p53 has a well established role in blocking the proliferative action of damaged cells and acting in essence as an anticancer agent (Sharpless and DePinho, 2002, Yin et al., 1992). It has been called the guardian of the genome (Lane, 1992). Phosphorylation of Ser-392 in p53 is associated with formation of human tumors (Saito et al., 2003, Pise-Masison et al., 1998, Kim et al., 2004). In addition, p53 has been linked to effects of aging and oxidative stress (Sharpless and DePinho, 2002). An increase in p53 has also been linked to deficits in LTP and learning and memory (Jiang et al., 1998)
