Smyd2 and Set8 activities affect p53 nuclear dynamics and promoter binding Western blot of acetylated p53 (K370/K382) in A549 Smyd2 and Set8 knockdown cells compared to wild‐type cell lines shows an increase in acetylation specifically at later time points in the DNA damage response. Dynamics of total p53 remained pulse like. GAPDH is shown as loading control. Amount of p53 bound to CDKN1A and MDM2 promoters in A549 Smyd2 (B) and Set8 (C) knockdown cells before (basal, gray) and 3 h (red), 6 h (blue), and 9 h (orange) after DNA damage (10 Gy IR) as measured by ChIP. The amount of bound p53 was calculated as percentage of input and normalized to the time point of the first p53 peak at 3 h. Individual data points (mean values of triplicate quantification in qRT–PCR measurements) from two biological repeats are shown as dots; mean values are displayed as black horizontal lines. Dashed lines serve as guide to the eyes. We observed an increase in promoter binding at later time points similar to the results after Nutlin‐3 treatment.