Accordingly, p53Δ31/Δ31 cells exhibited a typical feature of cells from FA patients: the decreased capacity to repair DNA interstrand crosslinks induced by mitomycin C. Importantly, out of the 12 FA genes downregulated by p53 in mouse cells, 9 were also downregulated by p53 in human fibroblasts, and an increased expression of FA genes could be used as a marker of human tumor progression [26]. Here, FANCA is linked to Friedreich ataxia.