We have previously described biological model systems for studying tumor suppression in which, by using H-1 parvovirus as a selective agent, cells with a strongly suppressed malignant phenotype (KS or US) were derived from malignant cell lines (K562 or U937). By using cDNA display on the K562/KS cells, 15 cDNAs were now isolated, corresponding to genes differentially regulated in tumor suppression. Of these, TSAP9 corresponds to a TCP-1 chaperonin, TSAP13 to a regulatory proteasome subunit, and TSAP21 to syntaxin 11, a vesicular trafficking molecule. The 15 cDNAs were used as a molecular fingerprint in different tumor-suppression models. We found that a similar pattern of differential regulation is shared by activation of p53, p21(Waf1), and the human homologue of Drosophila seven in absentia, SIAH-1. Because SIAH-1 is differentially expressed in the various models, we characterized it at the protein and functional levels. The 32-kDa, mainly nuclear protein encoded by SIAH-1, can induce apoptosis and promote tumor suppression. These results suggest the existence of a common mechanism of tumor suppression and apoptosis shared by p53, p21(Waf1), and SIAH-1 and involving regulation of the cellular machinery responsible for protein folding, unfolding, and trafficking.