:36227993). Germline CDKN2A/ARF mutations that impair p16INK4a CDK inhibition or p14ARF-dependent p53 activation cause melanoma predisposition (PMID:11518711).

Mechanistic history

Synthesis pass · year-by-year structured walk · 21 steps
  1. 1997 High

    Established that p16INK4a is not merely a cell-cycle gene but a senescence checkpoint regulator whose loss permits immortalization, defining its physiological tumor-suppressive context.

    Evidence Immunoblotting of MEFs across passages plus genetic deletion of individual INK4 members

    PMID:9244355

    Open questions at the time
    • Did not resolve the molecular trigger that elevates p16INK4a at senescence
    • Polyploidy mechanism left undefined
  2. 1998 High

    Defined the dual-product architecture of the locus, answering how one genomic region engages both the RB and p53 tumor suppressor pathways.

    Evidence Genetic/biochemical synthesis with RB-substrate kinase assays and ARF-MDM2-p53 functional data

    PMID:11584300 PMID:12573439 PMID:9757829

    Open questions at the time
    • Relative in vivo contribution of p16 vs ARF not addressed
    • Structural basis of CDK inhibition not resolved here
  3. 1998 Medium

    Localized the CDK4-inhibitory function to the ankyrin repeat domain via natural variants deficient in kinase inhibition.

    Evidence In vitro cyclin D2/CDK4 kinase assays on BALB/c-specific p16 variants

    PMID:9482902

    Open questions at the time
    • Single-lab in vitro study
    • Did not test CDK6 inhibition by these variants
  4. 1999 Medium

    Showed the locus produces a third pancreas-specific transcript (p12) acting through a pRb-independent growth-suppressive mechanism, broadening the locus output.

    Evidence RT-PCR splice analysis, CDK4 interaction assays, and growth suppression assays

    PMID:10445844

    Open questions at the time
    • p12 mechanism and physiological relevance undefined
    • Single-lab observation
  5. 1999 High

    Provided the biophysical basis for p16INK4a as a marginally stable ankyrin-repeat protein, relevant to its aggregation tendency and regulation.

    Evidence NMR spectroscopy, H/D exchange, and denaturation experiments compared with p18INK4c

    PMID:10556039

    Open questions at the time
    • No structure of the p16-CDK4 complex resolved
    • Functional consequence of instability in cells not tested
  6. 2001 High

    Separated p16 and ARF functions phenotypically and showed germline mutations can impair ARF-dependent p53 activation, clarifying both as independent contributors to melanoma predisposition.

    Evidence Subcellular localization and p53 activation assays on patient mutations; retroviral rescue of Ink4a/Arf-/- melanocytes distinguishing senescence (p16) from death (ARF)

    PMID:11518711 PMID:11904317

    Open questions at the time
    • Molecular determinant of the senescence-vs-death choice not defined
    • Mutation effects on p16 not fully separated in patient cells
  7. 2003 High

    Placed the locus as an in vivo barrier acting downstream of oncogenic Kras to block malignant conversion, demonstrating its gatekeeper role in carcinoma progression.

    Evidence Conditional pancreas-specific KrasG12D activation with Ink4a/Arf deletion and histopathology

    PMID:14681207

    Open questions at the time
    • Did not separate p16 from ARF contribution in this model
    • Effector mechanism of malignant conversion left open
  8. 2004 High

    Resolved the relative potency of the two products in murine fibroblasts, showing ARF is the dominant transformation suppressor over p16INK4a.

    Evidence p19ARF-specific knockout MEFs in RAS transformation, subcloning, and tumor-spectrum assays

    PMID:14724566

    Open questions at the time
    • Species-specific weighting (human vs mouse) not addressed here
    • Cell-type generality untested
  9. 2006 High

    Revealed a cell-cycle-independent genome-stability role: p16INK4a prevents centriole pair splitting and aneuploidy in cooperation with p21.

    Evidence Live-cell imaging, immunofluorescence, and karyotyping after p16 knockdown in primary human cells

    PMID:16464125

    Open questions at the time
    • Direct centriole substrate/effector unidentified
    • Single-lab finding
  10. 2006 High

    Identified a global cis-regulatory element (RD-INK4/ARF) whose Cdc6-driven heterochromatinization silences all three locus products, linking replication machinery to oncogenic locus repression.

