Activation of p73 upon genotoxic treatment triggers apoptosis of tumor cells lacking functional p53 and involves the activities of c-Abl and p300. Here, we demonstrate that conformational changes of p73 catalyzed by the prolyl isomerase Pin1 are crucial in this pathway. Lack of Pin1 reduces p73 stability, hampering its accumulation upon genotoxic stress. Indeed, we show that upon treatment with chemotherapeutic drugs c-Abl enhances the phosphorylation-dependent interaction between Pin1 and p73, and this in turn promotes p73 acetylation by p300. Consistently, the ability of c-Abl and p300 to increase p73 stability and transcriptional activity requires Pin1. As a consequence, Pin1 appears to be essential for activation of the apoptotic response by endogenous p73.
