Autophagy is the mechanism by which lysosomes degrade unneeded or dysfunctional cellular components. p53 is a tumor suppressor protein that modulates autophagy and apoptosis. DRAM, or damage regulated autophagy modulator, is a lysosomal protein and effector of p53-mediated cell death. Many tumors show decreased DRAM expression and siRNA knockdown resulted in reduced cell death (Crighton et al, 2006).