    Evidence ChIP, RNAi-induced heterochromatinization, reporter assays, and tumor specimen analysis

    PMID:16572177

    Open questions at the time
    • HDAC identity and recruitment kinetics not fully defined
    • Frequency of this mechanism across tumor types unclear
  11. 2007 Medium

    Used the R24P mutation to establish CDK4 as the principal physiological target of p16INK4a and that CDK4/CDK6 are not redundant for senescence.

    Evidence Reciprocal in vitro/in vivo CDK4 vs CDK6 binding assays and fibroblast senescence phenotyping

    PMID:17909018

    Open questions at the time
    • Single-lab study
    • Whether CDK6 dominates in other cell types not resolved
  12. 2008 Medium

    Defined transcriptional and chromatin control of the locus: SWI/SNF evicts Polycomb to activate p15/p16, while miR-24 represses p16 translation post-transcriptionally.

    Evidence ChIP with hSNF5 rescue and BRG1 knockdown; miR-24 overexpression/antisense with polysomal profiling and reporter assays

    PMID:18332116 PMID:18365017

    Open questions at the time
    • miR-24-p16 direct interaction not validated by CLIP or site mutagenesis
    • How SWI/SNF is recruited to the locus not defined
  13. 2009 High

    Established a combinatorial Polycomb histone code (EZH2/H3K27me3 and BMI-1/H2Aub) that age-dependently controls locus repression and tissue proliferation, with genetic epistasis confirming locus dependence.

    Evidence Conditional Ezh2 and Bmi-1 manipulation in beta-cells/islets with ChIP and Ink4a/Arf-/- rescue; also genetic dissection of Arf vs Ink4a in reprogramming

    PMID:19390085 PMID:19390090 PMID:19668188

    Open questions at the time
    • Signals that reduce Polycomb binding with age not identified
    • Crosstalk between PRC1 and PRC2 marks at the locus incompletely mapped
  14. 2010 High

    Confirmed the locus as an effector of oncogene-induced senescence gatekeeping colorectal progression in vivo, extending the Kras-cooperation model to intestinal epithelium.

    Evidence Conditional K-rasG12D with Ink4a/Arf deletion, SA-β-gal, and p16 IHC during tumor progression

    PMID:20708155

    Open questions at the time
    • Did not separate p16 from ARF contribution
    • Mechanism converting hyperplasia to carcinoma beyond senescence escape unclear
  15. 2011 High

    Showed lineage-specific physiological roles of p16INK4a in lymphocyte aging versus neoplasia control.

    Evidence Tissue-specific conditional knockout in T and B lineages with immune and tumor-incidence readouts

    PMID:21245485

    Open questions at the time
    • Molecular basis of lineage-specific outcomes unexplained
    • Whether ARF contributes in these lineages untested
  16. 2014 High

    Demonstrated causality of p16INK4a epimutation in tumorigenesis and uncovered a non-canonical metabolic role in hepatic gluconeogenesis.

    Evidence Engineered targeted p16 promoter methylation with tumor/survival analysis; p16-/- mice with glucose homeostasis and PKA-CREB-PGC1α assays

    PMID:24789920 PMID:25061879

    Open questions at the time
    • How p16INK4a engages PKA signaling mechanistically is unresolved
    • Metabolic role characterized in a single lab
  17. 2015 Medium

    Added an lncRNA layer (MIR31HG) sustaining Polycomb repression of the locus and an upstream acetyltransferase (MOZ) maintaining repressors of the locus.

    Evidence MIR31HG knockdown with chromatin-interaction and PcG-binding assays during OIS; Moz-null MEFs with ChIP and Ink4a/Arf-/- rescue

    PMID:25772242 PMID:25908244

    Open questions at the time
    • MIR31HG direct binding sites and PcG interface not mapped at base resolution
    • Both findings single-lab
  18. 2017 Medium

    Identified Wnt-effector Tcf1 as a direct transcriptional activator of the locus that imposes G1 arrest in embryonic stem cells.

    Evidence ChIP showing Tcf1 recruitment to a palindromic locus motif with beta-catenin/Tcf ablation and cell-cycle analysis

    PMID:28346462

    Open questions at the time
    • Single-lab study
    • Physiological context of Tcf1 activation in adult tissues unclear
  19. 2019 Medium

    Extended transcriptional control with Slug as a direct p16 repressor in muscle satellite cells and established ARF as a Schwann-cell senescence gatekeeper relevant to peripheral nerve tumorigenesis.

