Acts as a tumor suppressor in many tumor types; induces growth arrest or apoptosis depending on the physiological circumstances and cell type. Involved in cell cycle regulation as a trans-activator that acts to negatively regulate cell division by controlling a set of genes required for this process. One of the activated genes is an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases. Apoptosis induction seems to be mediated either by stimulation of BAX and FAS antigen expression, or by repression of Bcl-2 expression. Its pro-apoptotic activity is activated via its interaction with PPP1R13B/ASPP1 or TP53BP2/ASPP2 (PubMed:12524540). However, this activity is inhibited when the interaction with PPP1R13B/ASPP1 or TP53BP2/ASPP2 is displaced by PPP1R13L/iASPP (PubMed:12524540). In cooperation with mitochondrial PPIF is involved in activating oxidative stress-induced necrosis; the function is largely independent of transcription.