A. Sidle et al., ACTIVITY OF THE RETINOBLASTOMA FAMILY PROTEINS, PRB, P107, AND P130, DURING CELLULAR PROLIFERATION AND DIFFERENTIATION, Critical reviews in biochemistry and molecular biology, 31(3), 1996, pp. 237-271
Genetic evidence from retinoblastoma patients and experiments describi
ng the mechanism of cellular transformation by the DNA tumor viruses h
ave defined a central role for the retinoblastoma protein (pRB) family
of tumor suppressors in the normal regulation of the eukaryotic cell
cycle. These proteins, pRB, p107, and p130, act in a cell cycle-depend
ent manner to regulate the activity of a number of important cellular
transcription factors, such as the E2F-family, which in turn regulate
expression of genes whose products are important for cell cycle progre
ssion. In addition, inhibition of E2F activity by the pRB family prote
ins is required for cell cycle exit after terminal differentiation or
nutrient depletion. The loss of functional pRB, due to mutation of bot
h RB1 alleles, results in deregulated E2F activity and a predispositio
n to specific malignancies. Similarly, inactivation of the pRB family
by the transforming proteins of the DNA tumor viruses overcomes cellul
ar quiescence and prevents terminal differentiation by blocking the in
teraction of pRB, p107, and p130 with the E2F proteins, leading to cel
l cycle progression and, ultimately, cellular transformation. Together
these two lines of evidence implicate the pRB family of negative cell
cycle regulators and the E2F family of transcription factors as centr
al components in the cell cycle machinery.