    Evidence Slug knockout with ChIP and p16 knockdown rescue; conditional Nf1/Arf ablation in Schwann cells with senescence and tumor histopathology

    PMID:31091306 PMID:31189923

    Open questions at the time
    • How Slug expression declines with age not defined
    • Both findings single-lab in vivo
  20. 2020 Medium

    Defined protein-level turnover of p16INK4a through p62-directed autophagy-lysosomal degradation triggered by stress.

    Evidence Endogenous p16-mCherry live-cell imaging with lysosomal/autophagy inhibitors and p62 knockdown

    PMID:32662244

    Open questions at the time
    • Signal coupling stress to p16 lysosomal recruitment unresolved
    • Single-lab study
  21. 2022 High

    Resolved an editing-independent ADAR1-HuR-SIRT1 translational control axis for p16INK4a and identified sentinel p16+ fibroblasts as functional drivers of tissue regeneration.

    Evidence ADAR1 knockdown with SIRT1 mRNA stability, polysomal profiling, p16 depletion rescue, and editing mutants; ultrasensitive p16 reporter with conditional fibroblast deletion in lung injury models

    PMID:35851616 PMID:36227993

    Open questions at the time
    • How SIRT1 antagonizes p16 translation mechanistically is unresolved
    • Secretory program of p16+ sentinel fibroblasts not molecularly defined

Open questions

Synthesis pass · forward-looking unresolved questions
  • It remains unresolved how the multiple regulatory inputs (Polycomb, lncRNA, SWI/SNF, miRNA, autophagy, ADAR1-SIRT1) are integrated in time to set p16INK4a levels during physiological aging versus tumorigenesis, and how the non-canonical metabolic, regenerative, and centrosome functions mechanistically diverge from CDK4/6 inhibition.
  • No integrated quantitative model of locus regulation across tissues
  • Effectors of p16's CDK-independent roles unidentified
  • Structure of the p16-CDK4 complex not captured in this corpus

Mechanism profile

Synthesis pass · controlled-vocabulary classification · explore literature graph →
Molecular activity
GO:0098772 molecular function regulator activity 3 GO:0140096 catalytic activity, acting on a protein 3 GO:0005198 structural molecule activity 1
Localization
GO:0005634 nucleus 2 GO:0005764 lysosome 1 GO:0005815 microtubule organizing center 1 GO:0005829 cytosol 1
Pathway
R-HSA-4839726 Chromatin organization 4 R-HSA-1640170 Cell Cycle 3 R-HSA-1643685 Disease 3 R-HSA-74160 Gene expression (Transcription) 3 R-HSA-8953897 Cellular responses to stimuli 3
Partners
CDK4CDK6CDKN1AMDM2

