Pro-apoptotic Gene PUMA and Tumor Therapy

p53 upregulated modulator of apoptosis(PUMA)is a pro-apoptotic protein member of the Bcl-2 family.PUMA is the down-stream target gene of p53,playing the role regardless of the state of p53.PUMA induces apoptosis via both p53-dependent and p53-independent mechanisms.PUMA has low expression in a variety of tumor tissues and is closely related with tumor occurrence.PUMA has a synergistic effect with radiotherapy and chemotherapy.Upregulation of PUMA expression could enhance the sensitivity of tumor cells to radiotherapy and chemotherapy,while the deletion of PUMA could reduce the damage of radiotherapy and chemotherapy to normal cells.PUMA is expected to be a new target of cancer therapy along with the further studies.