Fragile Site Associated Tumor Suppressor (FATS)

Fragile-site associated tumor suppressor (FATS) is a newly identified candidate tumor suppressor whose gene locus is frequently deleted in spontaneous tumors. Strikingly, the deletion frequency of FATS gene in tumors increases further after treatment of low dose ionizing radiation (IR), which is tightly linked to DNA-damage-induced tumorigenesis and loss of FATS-mediated inhibition of p21 turnover.

FATS stabilize p21 to preserve genome integrity.Mouse FATS was highly expressed in testis. The p53-responsive elements existed in proximal region of both mouse and human FATS promoters. FATS expression was silent or downregulated in human cancers, and overexpression of FATS suppressed tumorigenicity in vivo independently of p53. FATS as a p53-regulated gene to monitor genomic stability.