Evidence

Reading pass · 30 per-paper findings extracted from the source corpus
Year Finding Method Journal Conf PMIDs
1998 p16INK4a functions as a CDK4/CDK6 inhibitor by competing with cyclin D for kinase binding, thereby preventing retinoblastoma protein (RB) phosphorylation and blocking cell cycle progression. The locus also encodes p19ARF (p14ARF in humans), which blocks MDM2 inhibition of p53 activity, placing the INK4a/ARF locus at the nexus of both the RB and p53 tumor suppressor pathways. Genetic and biochemical analyses; kinase assays with retinoblastoma protein substrate; review of prior functional data Trends in biochemical sciences High 11584300 12573439 9757829
1997 p16INK4a protein expression increases as mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs) approach replicative senescence, and loss of p16INK4a (but not other INK4 family members) predisposes MEFs to polyploidy and immortalization, establishing p16INK4a as a senescence checkpoint regulator. Immunoblotting of MEFs at different passage numbers; genetic deletion analysis; comparison of INK4 family expression during mouse development and aging Oncogene High 9244355
1998 BALB/c-specific p16INK4a variants (A134C and G232A) located in ankyrin repeat regions are deficient in inhibiting cyclin D2/CDK4 kinase activity toward retinoblastoma protein substrate, identifying the ankyrin repeat domain as functionally critical for CDK4 inhibition. In vitro kinase assay with retinoblastoma protein substrate; cDNA sequencing; PCR-restriction enzyme digestion Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Medium 9482902
1999 The INK4a/ARF locus produces a third transcript in human pancreas, designated p12, using an alternative splice donor site within intron 1. The resulting 12 kDa protein does not interact with CDK4 but suppresses cell growth in a pRb-independent manner. RT-PCR; alternative splice analysis; CDK4 interaction assay; growth suppression assay Oncogene Medium 10445844
1999 NMR structural analysis of p16INK4a revealed that the protein is composed of ankyrin repeats and is marginally stable, with conformational flexibility on the minutes-to-hours timescale. Comparison with p18INK4c showed that p16INK4a has faster H/D exchange rates, indicating lower kinetic stability and greater aggregation tendency, properties relevant to its function as a CDK inhibitor. NMR spectroscopy; H/D exchange; denaturation experiments; heteronuclear NOE measurements Journal of molecular biology High 10556039
2000 JunB directly activates p16INK4a transcription through three AP1-like binding sites identified in the p16 promoter. JunB-induced p16INK4a expression abolishes cyclin D-associated CDK4/6 kinase activity, reduces pRb hyperphosphorylation, and induces premature senescence. This suppressive effect is p16-dependent, as it does not occur in INK4a-/- fibroblasts. Reporter gene assay; chromatin binding analysis; CDK kinase assay; genetic rescue in INK4a-/- fibroblasts; retroviral overexpression The EMBO journal High 10856241
2001 Germline INK4a/ARF mutations in melanoma kindreds alter the subcellular distribution of p14ARF and diminish its ability to activate the p53 pathway, establishing that p14ARF functional impairment (not just p16INK4a impairment) contributes to melanoma predisposition. Subcellular fractionation/localization assay; p53 pathway activation assay; functional testing of seven INK4a/ARF mutations The Journal of biological chemistry Medium 11518711
2001 p16INK4a (but not ARF) restoration in Ink4a/Arf-/- melanocytes induces growth arrest, heavy melanization, and SA-β-gal expression characteristic of senescence, while ARF restoration leads to cell death without senescence markers. This establishes that p16INK4a mediates melanocyte senescence and differentiation through a mechanism distinct from ARF. Retroviral gene restoration in Ink4a/Arf-/- melanocytes; SA-β-gal assay; growth curves; spectrophotometry for pigmentation Journal of the National Cancer Institute High 11904317
2003 Ink4a/Arf deficiency cooperates with activated KrasG12D in the pancreas to produce rapidly progressive, invasive, and metastatic ductal adenocarcinoma. KrasG12D alone produces only premalignant PanIN lesions, while Ink4a/Arf loss alone produces no pancreatic neoplasia, establishing epistasis: Ink4a/Arf acts downstream of Kras to suppress malignant conversion of PanIN lesions. Conditional Cre-mediated mouse genetics; pancreas-specific activation of KrasG12D and deletion of Ink4a/Arf; histopathological analysis Genes & development High 14681207
2004 p19ARF-/- MEFs are highly susceptible to oncogenic transformation, enhanced subcloning, and resist RAS- and culture-induced growth arrest — phenotypes similar to Ink4a/Arf-/- MEFs — while p16INK4a-/- MEFs more closely resemble wild-type cells in these assays. This establishes that ARF is the dominant tumor suppressor over p16INK4a in murine fibroblast-based transformation assays. Generation of p19ARF-specific knockout mice; MEF transformation assays with oncogenic RAS; subcloning efficiency; tumor spectrum analysis in vivo Oncogene High 14724566
