Retinoblastoma protein partners

Abstract

Studies of the retinoblastoma gene (Rb) have shown that its protein product (pRb) acts to restrict cell proliferation, inhibit apoptosis, and promote cell differentiation. The frequent mutation of the Rb gene, and the functional inactivation of pRb in tumor cells, have spurred interest in the mechanism of pRb action. Recently, much attention has focused on pRb's role in the regulation of the E2F transcription factor. However, biochemical studies have suggested that E2F is only one of many pRb-targets and, to date, at least 110 cellular proteins have been reported to associate with pRb. The plethora of pRb-binding proteins raises several important questions. How many functions does pRb possess, which of these functions are important for development, and which contribute to tumor suppression? The goal of this review is to summarize the current literature of pRb-associated proteins.