p53 directly regulates the transcription of the human frataxin gene and its lack of regulation in tumor cells decreases the utilization of mitochondrial iron

• The decrease of p53 function and level reduced frataxin mRNA and protein.
• The transcriptional activity of the human frataxin gene is enhanced by p53.
• The expression of p53 in HeLa cells enhanced the expression of frataxin.
• CHIP assay and EMSA confirmed the p53-binding site in the human frataxin gene.
• The expression of frataxin in HeLa cells increased the utilization of iron for heme.

Mitochondrial frataxin functions in iron homeostasis, biogenesis of iron–sulfur clusters, protection from oxidative stress and apoptosis, and as a tumor suppressor protein. We examined regulation of the expression of the human frataxin by p53. Pifithrin-α, an inhibitor of p53 function, and knockdown of p53 decreased the level of frataxin mRNA in human kidney HEK 293T cells. The transcriptional activity of the human frataxin gene is enhanced by the proximal promoter containing the p53-responsive element (p53RE) on the gene. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay and electrophoretic mobility shift assay confirmed the binding of p53 to the human frataxin p53RE. The expression of wild-type p53 in human cancer HeLa cells increased the reporter activity carrying p53RE at the region of − 209 to − 200 bp of the frataxin promoter. Finally, when the HeLa cells overexpressing frataxin were treated with 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA), there was less accumulation of protoporphyrin than HeLa control cells, and it was sharply decreased by the addition of iron citrate, suggesting that the utilization of mitochondrial iron for heme biosynthesis can be dependent on the level of frataxin. Alternatively, the low expression of frataxin not regulated by p53 in tumor cells lowers the utilization of iron in mitochondria, causing the tumor-specific ALA-induced accumulation of protoporphyrin.