2006 p16INK4a loss generates supernumerary centrosomes through centriole pair splitting, which nucleates multipolar spindles and drives production of aneuploid daughter cells. p16INK4a cooperates with p21 through regulation of CDK activity to prevent centriole pair splitting, revealing a novel role for p16INK4a in maintaining genomic stability beyond its canonical CDK4/6 inhibitory function. Immunocytochemistry; quantitative immunofluorescence; karyotypic analysis; time-lapse microscopy; functional knockdown of p16INK4a in primary human cells PLoS biology High 16464125
2006 Cdc6, a replication initiation factor, binds to a conserved regulatory element (RD INK4/ARF) at the INK4/ARF locus and recruits histone deacetylases, causing heterochromatinization and transcriptional repression of all three tumor suppressors (p15INK4b, ARF, p16INK4a) encoded by the locus. This identifies RD INK4/ARF as a global cis-regulatory element whose inactivation by replication machinery constitutes a novel oncogenic mechanism. ChIP; RNAi-induced heterochromatinization; RT-PCR; reporter assays; Cdc6 overexpression and replication origin mapping; tumor specimen analysis Nature High 16572177
2007 A novel CDKN2A mutation (R24P) specifically abrogates p16INK4a binding to CDK4 but leaves CDK6 binding intact. Human diploid fibroblasts homozygous for R24P behave as if p16INK4a-deficient for senescence, establishing that CDK4 and CDK6 are not functionally redundant and that CDK4 is the principal target of p16INK4a in primary fibroblasts. In vitro binding assays; in vivo CDK4/CDK6 co-immunoprecipitation; fibroblast senescence assays; ectopic expression in U2OS cells Cancer research Medium 17909018
2008 p16INK4a translation is suppressed by microRNA miR-24, which associates with both the coding region and 3'-UTR of p16 mRNA to repress translational initiation and elongation. Declining miR-24 levels during replicative senescence contribute to increased p16INK4a protein expression, identifying miRNA-mediated translational repression as a post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism for p16INK4a. miRNA overexpression and antisense knockdown; polysomal profiling; EGFP-p16 reporter assay; protein and mRNA quantification PloS one Medium 18365017
2008 SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, via its hSNF5 subunit and motor subunit BRG1, evicts PRC1 and PRC2 Polycomb complexes from the INK4b-ARF-INK4a locus, activates p15INK4b and p16INK4a expression (but not p14ARF), recruits MLL1, replaces repressive histone marks with active marks, and reduces DNMT3B binding and DNA methylation at the locus. ChIP; hSNF5 re-expression in MRT cells; BRG1 knockdown; histone modification analysis; DNMT3B recruitment assay Molecular and cellular biology High 18332116
2009 The Polycomb histone methyltransferase EZH2 represses the Ink4a/Arf locus in pancreatic beta-cells by maintaining H3K27 trimethylation. Conditional beta-cell deletion of Ezh2 reduces H3K27me3 at the locus, precociously elevates p16INK4a and p19ARF, impairs beta-cell proliferation, and causes mild diabetes — phenotypes rescued by germline Ink4a/Arf deletion. Conditional Cre-mediated Ezh2 deletion; ChIP for H3K27me3; streptozotocin-induced regeneration model; genetic epistasis with Ink4a/Arf-/- rescue Genes & development High 19390090
2009 Bmi-1 (PRC1 component) represses the Ink4a/Arf locus in islet beta-cells through H2A ubiquitylation. In aged islets, decreased Bmi-1 binding leads to loss of H2A ubiquitylation, increased MLL1 recruitment, and increased H3K4 trimethylation at the locus, corresponding to elevated p16INK4a expression and decreased proliferation. ChIP for H2A ubiquitylation, H3K4me3, Bmi-1 and MLL1 binding; gene expression analysis in young vs. aged islets; beta-cell regeneration model Genes & development High 19390085
2009 ARF (Arf), rather than Ink4a, is the main barrier to reprogramming in murine cells by activating p53 and p21; whereas in human fibroblasts, INK4a is more important than ARF. Genetic inhibition of the Ink4/Arf locus significantly increases reprogramming efficiency and kinetics, and aged cells show reduced reprogramming efficiency that can be rescued by shRNA-mediated locus inhibition. Genetic deletion of Ink4a and Arf separately; iPSC reprogramming efficiency assays; shRNA knockdown; reprogramming in cells from old vs. young organisms Nature High 19668188
2010 Ink4a/Arf deletion prevents oncogenic K-ras-induced senescence (marked by p16ink4a overexpression and SA-β-gal) in intestinal epithelial cells, converting benign serrated hyperplasia into invasive, metastasizing carcinomas, establishing the Ink4a/Arf locus as an effector of oncogene-induced senescence that gatekeeps colorectal tumor progression. Conditional mouse genetics combining K-rasG12D expression with Ink4a/Arf deletion; SA-β-gal staining; p16 immunohistochemistry; tumor progression monitoring Cancer cell High 20708155
2011 Tissue-specific somatic inactivation of p16INK4a in T-lymphoid progenitors ameliorates thymic involution, decreased naive T-cell production, and attenuated antigen responses during aging without increasing T-cell neoplasia, whereas B-lineage p16INK4a ablation markedly increases B-cell neoplasms. This establishes a lineage-specific role for p16INK4a in regulating lymphocyte aging and cancer. Tissue-specific conditional knockout of p16INK4a in T and B lineages; flow cytometry for thymic and peripheral T-cell populations; immune response assays; tumor incidence monitoring Blood High 21245485
2014 Targeted DNA methylation within the p16Ink4a promoter in mice causes transcriptional suppression in somatic tissues during aging, increases spontaneous cancer incidence, and combined with a germline p16INK4a mutation on the other allele, accelerates tumor onset and shortens tumor-free survival. This directly demonstrates that p16INK4a epimutation is sufficient to drive tumorigenesis. Targeted DNA methylation engineering; bisulfite sequencing; RT-PCR for p16 expression; tumor incidence and survival analysis in mice The Journal of clinical investigation High 25061879
2014 p16INK4a deficiency enhances fasting-induced hepatic glucose production by increasing gluconeogenic gene expression through activation of PKA-CREB-PGC1α signaling via increased phosphorylation of PKA regulatory subunits, revealing a novel role for p16INK4a in controlling hepatic glucose homeostasis independent of its cell cycle function. p16Ink4a-/- mice; in vivo glucose/insulin tolerance tests; hepatic glucose output measurements; PKA regulatory subunit phosphorylation assays; gluconeogenic gene expression analysis Diabetes Medium 24789920
2015 The lncRNA MIR31HG represses p16INK4a expression by interacting with the INK4A and MIR31HG genomic regions and with Polycomb group proteins, maintaining PcG-mediated repression of the INK4A locus. During oncogene-induced senescence (BRAF expression), MIR31HG relocates from nucleus to cytoplasm, releasing PcG repression and allowing p16INK4a upregulation. MIR31HG knockdown; chromatin interaction assays (ChIA); PcG protein interaction assays; subcellular fractionation during OIS Nature communications Medium 25908244
2015 The MYST-family histone acetyltransferase MOZ (KAT6A) inhibits senescence via the INK4A-ARF pathway. MOZ-deficient primary MEFs show premature senescence rescued by Ink4a-Arf deletion. MOZ maintains normal H3K9 and H3K27 acetylation at the transcriptional start sites of Cdc6, Ezh2, and E2f2 — known repressors of INK4A-ARF — by directly occupying their loci. Moz-null MEFs; genetic epistasis with Ink4a-Arf-/- rescue; ChIP for H3K9ac and H3K27ac; expression profiling; SA-β-gal senescence assay Oncogene Medium 25772242
2017 The Wnt-effector Tcf1 is recruited to a palindromic motif in the promoters of p15Ink4b, p16Ink4a, and p19Arf, directly activating transcription of the Ink4/Arf locus in mouse embryonic stem cells. Wnt/β-catenin activation through Tcf1 (but not Tcf3) restores G1 phase and reduces ESC proliferation without affecting pluripotency. ChIP showing Tcf1 recruitment to Ink4/Arf locus; β-catenin and Tcf1 ablation; cell cycle analysis; reporter assays; Wnt pathway activation PLoS genetics Medium 28346462
2019 The zinc-finger transcription factor Slug directly represses p16Ink4a transcription in muscle satellite cells. Loss of Slug causes p16Ink4a derepression and accelerated senescence upon damage-induced stress; p16Ink4a depletion partially rescues Slug-deficient satellite cell defects. Reduced Slug expression in aged muscle satellite cells accompanies p16Ink4a accumulation. Slug knockout mice; ChIP confirming Slug binding at p16Ink4a promoter; genetic epistasis with p16Ink4a knockdown rescue; aged satellite cell analysis Nature communications Medium 31189923
2019 Arf (Cdkn2a alternate reading frame product) acts as a gatekeeper tumor suppressor in Schwann cells by inducing senescence-mediated growth arrest in aberrantly proliferating Nf1-/- cells. Conditional ablation of both Nf1 and Arf in neural crest-derived Schwann cells allows escape from senescence and produces tumors phenocopying human atypical neurofibromatous neoplasms that progress to MPNST. Conditional Cre-mediated mouse genetics; senescence assays (SA-β-gal); tumor histopathology; penetrance analysis Human molecular genetics Medium 31091306
2020 p16INK4a is recruited to acidic cytoplasmic vesicles (lysosomes) upon cellular stress (serum starvation, etoposide, hydrogen peroxide), and is degraded via the autophagy-lysosomal pathway. p62 (autophagosome chaperone) targets p16 to these vesicles; blocking lysosomal proteases or autophagy causes p16 accumulation within lysosomes or stalled autophagosomes, respectively. Endogenous p16-mCherry reporter; time-lapse fluorescence microscopy; lysosomal protease inhibitors; autophagy blockers (chloroquine, bafilomycin A1); p62 knockdown; LC3-II western blotting Aging cell Medium 32662244
2022 ADAR1 promotes SIRT1 expression by stabilizing SIRT1 mRNA through the RNA-binding protein HuR; SIRT1 in turn antagonizes p16INK4a mRNA translation. ADAR1 downregulation by autophagic degradation during senescence reduces SIRT1, thereby increasing p16INK4a mRNA translation and driving p16INK4a-dependent senescence. This mechanism is independent of ADAR1's RNA-editing function. ADAR1 knockdown in vitro and in vivo; SIRT1 mRNA stability assays; HuR RNA-binding assays; polysomal profiling for p16INK4a translation; genetic rescue with p16INK4a depletion; ADAR1 RNA-editing mutants Nature cell biology High 35851616
2022 p16INK4a expression is specifically required in fibroblasts residing in the basement membrane (sentinel p16+ fibroblasts) to promote epithelial regeneration after lung injury. These p16INK4a+ fibroblasts have enhanced secretory capacity and respond to tissue inflammation; p16INK4a expression in fibroblasts is functionally required for their regeneration-promoting role. Ultrasensitive p16INK4a reporter engineering; conditional p16INK4a deletion in fibroblasts; lung injury models; epithelial regeneration assays Science Medium 36227993

Source papers

Stage 0 corpus · 100 papers · ranked by NIH iCite citations
Year Title Journal Citations PMID
2004 Ink4a/Arf expression is a biomarker of aging. The Journal of clinical investigation 1211 15520862
2003 Activated Kras and Ink4a/Arf deficiency cooperate to produce metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Genes & development 853 14681207
2006 The regulation of INK4/ARF in cancer and aging. Cell 809 17055429
2001 The INK4a/ARF network in tumour suppression. Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology 788 11584300
2009 The Ink4/Arf locus is a barrier for iPS cell reprogramming. Nature 783 19668188
2010 Expression of linear and novel circular forms of an INK4/ARF-associated non-coding RNA correlates with atherosclerosis risk. PLoS genetics 743 21151960
2006 Regulation of the INK4b-ARF-INK4a tumour suppressor locus: all for one or one for all. Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology 681 16921403
2003 Tumor suppression by Ink4a-Arf: progress and puzzles. Current opinion in genetics & development 577 12573439
2007 Characterization of a germ-line deletion, including the entire INK4/ARF locus, in a melanoma-neural system tumor family: identification of ANRIL, an antisense noncoding RNA whose expression coclusters with ARF. Cancer research 521 17440112
2006 Both p16(Ink4a) and the p19(Arf)-p53 pathway constrain progression of pancreatic adenocarcinoma in the mouse. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 488 16585505
1997 Expression of the p16INK4a tumor suppressor versus other INK4 family members during mouse development and aging. Oncogene 472 9244355
1999 The INK4A/ARF locus and its two gene products. Current opinion in genetics & development 434 10072356
1999 INK4a/ARF mutations accelerate lymphomagenesis and promote chemoresistance by disabling p53. Genes & development 400 10541553
2005 INK4a/ARF: a multifunctional tumor suppressor locus. Mutation research 342 15878778
2016 Implications of Genetic and Epigenetic Alterations of CDKN2A (p16(INK4a)) in Cancer. EBioMedicine 324 27428416
2009 Polycomb protein Ezh2 regulates pancreatic beta-cell Ink4a/Arf expression and regeneration in diabetes mellitus. Genes & development 310 19390090
2000 JunB suppresses cell proliferation by transcriptional activation of p16(INK4a) expression. The EMBO journal 268 10856241
2011 Regulatory mechanisms of tumor suppressor P16(INK4A) and their relevance to cancer. Biochemistry 267 21619050
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